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Massachusetts Peasants Paying for The Gas
Posted by Raven on June 4th, 2007
Wouldn’t it be nice to have all your gas paid for, by the peasants who elected you to office?
As gas prices soar, taking a toll on many Bay State families, taxpayers have shelled out nearly $200,000 to pay Beacon Hill lawmakers to drive themselves to work, a Herald review has found.
With prices at the pump topping $3 statewide, 68 members of the House and 14 senators have already received more than $1,000 in travel pay this year, with some hauling in nearly $7,000.
The 68 House members who have put in for the daily travel reimbursements have scored an average $1,524 so far this year, while the 20 members of the Senate have fetched an average $1,616.
Western Massachusetts lawmakers top the list, with some making $90 a day to drive to the Golden Dome. The taxpayer-funded payments are based on mileage and are not adjusted to rising and falling gas prices.
The people of MA are being screwed over and I bet 80% don’t even care…and I bet most of them think their elected reps are some how entitled to this special perk.
How does NH handle this?
Barbara Anderson, who heads the taxpayer watchdog group Citizens for Limited Taxation, said per diem payments are a “silly,” outdated concept created when the Legislature was part-time.
“I’d rather it be like New Hampshire, where they get paid (a yearly stipend) plus mileage,” she said. “But in Massachusetts they get everything.”
heh. No…this is Massachusetts where wasting money is more important; it justifies high taxes.
Speaking of taxes and Massachusetts, they want to grab as many bucks as they can…and NH residents who travel to MA can look forward to “paying” for the privilege to drive on the highways of MA…
BOSTON, MA. — Massachusetts lawmakers are debating a plan to place tolls along the New Hampshire border at Interstates 93 and 95 and Route 3 to help pay for Massachusetts’ crumbling roads and bridges.
The sponsor of the bill said if Massachusetts residents have to pay tolls in New Hampshire, it makes sense to do the same for New Hampshire drivers using the Bay State roads and bridges.
The proposal would put tolls on I-93 in Methuen and on I-95 in Salisbury, and another on Route 3 at the New Hampshire border.
Every road that leads drivers into NH, from MA, Maine and Vermont are not toll roads; drivers can reach all local cities via un-tolled highways…yes, we do have tolls but only for folks heading north. Quite a ways up actually. There are tolls between Manchester and Concord; between Nashua and Manchester- but there are also smaller high ways many of take to avoid these tolls, and trust me, many MA residents take as well. It’s a game. Wherever it thinks money can be made, MA is there. Now NH residents can pay for the gas of MA state reps.
