Turnpike Authority may face demise
Plan would have transportation agencies merge
Governor Deval Patrick today will propose dismantling the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and merging its operations into other state agencies, the first step in a long-promised overhaul of a fractured, debt-burdened transportation network, officials briefed on the plan said.
Patrick is expected to have an easier time pulling off the feat than his predecessor Mitt Romney, a Republican who encountered resistance in the Legislature dominated by the opposite party and in a turnpike board he did not control.
Patrick, who cleared his public schedule and spent much of yesterday in his corner office with the state's top officials, also will announce that his administration will identify "hundreds of millions of dollars" in budget cuts before Oct. 15, according to two officials briefed on the plans. And Patrick has requested that the state's other constitutional officers -- including Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, Secretary of State William F. Galvin, and Auditor Joe DeNucci --cut their budgets by as much as 7 percent.
Galvin said he would try to cooperate with the governor's request, which would require a $3.8 million hit to his budget. The secretary of state's office oversees elections and registries of deeds, among other functions, as well as compliance with state law in the securities industry.
"It's a challenge to find 7 percent when you're trying to run an election and protect people's investments in the stock market," Galvin said.
The proposal to abolish the Turnpike Authority is now only a broad concept. The governor will announce today that he is asking the secretary of transportation, Bernard Cohen, to draft legislation with details as soon as January when the Legislature reconvenes, said two officials briefed on the plan.
There are numerous questions left unanswered, including how much money would be saved by shutting down the agency. There are no indications in the plans that turnpike tolls will be eliminated. While financial benefits might be realized in the future if the Legislature passes the overhaul next year, it does not appear it would ease what officials have said is an urgent need for large toll increases on the turnpike and Big Dig tunnels now.
Cohen has said the administration does not believe toll hikes are necessary, but Patrick and his aides have not outlined how they think increases can be avoided without defaulting on the authority's debt.
Tolls are the source for paying off bonds that were used to help build the Big Dig. When Romney sought to abolish the authority, he was thwarted by a host of legal, financial, and political barriers.
It is unclear how Patrick plans to surmount those hurdles. But he appears to have several advantages over Romney, including a much better working relationship with a Democratic Legislature; a fiscal crisis that lends a sense of urgency to passing a plan that promises long-term cost savings; and a chairman of the Turnpike Authority who is a Patrick appointee, Alan LeBovidge. Romney faced resistance from the former chairman, Matthew J. Amorello.
The move to abolish the authority has been expected since last year. The administration last October began floating plans to merge several of the state's transportation bureaucracies, but the plans never materialized as the governor worked on his bid to license casinos, an initiative that failed. When the idea of an overhaul surfaced last year, Patrick was considering a merger of the Turnpike Authority with the state Highway Department and then the creation of a combined board that would also oversee the MBTA.
Administration officials declined to comment yesterday on any specifics. House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray, who were briefed on the plans yesterday and whose support will be crucial if it is to succeed, also declined to comment.
State officials throughout the country are reacting similarly to the recent downturn in the economy, which has forced most to readjust their books to account for losses in tax revenue. In New Jersey, Governor Jon Corzine is reviewing 5 percent cuts across state government, about $500 million. Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell this week announced $35 million in budget cuts as a first step in closing a $300 million deficit.
In Virginia, Governor Tim Kaine is looking at cuts ranging from 2 percent to 20 percent.
Patrick is expected to confirm publicly today that he will impose budget cuts by Oct. 15 in response to the financial crisis on Wall Street and frozen credit markets. State officials will gather over the next two weeks to determine how deep the cuts will be.
The state is planning to report a $188 million decrease in state revenues from what was expected for the month of September. In the first quarter of the year, state revenue is down $143 million from expectations, a fact triggering widespread concern throughout the State House about how to solve the fiscal crisis.
Before September, the state was $44 million above expectations, thanks largely to a one-time corporate settlement of $80.3 million that the state received in July.
Frank Phillips of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 