Framingham Lawmaker Votes to Pass Transportation Bill

From the Massachusetts House:

(FRAMINGHAM) –Representative Walsh (D-Framingham) joined his colleagues in passing transportation legislation focused on highways, small bridges, and a municipal grant program. The legislation authorizes $750 million for both federal-aid interstate and non-interstate highway projects, and $50 million for a new program to repair small non-federal aid bridges which are 20 feet or less in length.

In addition to the funding in any one highway district (limited to 20% of the total appropriation), the Complete Streets Initiative was turned into a municipal grant program aiming to enhance safety and accessibility for multi-model transportation including transportation geared towards pedestrians and cyclists. The qualifications include a training program; adopting a Complete Streets by-law subject to a public hearing; and creating a Complete Streets Prioritization plan.

“This bill provides the mechanisms with which to help cities and towns make improvements that can be tailored to their needs,” said Representative Walsh. “In particular, those towns that have had difficulty identifying funds to repair or replace smaller bridges can use this additional $50 million in road and bridge funds, which will be evenly distributed across the state.”

The bipartisan 2014 Campaign Finance and Disclosure Task Force was established to update, strengthen, and close a loophole in existing law. One piece of legislation that has come out of this process expands the law to require that the top five contributors’ information, those that contribute more than $5,000, must be documented on direct mailings and billboards in addition to being disclosed on paid television, internet advertising or print advertising.

Another requires that political committees include the name of the candidate they are supporting or opposing when reporting in-kind contributions, in order for contributions to be tracked in real time. This legislation brings Massachusetts law in line with current Office of Campaign and Political Finance regulations.

Finally, the third bill changes the campaign finance calendar for candidates running in a special election and a general election. It would allow candidates to receive $1,000 in individual contributions between January 1st and the special election, and an additional $1,000 between the day after the special election and December 31st.

“These pieces of legislation make evident that the House is committed making campaign finance and election laws more transparent in order to avoid abuse through legal loopholes while allowing the public to make informed decisions with accurate information,” added Representative Walsh.

These bills now go to the Senate for consideration.

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