Patrick to unveil $12 billion, five-year spending plan
BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick is scheduled to unveil a key initiative on Monday that will pump $12 billion of borrowed money into education, transportation and housing over the next five years.
The capital spending plan is designed to meet some of Patrick's campaign promises, but also comes on the heels of other big-ticket plans already in the works by the Democratic governor.
Among the projects included are upgrades to public housing projects and construction of new college classrooms and research laboratories, an administration source familiar with the plan told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plan had not been released yet.
Of the proposed $12 billion, about $5.72 billion is slated for road and bridge construction and repair, including Boston's Storrow Drive and Longfellow Bridge.
The plan, first reported in the Boston Sunday Globe, also makes some initial investments in key Patrick proposals, including the rail link from Boston to New Bedford, an extension of the MBTA Green Line, and the construction of a stem cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
There are also smaller investments, including money for 1,000 new parking spaces at commuter rail stations, $7 million for urban parking garages and $25 million to deliver broadband Internet access to 31 communities in western Massachusetts by 2010.
While Patrick doesn't need legislative approval for the plan itself, he will need lawmakers to approve the bond bills needed to pay for the plans. Those bond bills are expected to be filed in the fall.
Critics say Patrick has to be careful that his plans for new spending don't outpace the state's revenues or ability to borrow money.
State Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, said he supports large parts of the plan. He said the state is overdue for many of the projects.
"There's no better way to create well-paying jobs than through capital projects," Montigny said.
But Montigny said the capital spending should be limited for true public needs and not as a "deep pot for the private sector."
Patrick last week raised Massachusetts' so-called bond cap -- the amount the state can borrow each year to pay for capital projects -- from $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion. The last time the bond cap was raised was in 2002.
Raising the cap will help the state borrow the money to pay for Patrick's plan.
It's important that Patrick and lawmakers spend a significant amount of money on maintaining the state's existing infrastructure, instead of just pouring money into new projects, according to Steve Poftak of the Pioneer Institute.
The institute last week released a report that found the state is facing at least $17 billion in deferred maintenance costs.
"There is a limited pot of money you can spend on assets, if you choose to spend that on new assets that's money you're not spending on maintenance," he said. "If you are going to build new assets you have to make sure you have the money to maintain them."
The biggest challenge facing Patrick and lawmakers is finding the balance between spending money on projects that will spur the economy while not digging the state deeper into debt, Republican House Leader Brad Jones said.
"Every incoming governor wants to leave their own imprint or go in their own direction, but it always has to be balanced against the fiscal reality," the North Reading lawmaker said. "For every vision somebody has there's a taxpayer getting a bill in the mail to pay for it."
