Mass. mayors urge legislators to pass Municipal Empowerment Act

Dear Distinguished Members of the General Court of Massachusetts:

We are writing to express our strong support for H. 5131, An Act empowering municipalities and local governments, an updated version of the Municipal Empowerment Act (MEA) first filed by Governor Healey. We believe this no-cost legislation is a powerful tool to modernize municipal government functions and we strongly urge its passage.

The bill still contains important flexibilities and tools for local governments, such as codifying existing allowances for remote public meeting options, increasing borrowing terms for all public buildings, and allowing the amortization of emergency-related deficit spending over three years. The MEA also streamlines and modernizes municipal processes, such as increasing the procurement threshold under 30B for parity among all municipal purchases, updating the enforcement mechanisms for double pole violations, streamlining cooperative purchasing agreements to allow for the procurement of goods and services, and aligning snow hauling services with snow plowing services as exempt from Chapter 30B.

These are just some of the aspects of this proposal, but in total, they would generate relief to taxpayers through operational efficiency, removing unnecessary burdens, and promoting public safety. They may seem like small components, but these all add up to big changes for our cities across the Commonwealth. Passing this bill will help arm municipalities with greater tools, create more efficiencies, and make it easier for communities to provide essential municipal services for their residents.

As municipal leaders across Massachusetts, mayors feel the weight of current fiscal constraints and know the importance of providing efficient, effective and cost-saving services. We are proud to support the Municipal Empowerment Act and know that its passage is key to building more resilient, modern, and agile cities to serve our residents.

Sincerely,

Adam Chapdelaine
Executive Director & CEO,
Massachusetts Municipal Association

Mayor Joshua Garcia
Holyoke
President, Massachusetts Mayors Association

Mayor Christopher Johnson
Agawam

Mayor Kassandra Gove
Amesbury

Mayor Michael Cahill
Beverly

Mayor Michelle Wu
Boston

Mayor Moises Rodrigues
Brockton

Mayor Salem Derby
Easthampton

Mayor Robert Van Campen
Everett

Mayor Paul Coogan
Fall River

Mayor Sam Squailia
Fitchburg

Mayor Michael Nicholson
Gardner

Mayor Paul Lundberg
Gloucester

Mayor Virginia DeSorgher
Greenfield

Mayor Melinda Barrett
Haverhill

Mayor Brian DePeña
Lawrence

Mayor Jared Nicholson
Lynn

Mayor Gary Christenson
Malden

Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn
Medford

Mayor Jen Grigoraitis
Melrose

Mayor David Beauregard, Jr.
Methuen

Mayor Sean Reardon
Newburyport

Mayor Jon Mitchell
New Bedford

Mayor Marc Laredo
Newton

Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra
Northampton

Mayor Ted Bettencourt
Peabody

Mayor Peter Marchetti
Pittsfield

Mayor Patrick Keefe Jr.
Revere

Mayor Dominick Pangallo
Salem

Mayor Jake Wilson
Somerville

Mayor Shaunna O’Connell
Taunton

Mayor Michael McCabe
Westfield

Mayor William Reichelt
West Springfield

Mayor Michael Molisse
Weymouth

Mayor Joseph Petty
Worcester