Faced with the potential loss of federal funds and missed opportunities for the Spring construction season, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a $3.5 billion transportation bond bill during the week of April 10th. While the House sought to pass legislation that merely qualified the Commonwealth for matching federal funds, the Senate signaled its intent to include a number of transportation reforms. After a press conference attended by Governor Deval Patrick, House Speaker Sal DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray, Senate transportation reforms governing police details, design-build construction and construction transparency were unveiled. While the larger cost savings measures related to how construction jobs are awarded and tracked were largely ignored, the majority of attention focused on the proposed regulation of the use of police details on construction jobs. Specifically, the bill includes a provision enabling the Executive Office of Transportation and the Executive Office of Public Safety to devise regulations governing the use of police officers and civilian flagmen to manage traffic around construction sites.

According to the report released last Fall by the Transportation Finance Commission, the Commonwealth is facing a transportation funding shortfall of $17-$19 billion for the maintenance and construction of bridges and roads. This legislation, passed in quick fashion to meet the start of the new construction season, saw the removal of many project specific line-items that normally dominate the transportation bond bill. With that in mind, the House of Representatives plans to move forward with a second, project-specific, transportation bond bill after it deliberates the fiscal year 2009 budget. The House will look to include further transportation reform measures in the second bond bill as a way to further eliminate the Commonwealth's funding shortfall. Note, the Legislature has stated that it must exhaust reform efforts before it considers any potential tax (i.e. gas tax, tolls, etc.) increase. It remains to be seen what additional reform efforts, apart from the Governor's proposed transportation agency reorganization, will remain after the passage of the second transportation bond bill.