Key house chair challenges MBTA’s portrayal of growing deficits

STATE HOUSE — As state transportation officials grapple with a yawning projected deficits and spotty performance at the MBTA, they confronted a philosophical disagreement on Wednesday from Rep. William Straus, the House's pointman on transportation. A report of the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board identified a growing deficit between the T's statutory and self-generated revenues and its expenses, a gap set to hit $242 million in fiscal 2017.

STATE HOUSE — As state transportation officials grapple with a yawning projected deficits and spotty performance at the MBTA, they confronted a philosophical disagreement on Wednesday from Rep. William Straus, the House's pointman on transportation. A report of the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board identified a growing deficit between the T's statutory and self-generated revenues and its expenses, a gap set to hit $242 million in fiscal 2017.…