Facing a Friday deadline, the Massachusetts House will likely send to the Senate by the end of the day on Wednesday a one-year, $200 million Bill to pay for work under the state's Chapter 90 program, the main and sometimes only source of revenues for local road and bridge repair projects.
The Funding level in the bill falls well short of the $639 million that the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) says is needed annually, based on its 2014 analysis, to maintain and bring 30,000 miles of local roads into a state of good repair.
The MMA, which represents cities and towns throughout Massachusetts, had sought a $300 million program funded at that level over multiple years.
Gov. Charlie Baker released $100 million in Chapter 90 funding upon taking office in 2015 and then signed off on a $200 million program as well. The MMA says the $200 million bill that's pending "falls short of the $300 million in spending authorized last year."
The bill (H 4095) before the House also does not include $50 million Baker requested to fix small bridges over a five-year period.
Read the entire Salem News article here.
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