Baker Vows To Veto Massachusetts Gas Tax Increase

BOSTON, MA — Gov. Charlie Baker plans to veto a gas tax increase included in a massive transportation bill that passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives Wednesday.

"First of all we have a long way to go in this process," Baker told the Boston Herald, which first reported this story. "I don’t really like to speculate about that stuff, but I said before that we don’t support a gas tax and if one were to come through we would veto it."

The bill would raise $612 million in new taxes and fees for transportation system upgrades in Massachusetts. Last week, Baker said he opposed the gas tax increase but stopped short of saying he would veto it.

In addition to raising the state gas tax to 29 cents from 24 cents, or 20.8 percent, per gallon, the legislation calls for increased fees on ridesharing trips offered by companies like Uber and Lyft, as well as the first increase to the state's corporate tax minimum in a generation. In his own transportation proposal introduced last month, Baker had called for more modest increases on ridesharing fees.

Among the taxes and fees in the bill:

• A nickel increase in the state gasoline tax to 29 cents per gallon for regular and 33 cents for diesel. Lawmakers said the increase would generate an additional $182 million to $207 million per year.
• Increasing the fee for non-shared Uber and Lyft rides to $1.20 from 20 cents per trip. That was similar to the $1 fee increase Gov. Charlie Baker proposed last month. But legislators also want to increase the fee for non-shared luxury rides to $2.20 per trip. The fee for shared rides would remain at 20 cents.
• The creation of a nine-tier system for corporate tax minimums, which would add between $100 million and $150 million in new revenue. Under the current single-tier system, most companies pay $456 per year, regardless of how big they are. The new tax would see the biggest companies in the state paying $150,000 per year.
• An end to a provision in state law which allowed car rental companies to forgo paying sales tax, which could raise an additional $110 million per year.