Bill > H3347

This bill establishes a fiscal and management control board within the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to oversee the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), aiming to address its severe structural problems, financial imbalances, and operational inefficiencies. The board, composed of five members appointed by the governor, will have broad powers to stabilize and strengthen the MBTA's finances, management, operations, and assets, with objectives including providing a safe and reliable transit system, achieving fiscal stability through balanced budgets, improving service, and modernizing infrastructure. The board will be responsible for creating separate operating and capital budgets, developing long-term financial and capital plans, implementing a performance management system, reorganizing departments, and reviewing contracts and fares, with its existence limited to June 30, 2020, after which the MBTA's original board will resume governance. The bill also introduces a chief administrator who will report to the board and manage the MBTA's day-to-day operations, and it mandates independent audits of retirement and pension benefits for new hires to ensure fiscal responsibility.