Boston Mayor Marty Walsh wants to ease traffic congestion within the city of Boston, build more affordable housing and distribute more liquor licenses. Most importantly, however, the mayor wants to be able to properly govern the city without stringent oversight from the state.
During Boston Public Radio’s monthly “Ask the Mayor” segment on Friday, Walsh took direct aim at the state legislature, and said that the state’s control over issues such as taxation and regulation is making it difficult for City Hall to react to the needs and concerns of the residents of Boston.
“I’m not picking on the legislature. They’re my friends and I was there and I’m proud that I was a state representative. There are a few [laws] that are antiquated,” Walsh said. “It’s time to make changes to give cities and towns, in this case the city of Boston, more authority to do what we want to do.”
In Massachusetts, the state legislature is able to wield an immense amount of influence over municipalities due to powers granted to them in the state constitution and by law. In 1967, an amendment to the state constitution went into effect that gave the legislature “the sole authority to regulate elections; levy, assess and collect taxes; borrow money or pledge a municipality’s credit; dispose of parkland; enact private or civil laws; and impose criminal penalties.” At the same time, however, the state passed the Home Rule Procedures Act, which codified the process that municipalities, like Boston, can petition the state to allow them to do certain things within their municipality such as raise taxes. Walsh has been a strong critic of the home rule process and believes that Boston should be allowed to operate with more autonomy, similar to other major cities like New York City and Los Angeles.
“It’s really unfair, I think, in a lot of ways, because my colleagues around the country ... they [have] the ability to raise revenue in their cities ... without going to the legislature,” Walsh said. “We have to go to the legislature for everything.”
Most recently, Walsh petitioned the legislature to allow the city to modify real estate transfer taxes and linkage fees on properties sold within the city. Though the city was given approval, on Friday, Walsh said that it can be difficult to govern Boston when the city’s needs are subject to the political ideologies of legislators who live far from the city’s limits.
“That shouldn’t be the case. Not a city like us,” Walsh said. “The voters who voted for myself and the city council, are the same voters that vote for the legislature. So, they’re putting their trust in the people they serve, and in the next election that comes up, if they feel that person has not earned their trust and not done a good job, there’s opportunities and options to exercise that.”
