“…One watchdog thinks the ‘opportunity has sort of faded’ for a more permanent funding solution, at least until after the 2026 elections. A task force Healey assigned with studying big-picture transportation funding questions last year concluded the state should lean on the existing surtax on high earners, stopping short of any new taxes and fees that might permanently alter the T’s budget-building outlook.
‘Our window to fix this was last year, and we didn’t do it,’ said Brian Kane, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, which represents cities and towns who help fund the T. ‘Now the economy has turned, and there’s a new president who’s screwing us on health care and putting a massive deficit in the state budget that has to get filled, which is why everything else has to take a haircut’…”
By Chris Lisinski | 1/22/26