MA Senator Keenan Helps Pass Ch. 90 Funding

From The Office of Senator John Keenan: The state legislature this week took an important step towards passing a $290 million capital investment program including $200 million in so-called “Chapter 90” funding for local road and bridge repair. The bill, which was released from a committee of House and Senate negotiators today, also includes $60 million to replace the core operating software used by the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and $30 million in assistance to councils on aging, regional transit authorities, and other non-profit entities for the purchase of elderly and disabled mobility vans.

The expected Chapter 90 FY2018 apportionment to Braintree is $985,977. An annual vote on the local road and bridge funding has become routine in recent years and is typically approved without robust discussion. This year, however, differences emerged between the House and Senate, requiring the appointment of a six-member conference committee to iron out the disagreements before a final version could be approved.

Braintree’s State Senator John Keenan, as chair of the Senate Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, served on the conference committee. Keenan said the additional negotiation time was needed because the Senate pushed to improve the approval process in order to avoid future delays in the release of funding to municipalities. He added that his committee wanted to “give more careful review to a capital expense that has become somewhat of an automatic up vote in recent years.”

The House adopted a customary one-year Chapter 90 authorization, which means that a new vote is required by the Legislature every spring. That vote often occurs several weeks into the construction season, making it difficult for municipalities to begin projects on time or to plan longer-term projects. Cities and towns prefer a multi-year authorization, and the Senate bill included this and allocated $400 million over a two year period. The State House News Service reported that “city and town officials for years have been asking the Legislature to approve a multi-year financing bill for road” and that the Senate bill would “give cities and towns the certainty around funding that they have been craving.”

The Massachusetts Municipal Association, advocating for the increased reliability presented by the multi-year authorization, wrote in a letter to the conference committee members: “Having on-time authorizations is essential, because when cities and towns are forced to bid, award and start work on projects in a significantly shortened construction season, bid responses tend to be the most expensive, making repair work much more costly for local taxpayers.” Other changes by the Senate were aimed at reducing the long-term debt burden associated with these programs. The Chapter 90 program is supported by state bonds, typically issued for a 30 year term. Keenan proposed, and the Senate adopted, a 20 year term for the bonds.

“Shorter bond terms would have incurred a slightly higher annual debt payment, but would save more than $70 million over the life of the bonds,” Keenan explained. The Senate bill also reduced the RMV program by $10 million from the original request, after legislative committees reviewed each component of the project and received updated cost estimates from the RMV.

The final report of conference kept in place the reduced RMV program estimates, and the elder and disabilities mobility program, but did not include the multi-year authorization nor the shortened bond terms. Keenan declined to sign the conference committee’s report, given that it failed to include the multi-year authorization and the shortened term. "I certainly appreciate the work that went into crafting the final bill in conference and the time pressures of getting it passed" said Keenan, "but I feel strongly that those two components, favored by municipalities and fiscally prudent, would have made it a stronger bill."

He says he will vote in favor of the final bill, knowing the importance of it for cities and towns."Hopefully next year we will include both provisions."

The bill is expected to gain Legislative approval later this month, before moving to the Governor for final approval.

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