MMA letter to legislators urging swift passage of $200M Ch. 90 bond bill

Dear Legislator,

On behalf of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Municipal Association is writing to offer our strong support for H. 3187, the one-year $200 million Chapter 90 bond bill filed by Governor Baker on March 12. We respectfully and urgently ask you and your colleagues in the General Court to approve this legislation by April 1 so that cities and towns can access these vital funds in time for the beginning of the spring construction season.

First, we want to again recognize your outstanding support for Chapter 90, which made it possible for Governor Baker to release $100 million in road repair funds on the day he took office. We are deeply grateful for the leadership you have provided on this issue.

Combined with the $100 million the Governor released in January, which would not have been possible without the Legislature’s leadership, H. 3187 would ensure a total of $300 million in new Chapter 90 funds for cities and towns to use to repair and maintain local roads during the 2015 spring-to-fall construction season.

We are asking the Legislature to enact H. 3187 by April 1 because delays in passing the bill would shorten the construction season, and lead to unnecessary and costly delays in important road repair and maintenance projects in nearly every community in Massachusetts.

As you know, the Chapter 90 program provides cities and towns with desperately needed funding to maintain, repair and rebuild 30,000 miles of local roads in every corner of the state. Adequate and timely funding is essential for the growth of our economy and to ensure safe and passable roadways for residents, businesses and visitors.

This bill is good for taxpayers, because investing in Chapter 90 to improve the quality of local roads will actually save millions of dollars a year. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, once a local road is in a state of good repair, every dollar invested to keep it properly maintained will save $6 to $10 in avoided repair costs that become necessary to rebuild the road when it fails due to a lack of maintenance.

We also emphasize that the Chapter 90 program is the most effective and efficient way to ensure regional equity. Chapter 90 shares transportation revenues in a fair way in every corner of the Commonwealth. Further, cities and towns face such a backlog of need that these funds will immediately result in visible and necessary construction and repair projects on local roads across Massachusetts.

Immediately after passage of this one-year bond bill, the MMA and local officials look forward to working in partnership with you, the full Legislature and the Baker-Polito Administration to achieve long-range progress and funding for Chapter 90 that is both adequate for cities and towns and sustainable for the Commonwealth.

Please approve H. 3187 as soon as possible, so that cities and towns can act now to improve and maintain our existing infrastructure, and build a stronger economy for all of us.

Thank you very much.
 
Sincerely,

Geoffrey C. Beckwith
Executive Director, MMA