Beacon Hill Lawmakers Say Sales Tax Hike Won't Fix Transit

Senate President Therese Murray says the 25 percent hike in the state's sales tax included in the budgets passed by the Senate and House won't be enough to address transportation needs.

Her comments come as House and Senate conferees begin working on a budget compromise.

The proposed hike in the state sales tax pledges $275 million of the new money to be used for the state's transportation system. After the weekly leadership meeting, the governor said he is not fundamentally opposed to any sales tax.

"The problem with any broad-based tax is that we haven't always shown the discipline in the Commonwealth to dedicate revenue in a sustained way to a need over time," the governor explained.

He said the reason he has supported raising the gas tax is that it couldn't be diverted to other uses, but he warned he will not support the raising of any new revenues until substantive reforms are made.