House passes bill to funnel millions into local road infrastructures

Photo I Colin A. Young/SHNS Among the flood damage that Gov. Maura Healey saw during her Tuesday morning trip to North Attleborough was a deluged parking lot at a former Fisher College location.

Write a Comment

By Alison Kuznitz I State House News Service

The House unanimously passed an enhanced Chapter 90 local road funding bond bill Wednesday, as Democrats touted a "fiscally responsible" borrowing approach that will also unlock millions of dollars for other local infrastructure needs throughout the state.

Four hours after the House Ways and Means Committee surfaced the redrafted $1.185 billion bill (H 4307), the measure cleared the House on a 156-0 vote. Reps. Manny Cruz, Michael Day, David Vieira and Marc Lombardo did not vote. Rep. John Lawn, who last week was charged with drunken driving and leaving the scene of a crash, voted in favor of the bill, according to the roll call.

"House 4307 is a fiscally responsible proposal that builds upon our strategic appropriations to expand our borrowing capacity through the Commonwealth Transportation Fund," Rep. James Arciero, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said on the House floor. "As a direct result of those investments, we can confidently offer much needed transportation funds for our cities and towns across the commonwealth in the face of federal uncertainty from Washington, D.C."

Arciero, a Westford Democrat, said the bill promotes "regional equity."

The legislation is based on a proposal that Gov. Maura Healey filed in January that sought to authorize $1.5 billion in Chapter 90 local road and bridge funding over a five-year period. The Transportation Committee later scaled down that approach to one year over federal funding concerns.

The smaller package nearly immediately cleared the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets after a hearing Monday. It allocates $300 million for the latest annual Chapter 90 reauthorization, with $100 million of that pot to be doled out based on a different road mileage formula meant to better support rural communities.

The bill also incorporates $885 million in borrowing to support various infrastructure initiatives, including $500 million for the Mass. Department of Transportation road and bridge lifecycle asset management program, $200 million to replace and modernize culverts and small bridges, and $185 million for capital investments to "reduce congestion hotspots and increase street safety statewide," according to a summary.

Rep. Michael Finn, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, highlighted the state's strong bond ratings and described the Commonwealth Transportation Fund as an "even stronger representation of fiscal success."

"Bonds issued through these funds carry a AAA rating from S&P, the highest possible, thanks to the stability of the gas tax and RMV fee revenues, as well as the fund's safeguards that protect bondholders," Finn, a West Springfield Democrat, said. "Continuing to give this administration the flexibility has many benefits. First and most importantly, it saves us money."

Finn said that rating translates into comparable or lower interest rates than for general obligation bonds, which could potentially save Massachusetts "millions of dollars" and make more money available "in the absence of our federal partners."

"The flexibility to choose between general obligation and special obligation bonds allows us to adapt to changing market conditions, mitigate risks, and allows the commonwealth to respond nimbly to ever-changing challenges and uncertainties," Finn said. "Finally, today's legislation sends a very strong message to our credit rating agencies that the commonwealth of Massachusetts takes our debt management seriously."

The bill's infrastructure investments also forge a climate resiliency strategy.

Arciero, invoking additional dollars for culverts, said the structures can protect roads from "washing out" during severe weather. Earlier this month, the National Weather Service had warned of "life threatening flash flooding" in parts of Suffolk, Norfolk and Plymouth counties.

"This program, therefore, is necessary not only for its environmental benefits of stormwater management and better ravine flow, but also to prepare against the possibility of a neighborhood cut off or isolated by a washed-out road," Arciero said.

The bill now heads to the Senate, which meets Thursday but has not announced a timeline for taking up the annual measure.