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Not terribly helpful to the 19, 25, and 29 cent gas tax supporters

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Obama Administration Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood opines on a recent federal commission’s call to raise the federal gas tax by 10 cents: With the economy the way it is right now, trying to propose a 10-cent a gallon increase in the gasoline tax is not going to fly anywhere in America, including Washington, D.C…Ten cents a gallon increase is not modest, it’s impossible…We are in one of the worst economies we’ve been in since 1982. I was a staffer on Capitol Hill in 1982 and I know how bad it was because I was working for a guy who was representing Caterpillar and things were bad. We’ve got to be talking differently than raising taxes.

Sidewalk Superintendent Series: Downtown Crossing

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(An irregular series where your loyal correspondent provides urban planning and architectural advice, despite having no actual qualifications to do so.) Mayor Menino’s recent trip through Downtown Crossing brought lots of attention. The Globe correspondent who accompanied him noted that he skipped much of the actual Downtown Crossing. And Globe columnist Adrian Walker chipped in with more critical comments: A burrito shop just opened in the shadow of upscale new condos on Province Street, and the city believes this is a mark of success. The development of the space has been much discussed — whether to let cars back in or not; what will replace Filene’s; and whether the area is safe, just to name a few topics. I’m not […]

Our charters are especially good

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Our charters are different. Massachusetts staked out non-ideological ground in creating the charter school approval and accountability processes. We did not just say to all comers — Oh, you want to start a charter, sure. After all, charters are public schools and they use public dollars. With this thinking in mind, Massachusetts developed a thorough vetting and planning process for applicants. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (once upon the Department of Education) works to ensure that any proposal advanced by the Commissioner to the Board of Education is one worthy of consideration. Only a handful get past in any one year. This year only one was approved (ahem, with some unfortunate strings attached). We also close down charters […]

Assignment Desk: Pension Obligation Bonds

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Pension Obligation Bonds were one method that a number of municipalities used to ‘fund’ their unfunded pension liabilities. The thinking was that issuing bonds at a fixed rate, then putting that money into the pension fund (where it hypothetically earned a return higher than the fixed rate) made sense. There is some logic here — it turns the somewhat malleable notion of the yearly pay-in to the pension fund into a hard number owed to bond holders. And, over the long run, most pension funds earned in excess of the typical bond interest rate. But, we are in a brutal short-term (we hope) downturn with massive losses across almost all investment classes. Bloomberg has an article on a number of […]

A Private Lottery?

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Treasurer Cahill floated the notion of privatizing the lottery yesterday and today. Several legislators were quick to dismiss it out of hand, which I believe is a mistake. The skeptics seemed locked into the notion that a long-term lease of the lottery requires a large, upfront payment. While the lottery provides a vital flow of funds to cities and towns, it clearly reaching the limits of its market, given the erratic nature of revenues over the past few years and the potential competition that slots/casinos/whatever might provide. Would it be possible to have a serious conversation about what a long-term lease might look like and what the state would prioritize in an RFP? Would a potential bidder guarantee a predictable […]