December 01, 2008
107 Massachusetts workers lose cars
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is yanking car keys from 107 state workers, about 20 percent of those assigned government vehicles they can take home at night.
So far, New York Governor David Paterson, who also is tackling huge budget gaps, has not announced a similar plan.
According to the Boston Herald (here),
Starting Jan. 1, employees will have to use their vehicles for a minimum of 15,000 miles a year on state business in order to justify taking home a car....
The administration is also considering charging workers 45 cents per mile on their drive between work and home, because other state employees pay for their own commute.
In August the Herald reported that more than 500 workers--including elevator inspectors, a tree climber and a bridge painter--could take home state-owned vehicles.
In an editorial, the Worcester Telegram here called Patrick's move "a welcome start," but it doesn't go far enough.
Given that the state maintains a fleet of some 10,000 vehicles, it's unclear whether the move qualifies as a crackdown. Allowing those employees who are called upon regularly to respond to emergencies outside of normal working hours to take home state vehicles is reasonable, even commendable management. Assigning take-home home vehicles that, in effect, are a taxpayer subsidy of the employee's commuting costs is not.
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