Romney set to propose break on tolls

In his annual State of the State address tonight, Governor Mitt Romney will propose giving Bay State drivers a break on tolls by using more than $170 million he says can be gleaned immediately by merging the Turnpike Authority and the Highway Department.

The turnpike's board would decide how to hand out the money, but spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom suggested that toll relief could come in the form of an extension of the current Fast Lane discount at certain tolls, which is supposed to be temporary; a delay in an unspecified toll increase scheduled for 2008; or a break targeted to drivers in Central and Western Massachusetts.

Romney's toll relief plan is a bid to sway skeptical legislators, especially those in suburban districts, who have repeatedly rejected his previous efforts to merge the authority and the Highway Department. The governor has called for the merger since his 2002 campaign for governor, contending that combining the agencies would generate $20 million in annual savings by putting road repair, snow plowing, and other services under one department.

The administration also has a plan to free up $154 million the authority received from selling some of its land in Allston to supplement the toll relief fund, for a total of $174 million the first year and $20 million a year thereafter.

''The toll burden on the people of Western and Central Massachusetts is simply unfair, and we all know it," Romney stated in a portion of the speech obtained by the Globe yesterday.

The governor's attempt to mollify lawmakers on the merger issue offers fresh evidence of his efforts to be more collaborative after two years of mostly chilly relations with the Democrats who dominate Beacon Hill.

In recent weeks, Romney has hosted a series of private dinners for key lawmakers and has toned down his combative rhetoric. After spending most of the past two years deriding the Legislature as an obstacle to change, Romney has signaled that he wants to work with lawmakers, which has been perceived as a desire to notch a few victories before running for reelection. He is also widely seen as interested in running for president in 2008.

Lawmakers have rejected his calls, made repeatedly over the last two years, for a merger of the two agencies, but took steps last year to limit the power of the Turnpike Authority by passing legislation to eliminate the pay of authority members and eventually put the state highway secretary in charge of the authority.

By adding toll relief to the proposal, Romney is returning to a popular political theme: Former governor William Weld, for example, had a Newton toll booth knocked down in 1996 in a bid to win votes. The most recent toll increase was in 2002.

Romney would allow the Turnpike Authority to make decisions on how toll relief would be handed out, if the Legislature passes the overall merger plan. The $20 million a year in savings is estimated to cover the annual extension of the Fast Lane program, administration officials said.

In addition to discussing the merger, Fehrnstrom said Romney will use tonight's speech to talk about what he considers to be the most pressing challenges facing Massachusetts: improving education, extending healthcare coverage to more people and reducing the cost of coverage to those who have it, creating more jobs, and building low-cost housing.

He will be especially specific in the area of education, Fehrnstrom said. ''The governor believes it is time to move to the next stage of education reform, focusing on accountability and improving our urban schools,. He will sketch out his detailed agenda for education."

Fehrnstrom declined to provide those details yesterday, but in recent weeks Romney has offered some hints of what he will propose. In a meeting with reporters at the Globe last month, he cast doubt on the efficacy of preschool programs and suggested the state could get more for its money by lengthening the school day for older children, raising academic standards, and paying teachers based on peformance, instead of seniority.

Romney, who wrote a draft of the speech during his Christmas vacation in the Virgin Islands, is also likely to talk tonight about his budget plan, which he will unveil later this month. Last week, he said he wants to raise state spending on cities and towns next year by $183 million, a 4.3 percent increase over this year's local aid and the largest boost since the fiscal crisis began four years ago.

The crisis is clearly easing, though budget analysts say the state faces a $600 million shortfall. An administration source said the governor's budget plan will close that gap with existing revenue, an approach that points to cuts in some agencies.

Key lawmakers responded cautiously to Romney's latest proposal for merging the Turnpike Authority and the Highway Department, saying they want to see the details of his plan. Senator Pamela P. Resor, an Acton Democrat, described it as ''a step closer to what we want."

But Senator Steven A. Baddour, the Senate chairman of the Joint Transportation Committee, said he isn't sure why the governor is pushing the proposal again.

''The governor has the power to merge all of the duplicative functions today," Baddour said, referring to a law approved last year that restructures the state's transportation agencies. ''The reason a complete merger didn't happen last year is that the Commonwealth shouldn't be taking on $2 billion in debt from the Turnpike Authority."

Representative Joseph F. Wagner said that backing up the turnpike debt obligations ''would lead to exposure for taxpayers and tollpayers across this Commonwealth."

The administration argues that the state will not be taking on that debt. The Turnpike Authority is required by its creditors to keep $190 million in reserve as a guarantee that it can cover interest payments on its $2 billion in debt. But the administration says the authority can free up the $190 million by purchasing a surety bond.

Because the Turnpike Authority would still exist as a quasi-independent agency, supported by tolls, the state would not be seen by Wall Street as carrying the debt on its books, according to the administration. The authority is allowed to contract with other entities to perform some of its functions, and under Romney's plan, that entity will be the state.

The administration also wants to accelerate the timetable for installing the transportation secretary, Daniel A. Grabauskas, as chairman of the Turnpike Authority board. Under the transportation bill approved last year, Grabauskas will replace chairman Matthew J. Amorello in July 2007, but Romney wants to move the date up to July of this year.

Romney has frequently criticized Amorello, a former state senator, whom he views as a symbol of patronage and entrenched power on Beacon Hill.

But the heat on Amorello has increased since the Globe disclosed last year that the Big Dig tunnels have hundreds of leaks. The problems began prior to Amorello's appointment, but Romney has argued that a professional manager with engineering expertise is needed to clean them up.

Amorello has moved into Romney's sights since House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran and former UMass president William M. Bulger stepped aside.

Jordan Levy, vice chairman of the authority's board, said Romney hasn't yet detailed how he would save $20 million per year. ''He just keeps on rehashing the same old argument," Levy said. ''The argument didn't add up last year, and it won't add up this year."

''I don't understand the governor's penchant for this change, other than it's a personal one," Levy said. ''He has a personal problem with Matt, and that's obvious. But he can't let that get in the way of governing."

Scott Greenberger can be reached at greenberger@globe.com.