TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

TCI costs are a non-solution for rural Vermonters and targets us with unnecessary and unequitable costs. My family has no options but to use our vehicles for obtaining work, school, and basic life necessities. Mass transportation is neither effective nor efficient in a rural environment. I cannot walk or bike with my young children along the rural Town roads as a main source of transportation due to having no distinguishable shoulder for safe traversing. When a vehicle approaches as we walk on these roads, we must leave the road and enter the long grass and weeds which are ripe with ticks and yellow or poison parsnip and the occasional used syringe. For as many as 6-7 months of the year the plowed snow debris leaves no options for getting off the road and out of the way of traffic. Vermont’s State roads are no better than the rural roads regarding accessible shoulder space in our area.
I would also like to point out that the State of Vermont is the largest contributor to transportation generated pollution. The State of Vermont is the largest employer in the State, all those State employees have to commute to and from work, increasing transportation generated pollution. Additionally, the State of Vermont by far, has the largest inventory of vehicles of any entity in the State, which are used by the State Employees to perform State functions such as policing, forestry, fish and game enforcement, highway maintenance, parks management, DMV enforcement, and many other entities and purposes. I am not debating the necessity of these transportation assets, my transportation requirements are as necessary to me and my family as they State’s requirements are necessary to the State. My family should not be penalized financially to meet our needs to subsidize the only growing transportation generated pollution caused by the State of Vermont.
If you want to reduce transportation generated pollution in the State of Vermont, you must first look to the largest generator of such pollution, the State’s Government and Agencies.

TCI spelled differently is TAX. Do not approve any legislation which authorizes TAX err, TCI!

Article XXIII of Part the First of the Massachusetts Constitution states: "No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duties, ought to be established, fixed, laid, or levied, under any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the people or their representatives in the legislature. " Massachusetts will become just like California where people are leaving the state in droves due to excessive taxation. Climate change, formerly known as "global warming", is nothing more than redistribution of wealth. If the earth "has a fever", why is most of the country in a deep freeze now, November 13? We are not stupid. We will not vote for Governor Baker again if he refuses to allow this initiative to go forward without a legislative debate and vote.

Once again the people of Massachusetts are NOT being represented by the self serving idiots that unfortunately have been elected to do so. This is nothing more than another shakedown of the people of this state. The total disregard of the laws is absolutely amazing by the greedy unlawful and deceitful thieves we have representing us. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are nothing more than pigs wallowing in the crap that you have made this state overflow with.

Without the benefit of a public vote, the enactment of TCI would not be supported by taxpayers and may be in violation of state tax law.
Further, TCI would be a regressive act, disproportionally punishing lower income workers who commute to work. Aren’t there other ways to address a global issue than to raise the cost of living for US citizens via a new revenue schemes?

I drive daily providing music lessons to my students within their homes. A tax on gas will put my income in jeopardy and would have to raise my rates and potentially lose students to this plan. It's unfair and will hurt my business. Please reconsider. Thank you.

In Vermont, the transportation sector has the largest contribution to statewide greenhouse gas emissions. Many Vermonters must also drive long distances between their homes and their jobs, making affordable transportation a critical economic equity and social welfare issue. I strongly support the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) as a tool that can quickly reduce regional transportation GHG emissions. However, we must be careful to design TCI so as to make affordable, low-carbon transportation options available to rural citizens in the region.

1. It is unconstitutional to impose new taxes unless a bill is introduced in the House of Representatives. This is a tax imposed by fiat.
2. The voters of Massachusetts made it abundantly clear that they reject an increase in the gas tax by a referendum just a few years ago
3. Since the mass dpw spends 4 times as much per mile as New Hampshire and twice as much as New York it is unconscionable to ask for more money until the most basic of fiscal controls are placed on their expenditures