Ask your legislator.Byline: Karyn Polito COLUMN: ASK YOUR LEGISLATOR LEGISLATOR. One who makes laws. 2. In order to make good laws, it is necessary to understand those which are in force; the legislator ought therefore, to be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of the laws of his country, their advantages and defects; to State Rep (programming) REP - A directive used in IBM object code card decks (and later PTF Tapes) to REPlace fragments of already assembled or compiled object code prior to link edit. . Karyn E. Polito, R-Shrewsbury, whose district includes Shrewsbury and part of Westboro, will answer constituents' questions in the Flash. Send your questions to flash@telegram.com. This spring, the Legislature passed a law to reform our state's transportation system. As 2009 starts to wrap up, we are just starting to see some of those reforms take effect. Secretary Jeffrey Mullan took over as the new secretary of the Massachusetts Division of Transportation on Nov. 1, and recently held a meeting with legislators to say that he plans to run the new transportation division "like a streamlined business enterprise, with a priority on cost saving and efficiencies, as well as strengthening our focus on customer service and safety." He's got a long road ahead of him. He is inheriting in·her·it v. in·her·it·ed, in·her·it·ing, in·her·its v.tr. 1. a. To receive (property or a title, for example) from an ancestor by legal succession or will. b. a history of transportation troubles and an ever-growing government bureaucracy. Since 2007, the combined payroll of the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. and the Massachusetts Highway Department has increased by 20 percent, the number of six-figure jobs in the transportation sector has more than doubled, and the number of deputies to the Secretary of Transportation has gone from three to eight. As transportation secretaries have come and gone, staff has stayed in place, and new staff have been added to the payroll. And debt continues to play an ominous role, with the MBTA MBTA Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority MBTA Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 MBTA Model-Based Tracking Algorithm alone registering over $8 billion in debt, and there are reports that over $500 million in "safety critical" transportation repairs were not funded for this year. As our revenues continue to sink and tolls and taxes have increased, it's hard to hear that our state leaders are growing their executive staffs rather than focusing on the safety of our citizens. I am hopeful that Secretary Mullan will be able to make the difficult choices that need to be made, and bring about effective, lasting reform to our transportation system. But I think the Legislature also needs to consider a new round of real reform to scale back some of the recent, unsustainable growth in the transportation division. Let's see if a "business approach" can tackle our state's biggest monster. |
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