The Worcester Business Journal reports that U.S. Representative James McGovern is lobbying on Capitol Hill for increased tax benefits for mass transit riders. The congressman from Worcester spoke recently at a rail station operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, advocating the same benefits for transit riders that automobile commuters receive.
“It simply makes sense to re-establish parity between parking and mass transit benefits,” McGovern testified before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. “It’s good for employers, good for employees, good for the environment and helps take cars off our congested roads.”
According to a statement from McGovern’s office, commuters who drive to work and park are eligible for up to $240 in pre-tax benefits per month from their employer while commuters who take mass transit are only eligible for up to $125 a month. Commuters who drive and park were additionally eligible for an increase in their monthly parking benefit at the start of 2012 because of an automatic cost-of-living adjustment.
McGovern’s bill, the Commuter Benefits Equity Act, has 74 bipartisan cosponsors.