Evangelidis Blasts Expanded Bottle Bill

Representative Lewis Evangelidis recently submitted the following Letter to the Editor to local papers in his district.

Dear Editor:

The folks in Central Massachusetts should watch our wallets, the Boston political crowd is coming after us again.

To pay for the spiraling cost of the Big Dig, something which most of us never use (and many of us have never seen), we are heading for a huge hike in the gas tax for everyone in Massachusetts. The prevailing attitude in Boston is to make everyone pay for their political boondoggles.

Another attempt to pick your pocket was on display was in Governor Patrick’s budget proposal this week. The Governor is proposing a dramatic expansion of the bottle bill yet he is not even pretending that it is being done to benefit the environment. He has simply estimated that this will raise an additional $20 million in unclaimed deposit refunds. Conveniently it is the Commonwealth who gets to keep those unclaimed funds. The real insult is where this estimated $20 million is going. $10 million is being earmarked directly for the people in the Boston area to have their water and sewer bills reduced.

I’m not even going to talk about the Governor’s proposals to increase the meals tax, room occupancy tax, alcohol taxes, and candy tax before we have addressed the issue of long overdue reforms to our pension and transportation systems on Beacon Hill.

So when you’re filling up your tank or tossing you returnables into the recycling bin I hope you think about how much the people in Boston appreciate your generosity. Just don’t expect any thank you notes.

Lew Evangelidis
State Representative
1st District of Worcester