Amendment #164 to H4100

Freeze on MBTA Expansion

Representatives Jones of North Reading, Peterson of Grafton, Hill of Ipswich, Poirier of North Attleborough, deMacedo of Plymouth, Adams of Andover, Barrows of Mansfield, Bastien of Gardner, Beaton of Shrewsbury, Boldyga of Southwick, D'Emilia of Bridgewater, Diehl of Whitman, Fattman of Sutton, Frost of Auburn, Gifford of Wareham, Harrington of Groton, Howitt of Seekonk, Humason of Westfield, Hunt of Sandwich, Kuros of Uxbridge, Levy of Marlborough, Lombardo of Billerica, Lyons of Andover, O'Connell of Taunton, Ross of Attleboro, Smola of Palmer, Vieira of Falmouth, Webster of Pembroke, Winslow of Norfolk, Wong of Saugus, Durant of Spencer and Orrall of Lakeville move to amend the bill by inserting, after SECTION XX, the following section:—

"SECTION XX. Prior to expending any further funds for any rail expansion project, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or the state agency initiating the expansion of rail service shall conduct a cost analysis reflecting the profitability of the proposed project.  This cost analysis shall include any and all costs associated with the project including debt service, construction costs, future maintenance and associated costs. The auditor of the commonwealth shall request that the administrator of the appropriate division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation prepare the fiscal analysis, including life cycle costs, demonstrating that sufficient revenues exist or will be generated to operate and maintain in good repair the expansion. This analysis shall also be submitted to the joint legislative committee on revenue.  If the cost analysis shows that the expansion is deemed unprofitable, then the expansion shall not proceed."