Gov. files $200M Ch. 90 bill, to bring total to $300M for 2015 construction season

Gov. Charlie Baker today filed a one-year, $200 million Chapter 90 bond bill for fiscal 2016, and he is asking legislators to approve the bill quickly so that cities and towns will have access to the money at the start of the construction season.

If the bond bill passes in the next several weeks, combined with the $100 million in new Chapter 90 authorizations the governor released in January, cities and towns will have access to a total of $300 million to repair and maintain local roads during the 2015 spring-to-fall construction season.

With the state working to erase a $1 billion mid-year budget deficit in fiscal 2015 and a $1.8 billion structural budget gap for fiscal 2016, the Baker-Polito administration decided to file a one-year Chapter 90 bond bill. Swift passage of the bond bill would ensure that cities and towns could access a total of $300 million in new Chapter 90 funds without delaying the start of the upcoming construction season.

“We again applaud Gov. Baker for his action in January to release $100 million in Chapter 90 funds that had been approved by the Legislature but withheld by the previous administration,” said MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith. “We ask the Legislature to act very quickly to pass this new $200 million bond bill by April 1, so that cities and towns can have a total of $300 million in desperately needed Chapter 90 funding to repair crumbling local roads as soon as the spring construction season begins in a few weeks.”

The Chapter 90 program provides cities and towns with funding to maintain, repair and rebuild 30,000 miles of local roads in every corner of the state. The MMA and other advocates assert that adequate and timely funding is essential for the growth of the state’s economy and to ensure safe and passable roadways for residents, businesses and visitors.

Immediately after passage of this one-year bond bill, the MMA and local officials will work in partnership with the administration and legislators to achieve long-range progress and funding for Chapter 90 that is both adequate for cities and towns and sustainable for the Commonwealth.