He didn’t get the new taxes he wanted, but Gov. Deval Patrick is nevertheless pushing ahead with the transportation projects they were supposed to help finance.
The Patrick administration on Thursday awarded a $363 million contract to build three new MBTA stations on a proposed Green Line extension to Somerville. Earlier this week, Patrick said he was pushing ahead with a commuter rail link to the South Coast now that the Army Corps of Engineers has approved a route.
The money flowing out keeps increasing but the money coming in keeps shrinking. The Legislature rejected the governor’s $1 billion transportation funding plan earlier this year and the Senate on Thursday joined the House in repealing a controversial tech tax that was part of a scaled-back transportation package. The House voted 156-1 and the Senate voted 38-0 to repeal the tech tax, a move that Senate budget chief Stephen Brewer calls “mature, grown-up, and thoughtful.”
Patrick has been coy about what he intends to do with the tech tax repeal, but he has already indicated he thinks the tax was a mistake. The House and Senate are in no mood to pass a new tax to replace the $161 million lost from the tech tax (they say the revenue isn’t needed because existing tax revenues are running ahead of projections) but the governor, who is busy launching transportation projects, would probably like something to fill the hole.
The Herald editorial board asks the obvious question: “Can you say denial?”
–BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
Gov. Deval Patrick is heading to Canada in late October on a trade mission, State House News reports (via Lowell Sun).
State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan is urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would exempt residential homeowners from the mandated cleanup costs in the hazardous material law if small amounts of hazardous waste such as a broken thermometer are accidentally spilled.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The Boston Redevelopment Authority approves a $7.8 million tax break for developers of the former Filene’s site. The BRA also signed off on a deal granting permanent rights to the Red Sox to use public streets abutting Fenway Park, an agreement the Boston Finance Commission director called “financially irresponsible.” Asked to yield to criticism from the state’s Inspector General, BRA chief Peter Meade responds, “Why should we?”
Computergate continues in Lynn, as we learn more about why Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy seized a computer belonging to an aide to City Council President Timothy Phelan (her mayoral rival) on the day of the preliminary election.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
The looming threat of a federal government shutdown has been good news … for political war chests. The Wall Street Journal sees no clear path for avoiding a shutdown.
The state’s congressional delegation has sent a letter to congressional leaders asking for relief for coastal homeowners from the changes in the federal flood zone maps and flood insurance program.
President Obama is preparing to offer Detroit $300 million, the New York Times reports.
A judge rules Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn broke the law when he withheld lawmakers’ salaries to pressure them to pass pension reform legislation, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
ELECTIONS
A hefty arbitration award for Boston police patrol officers is likely to entangle mayoral candidates Marty Walsh and John Connolly in a sticky situation in the run-up to their November 5 showdown. Despite criticisms from Rev. Eugene Rivers, John Barros says it was turnout in heavily minority wards, not a glut of candidates, that put Walsh and Connolly into the final. Howie Carr offers a Howie take on all the moaning and groaning about two Irish-American guys in the final.
A skirmish over the “People’s Pledge” suggests the mayoral runoff may be a less congenial affair than the preliminary election, which sometimes resembled a traveling roadshow of 12 friends.
Yeow, Adrian. There’s a fascinating battle taking shape between Rivers and the Globe’s Adrian Walker after Walker went on Facebook and Twitter to reveal the politically active minister isn’t so much at the voting booth, where he’s failed to cast any ballots in any election since at least back to 1997.
US Rep. Michael Capuano says no to a run for governor, WBUR reports.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which owns the Foxwoods casino and is vying for a license in the Bay State, has broken ground on a $115-million shopping outlet next to the casino as it looks to extend its brand beyond gambling and stem the revenue decline as neighboring states get into the gaming business.
EDUCATION
Brooks School is hit with another sexual abuse allegation, this time by a former student who says a female admissions officer repeatedly had sex with him when he was a 15-year-old student there, the Eagle-Tribune reports.
A skeptical view of the charter school effort unfolding in New Orleans.
Apparently, UMass football is not the only college program with empty seats. The Wall Street Journal reports many major college programs, even the perennial powerhouses, are seeing declining student attendance which many are attributing to the onset of social media such as Twitter and the advent of high definition television.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A United Nations report finds that humans are “extremely likely” to have caused climate change. The report says emission levels are nearing a tipping point, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, fish normally seen in the mid-Atlantic and further south are appearing in the Gulf of Maine.
UMass Dartmouth has signed a net metering agreement to set up solar arrays on campus in a move officials say could reap $20 million or more in savings over the next 20 years.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Locally famous self-promoting art thief Myles Connor Jr., was back in his native Milton to give a talk at the Milton Art Center about his life of crime.
A key witness in the Aaron Hernandez murder case changes his story.
MEDIA
The Tribune Co. sends out the word that $100 million in spending cuts is needed. The company owns the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers.
Unions at the Star-Ledger in New Jersey agree to some big givebacks to avoid a shutdown of the newspaper.
Kanye West goes crazy on Jimmy Kimmel.