Transport Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt (centre) just wants to “move on” after controversial comments. (Chris Van Buskirk/Boston Herald)
Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt just wants to “move on” after comments she made last month at an advocacy event sparked bipartisan backlash and even a rare rebuke from her boss, Gov. Maura Healey.
Tibbits-Nutt kept her job after the speech, although she operated largely under the radar in the days after the comments became public. She fully re-emerged into public view at an event in Melrose on Friday with Healey, where the pair praised the annual road and bridge funding bill.
“This event also showed how passionate I am. I think we’re really excited to move forward with this,” Tibbits-Nutt said of a task force she leads that is developing recommendations for a long-term transportation funding plan.
At the WalkMassachusetts event, Tibbits-Nutt presented a series of initiatives that she said could generate dollars for cash-strapped transportation efforts in Massachusetts. This included charging companies like Uber and Lyft more, increasing the cost of package deliveries, and even accepting New York’s “complete playbook” on how to increase coffers for projects.
The former executive director of the 128 Business Council also said she was “100% judging” pickup truck drivers, telling the crowd that “we can’t price them enough or charge enough fees to stop” people. to buy them.
But it was the border tolls that really got people nervous.
“When I talk about tolls, I talk about borders. I’m not talking like Massachusetts,” she said last month. “But we’re going to go after all the people who should be giving us money to improve our transportation and improve our communities.”
That idea earned Tibbits-Nutt a slap in the face from Healey, who said the comments “did not represent the views of this government.” Healey expressed confidence in the secretary and later told the Herald there were “no” plans to fire her.
Tibbits-Nutt said Friday that the governor’s resistance will not change the focus of the transportation funding task force.
“No, the task force will continue its work in the coming months. We have 31 members, they all have different perspectives and we look forward to the dialogue,” she said.
Many, however, are still reluctant to sweep up the entire episode and wonder what strategy the secretary will end up defending when the group completes its work.
MassGOP spokesman Logan Trupiano said Tibbits-Nutt “cannot put this controversy behind her” until she clarifies her policy initiatives.
“Does the secretary really believe she can move forward with these widely unpopular policies, making the community less accessible to everyone?” Trupiano said. “Does she stand by her claim of reaching everyone with money? Impose fees on residents for package deliveries, rideshares, and increase payroll taxes?
Tibbits-Nutt did not directly say whether she regretted anything she said during the WalkMassachusetts event.
“Like I said, I really want to move forward from here,” Tibbits-Nutt said.
Shelter time limit rules come into focus…
Top Democrats in the Legislature are not contesting the Healey administration’s decision to retroactively apply a recently approved nine-month time limit on families’ time in the state shelter system.
Some people in and around the State House were caught off guard when the Massachusetts housing department made clear that families who had been in shelters for more than nine months would begin receiving notices starting June 1 that their benefits could end. on September 1st.
House Speaker Ron Mariano and his budget chief, Aaron Michlewitz, said the supplemental spending bill that included the time limit provision was written to give Healey the “flexibility” to address the crisis.
“The intent behind the legislation was to provide the administration with the flexibility needed to appropriately manage the crisis while ensuring that people in the shelter system have access to the resources they need to eventually successfully exit the system and enter. the workforce,” the pair said in a statement to the Herald.
A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka said it was “the branch’s understanding that the administration is implementing the provisions of the supplemental budget as intended when they were approved by the Legislature.”
“As we have said from the beginning, this is a federal problem that requires comprehensive federal immigration legislation. We need to help the families who are here, but we need help so that we can continue to respond in a way that is humane and fiscally responsible,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Both branches agreed to grant Healey broad authority to draft the regulations or guidance that will determine how families will eventually be expelled from state-funded facilities. The measure signed by Healey earlier this month gives families the chance at two 90-day extensions.
But where people go after their shelter period comes to an end remains an unanswered question in Beacon Hill that has left many scratching their heads, though some have pointed to the possibility of families reapplying for services.
Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, said thousands of families in the shelter system could find themselves scrambling to figure out housing plans once the school year begins.
“That’s right, when school is starting. It will be a very upsetting time for families with children,” Turley told the Herald. “We want to make sure that all resources and supports are available so that families can successfully move out of shelter and into housing and not simply be kicked out of shelter prematurely without having another option prepared.”
