On May 8, I joined my colleagues in the Senate as we debated a proposal to spend $1.33 billion in surplus funds generated by the Fair Share Amendment. Amid waves of uncertainty at the national level and devastating federal cuts, we set to work figuring out how to best invest these funds equitably into education and transportation infrastructure across the Commonwealth.
Earlier in April, I questioned Transportation Secretary Tibbits-Nutt about the Governor’s spending proposal, out of a concern that nearly 90% of available transportation funds in the Governor’s proposal were for the MBTA.
Our calls for regional equity were heard by the Senate. The bill the Senate passed on May 8 will provide transportation solutions for small, rural towns, will begin addressing the debilitating backlog of deferred maintenance on public higher education campuses, will provide meaningful help to school budgets pushed to the breaking point, and more. I speak about the Senate’s proposal during the debate.
For the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district, my team and I worked to include the following wins in the version of this bill that passed the Senate.
- Education:
- $200,000 to the town of Winchendon for capital improvements to the public schools
- $100,000 to the Pioneer Valley regional school district
- $75,000 to the Ralph C. Mahar regional school district
- $75,000 to the Hatfield public schools
- $75,000 to the Gill-Montague regional school district
- $50,000 to the Athol-Royalston regional school district
- $50,000 to the Sunderland elementary school
- $50,000 to Greenfield public schools
- Transportation:
- $75,000 for a public bikeshare program that serves residents of Amherst, Hadley and Northampton and surrounding municipalities
These wins build on the following items that were introduced in the base spending package:
- Public Higher Education Deferred Maintenance: $175 million for higher education overall, including $10 million specifically for lab resources for community colleges and $10 million specifically for an expansion of the UMass Amherst School of Nursing training center.
- Regional Equity in Transportation, including:
- $50 million for capital improvements to equipment and facilities at Regional Transit Authorities, which serve and connect all regions of the Commonwealth;
- $25 million for efforts to improve workforce recruitment and retention at the Regional Transit Authorities;
- $10 million for on-demand micro-transit shuttles and Last Mile grants fostering an innovative multimodal transit system
- $25 million for small bridges and culverts; and
- $165 million for supplemental Chapter 90, including $82.5 million to be distributed based on a municipality’s share of road mileage.
- Special Education Costs: $248 million, including circuit breaker reimbursements to local school districts.
- Career Technical Education Capital Grants: $100 million to expand capacity and accommodate additional career technical education.
A reminder that this supplemental budget will need to be reconciled with the version passed by the House, before a final version can be sent to the Governor to be signed into law.
Read on for more information on the spending included in the proposal.
