George Donnelly
Executive Editor- Boston Business Journal
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Some of Massachusetts’ leading business groups are chipping in big-time to preserve a provision that would raise the gas tax annually by the rate of inflation, a measure that is being challenged in Question 1 on the Nov. 4 ballot.
In the latest filing on the Massachusetts Office of Political and Campaign Finance, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and A Better City, all business membership groups, contributed to defeat the ballot question. The Chamber’s total donations this year are $45,000; the MTF has donated $10,000; and A Better City, which advocates for transportation investment, has reached $55,000 this year. Other business groups chipping in to the No on One Committee include Associated Industries of Massachusetts ($5,000), the Massachusetts Business Roundtable ($7,500), the Massachusetts Hospital Association ($5,000), and NAIOP Massachusetts ($4,768).
The gasoline tax was increased — for the first time since 1991 — from 21 to 24 cents in 2013 as part of a $500 million transportation package passed by the Legislature; the three-cent increase accounts for over $100 million in additional revenue per year. The 24-cent tax would is scheduled to increase every year by the Consumer Price Index increase, a provision that is seen by advocates as critical to direct additional funding toward road and bridge repairs in the commonwealth.
But a petition drive by Committee to Tank the Automatic Gas Tax Hikes aims to stop the gas-tax CPI provision in its tracks. Unlike the No on One Committee, it has no big money backers. It has raised about $80,000 this year, and reported having $16,000 in the bank in the latest filing period.