If you are a gambler, bet on this:
If the gas tax is increased, it will not be "temporary."
And in three years, seven years, twenty years, the roads and
bridges will still be crumbling and will need another fix,
as the new money is spent on other things, as always.
You've heard "don't kill the job"? Infrastructure
maintenance has always been deferred: Don't kill
the excuse for new revenues, that can be spent on, for
instance, servicing the system with extraordinary pay,
pensions, health insurance benefits. If the Commission
report suggests reforms
in these areas, don't hold your breath.
Massachusetts has the 4th highest per capita tax burden, 2nd
highest debt rank in the nation. If Mass. government
can't maintain our infrastructure with the money already
taken, it won't do it with another tax increase, like the
gas tax increase we had in 1990 "for the infrastructure."
Business leaders and other taxpayers who buy into this
ongoing scam are an ongoing joke on Beacon Hill.