Massachusetts lawmakers overrode Gov. Deval Patrick’s veto of a $500 million transportation funding bill that will raise the gasoline tax by 3 cents per gallon.
The House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday voted 123-33 and 35-5, respectively, to override Patrick’s veto of five days earlier.
Patrick said the bill did not reflect an expected revenue shortfall should state officials remove tolls from most of the Massachusetts Turnpike in 2017.
Under the bill, the gas tax will be 26.5 cents a gallon and the cigarette tax will rise by $1 to $3.51 a pack. The legislation also levies a 6.25% sales tax on software services.
The legislature also unanimously overrode Patrick’s veto of $177 million, or just under 20%, from $920.2 million in unrestricted local aid in the $34 billion state budget for fiscal 2014.
Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s assign AA-plus ratings to the commonwealth’s general obligation bonds, while Moody’s Investors Service rates them Aa1.
