Bay State considers taxing pickup truck drivers in a move that neighboring residents call an ‘unnecessary’ money grab

The prospect of tolling drivers coming through the state of Massachusetts has set off some Americans, including average citizens and local politicians, according to the Daily Mail.

New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, 49, was just one among many to speak out against the recent development. He spoke out about the situation after the idea was suggested by Bay State Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt.

The Republican governor said that the idea was “yet another way to unnecessarily take [citizens’] money,” suggesting that truck drivers would be taxed at the state border.

The bill has not yet been written, but it would affect travelers on roads, rails, and local transit systems, according to Tibbits-Nutt. And it would be in effect throughout the whole state of Massachusetts.

Tibbits-Nutt also said: “We can’t price them high enough or put enough fees on them … that’s going to stop the type of person who wants to buy that car.”

“I am 100% passing judgment on someone who wants to drive basically an 18-wheeler as their personal car, we have no control over it,” she continued.

“We can’t. There’s nothing we can do. At least legally, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Blaze News reached out to Mass Fiscal‘s Paul Craney, who said: “Governor Maura Healey’s Secretary of Transportation clearly doesn’t know that her job is to make life easier for all of the resident of Massachusetts. Instead it seems like she thinks her job is to fulfill extreme ideological goals for special interest organizations.”

“The Governor’s Secretary said she wants to build tolls at the state border, this would create a traffic nightmare for neighboring Massachusetts communities, and it would deter workers from out of state from traveling to Massachusetts. There is no upside to putting tolls at he border,” Craney continued.

“The Secretary of Transportation made a profound policy statement when she declared ‘we’re going after all the people who should be giving us money.’ That could come back to hurt Governor Healey when she decides to run for re-election in two years. This type of attitude doesn’t win you elections in Massachusetts or virtually anywhere else.”

In a previous report, Craney said it was “frightening to think an official so high up in the Healey administration is bragging to a special interest advocacy group about the economic pain she wants to inflict on the very people who she’s supposed to work for,” referring to Tibbits-Nutt.