The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance released the following statement today following news that the Baker administration will be withdrawing Massachusetts from the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) gas tax scheme.
Originally envisioned as a compact of 12 different states stretching from Virginia to Maine, Massachusetts was the only state to fully commit itself to the scheme once final details were released in December of 2020. Earlier this week, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced that his state would no longer be pursuing the compact in light of rising gas prices and political opposition within his own Democratic-controlled legislature.
“Since November 2019, MassFiscal and its coalition partners have fought to defeat TCI in all the 12 states considering it, including in Massachusetts. We saw a great deal of success defeating it in every other state it was proposed, and we are so pleased to finally see it defeated in Massachusetts,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
“TCI is a regressive gas tax scheme that would have hurt middle class and the working poor the most. It’s such wonderful news to see that Massachusetts families will not be forced to endure the economic hardship TCI would have imposed upon them,” said Craney.
“MassFiscal took a lot of punches for usually being the loudest voice against TCI. At times, we were the only voice. We worked diligently to ensure people knew exactly what it was that policy makers were getting our state into and by the end we formed a solid and robust coalition of opponents. MassFiscal is stronger for the effort. Ultimately, it’s the everyday citizens of Massachusetts that benefited the most for our persistent advocacy to see the program ended and never settling for anything less than its defeat,” said Craney.
“I’d like to thank the many people and organizations in our state who put in the time and hard work to educate the public on the realities of this regressive tax scheme and who worked to stop it. This includes Chip Ford at Citizens for Limited Taxation, the Beacon Hill Institute, the Committee to Stop the TCI Tax, the bipartisan group of petitioners who sought to bring the TCI repeal forward as a ballot question in 2022, the New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association, Chris Carlozzi at the National Federation of Independent Business, MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons, Howie Carr, everyone else who worked so hard to get this done,” closed Craney.