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Local Aid and Finance Legislature wraps up formal sessions
In an intense end to formal legislative sessions for the year, the House and Senate debated and sent to Gov. Deval Patrick dozens of bills in the days and hours leading up the July 31 deadline covering a variety of policy and spending issues, including a number affecting cities and towns.
The Legislature did not, however, take action on a number of bills opposed by the MMA that would have increased costs for local government or hampered local administration.
The governor has 10 days to decide which bills he will sign and which he will veto.
The Legislature will continue to meet in informal sessions for the rest of the year, but is expected to take up only minor legislation where there are no objections.
For some of the larger bills, particularly the capital spending bills, it will take several days to fully analyze and prepare summaries of the final provisions. Details will be posted here as soon as they become available.
The following is a summary of end-of-the-session legislative action that affects municipalities:
Fiscal 2008 deficiency budget
A final deficiency budget approved by the Legislature to close out fiscal 2008 includes $236 million to cover Lottery deficits in fiscal 2007 and 2008 and $4.7 million to fully fund reimbursements paid to municipalities and school districts to cover losses attributable to charter school tuition payments.
The Lottery funding does not provide any additional revenue to cities and towns; it cover shortfalls between the Cherry Sheet Lottery distributions and the Lottery revenues available to fund the distributions.
The Legislature did not include the expanded “9C” authority requested by the governor that would have allowed him to make unilateral mid-year local aid cuts if state tax collections fall below projections.
Capital spending bills
The Legislature approved a series of multi-year bond-financed capital spending bills, totaling more than $10 billion, that were originally filed by the governor last fall and this spring. The bills cover capital investment in transportation, water, sewer and other environmental infrastructure, public colleges and universities, broadband access, and miscellaneous state and local infrastructure, including local libraries.
The transportation bond bill includes $350 million in new funding for the Chapter 90 local road program over the next two years (fiscal 2010 and 2011), $50 million for Public Works Economic Development grants; $15 million in new funding for the Small Town Road Assistance Program; $20 million for transit-oriented development; $50 million for growth district initiatives; and $45 million for off-street parking grants.
The environmental bond bill includes $25 million in grants for municipalities and public water suppliers to upgrade drinking water systems, a no-interest loan program for cities and towns with nutrient-loading water pollution problems, a water infrastructure finance commission (on which the MMA would participate), and a new land conservation tax incentive program.
E911
The Legislature sent to the governor a bill re-authorizing the E911 program, including new revenue to help fund local public safety answering point facilities.
Legislation opposed by the MMA
The House did not take up a Senate-approved bill that would have required cities and towns to implement Election Day voter registration for the November 2008 election. The MMA joined with city and towns clerks to express concern about the financial impact on already-tight municipal budgets.
The Senate did not take up House-approved bill that would have restricted eminent domain authority.
Neither branch took up legislation to reform the open meeting law, due mainly to a dispute over a plan to impose civil penalties on individual local officials.
Budget vetoes
The Legislature overrode about half of the $123 million in vetoes the governor made when signing the fiscal 2009 budget last month, including adding back $5 million for the sewer rate relief program and $250,000 for the Chapter 70 hardship (“pothole”) account.
The Legislature also changed and sent back to the governor his proposed amendment to the Legislature’s budget provision to increase in the base on which the cost-of-living allowance for state employees and teachers is calculated. The new provision does not affect municipal employees.
Local Aid and Finance Legislature wraps up formal sessions
Legislature wraps up formal sessions
In an intense end to formal legislative sessions for the year, the House and Senate debated and sent to Gov. Deval Patrick dozens of bills in the days and hours leading up the July 31 deadline covering a variety of policy and spending issues, including a number affecting cities and towns.
The Legislature did not, however, take action on a number of bills opposed by the MMA that would have increased costs for local government or hampered local administration.
The governor has 10 days to decide which bills he will sign and which he will veto.
The Legislature will continue to meet in informal sessions for the rest of the year, but is expected to take up only minor legislation where there are no objections.
For some of the larger bills, particularly the capital spending bills, it will take several days to fully analyze and prepare summaries of the final provisions. Details will be posted here as soon as they become available.
The following is a summary of end-of-the-session legislative action that affects municipalities:
Fiscal 2008 deficiency budget
A final deficiency budget approved by the Legislature to close out fiscal 2008 includes $236 million to cover Lottery deficits in fiscal 2007 and 2008 and $4.7 million to fully fund reimbursements paid to municipalities and school districts to cover losses attributable to charter school tuition payments.
The Lottery funding does not provide any additional revenue to cities and towns; it cover shortfalls between the Cherry Sheet Lottery distributions and the Lottery revenues available to fund the distributions.
The Legislature did not include the expanded “9C” authority requested by the governor that would have allowed him to make unilateral mid-year local aid cuts if state tax collections fall below projections.
Capital spending bills
The Legislature approved a series of multi-year bond-financed capital spending bills, totaling more than $10 billion, that were originally filed by the governor last fall and this spring. The bills cover capital investment in transportation, water, sewer and other environmental infrastructure, public colleges and universities, broadband access, and miscellaneous state and local infrastructure, including local libraries.
The transportation bond bill includes $350 million in new funding for the Chapter 90 local road program over the next two years (fiscal 2010 and 2011), $50 million for Public Works Economic Development grants; $15 million in new funding for the Small Town Road Assistance Program; $20 million for transit-oriented development; $50 million for growth district initiatives; and $45 million for off-street parking grants.
The environmental bond bill includes $25 million in grants for municipalities and public water suppliers to upgrade drinking water systems, a no-interest loan program for cities and towns with nutrient-loading water pollution problems, a water infrastructure finance commission (on which the MMA would participate), and a new land conservation tax incentive program.
E911
The Legislature sent to the governor a bill re-authorizing the E911 program, including new revenue to help fund local public safety answering point facilities.
Legislation opposed by the MMA
The House did not take up a Senate-approved bill that would have required cities and towns to implement Election Day voter registration for the November 2008 election. The MMA joined with city and towns clerks to express concern about the financial impact on already-tight municipal budgets.
The Senate did not take up House-approved bill that would have restricted eminent domain authority.
Neither branch took up legislation to reform the open meeting law, due mainly to a dispute over a plan to impose civil penalties on individual local officials.
Budget vetoes
The Legislature overrode about half of the $123 million in vetoes the governor made when signing the fiscal 2009 budget last month, including adding back $5 million for the sewer rate relief program and $250,000 for the Chapter 70 hardship (“pothole”) account.
The Legislature also changed and sent back to the governor his proposed amendment to the Legislature’s budget provision to increase in the base on which the cost-of-living allowance for state employees and teachers is calculated. The new provision does not affect municipal employees.
Written by MMA Legislative Director John Robertson
