When Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt addressed the advocacy group Walk Massachusetts earlier this month, she spoke candidly about both how she approaches her job and the steps she'd like to see the state take to raise money for transportation-related costs. In retrospect though, Tibbits-Nutt may have been too unguarded. Her comments — including a suggestion that the state impose tolls on vehicles entering from elsewhere, and a dig at big pickup trucks — blew up among conservatives, who depicted Tibbits-Nutt as a tax-happy progressive elitist. And they earned multiple rebukes from Gov. Maura Healey, who made a point of saying that Tibbits-Nutt chose her words poorly.
How will the kerfuffle affect Tibbits-Nutt's ability to advocate for her priorities in the Healey administration — and the governor's ability to make her own agenda a reality?
Adam Reilly is joined by former Massachusetts transportation secretary Jim Aloisi and Bruce Mohl, the editor of Commonwealth Beacon, to discuss the controversy and its political and policymaking implications.
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