Boston lawmakers yesterday "amplified their concerns about the potential for the city to host" the '24 Games, saying that they "were concerned the infrastructure costs to the state would top" $5B, according to Jim O'Sullivan of the BOSTON GLOBE. After "meeting with opponents of the proposal, several members of the Boston delegation said they expected the Legislature to ratchet up its involvement in the planning for the games." Boston 2024 organizers have said that transportation infrastructure spending "would go toward previously planned projects." Boston 2024 Exec VP Erin Murphy Rafferty in an e-mail wrote, "We have been very clear that the operation of the Games will be paid for with revenue from the Games and private funds." But Massachusetts state Reps. Michael Moran and Aaron Michlewitz said that they "were concerned that state coffers would be tapped without sufficient input from lawmakers, and that questions remain about how much." O'Sullivan wrote yesterday's legislative session "provided the latest, and perhaps loudest, reminder" from state officials that "the road to Boston 2024 runs through Beacon Hill" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/27). A BOSTON HERALD editorial stated it is "most critical that organizers include the public in the next phase of the competition, if they have a prayer of building necessary public support for the bid." As the process moves forward, Boston 2024 organizers "would be well advised to err on the side of more disclosure, not less" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/21).
FEDERAL RESERVE? A BOSTON GLOBE editorial ran under the header, "U.S. Should Foot Part Of The Bill For Olympics." The financing for past U.S. Olympic bids "has been done largely by the host cities or private organizations that raise funds for their city’s hosting effort." A better approach "would be for the federal government to develop a standard formula for the share it will pay." Such a formula "should start with the security costs; in the age of terrorism, that is and should be a federal responsibility." It should then "calculate a realistic meat-and-potatoes budget for holding the Olympic Games in this country." The cost to the federal government "wouldn't be exorbitant." When a U.S. city is selected, the Games "should be considered a national event of sorts" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/26).
