Skip to main content

Local road repair money on House agenda this week

Image
By

House leaders hope to consider legislation later this week that would allocate at least $200 million for municipal road and bridge repairs as the spring construction season gets underway, and Transportation Committee Chairman William Straus has suggested this might be the year lawmakers look to update the way the money gets dispersed across the state.

The House has scheduled a formal session for Wednesday and possibly Thursday, and Speaker Ron Mariano’s office told the News Service on Monday that it is the speaker’s intention to consider a Chapter 90 funding bill for local road repairs.

The Legislature has funded the Chapter 90 program at $200 million for many years now, and Gov. Charlie Baker again filed for $200 million (H 4358) despite pleas from cities and towns to increase that funding to at least $300 million to keep up with inflation.

The speaker’s office said the bill is still being worked on by the Committee on Transportation, and earlier this month Straus hinted that leaders may finally be ready to reform the Chapter 90 formula that distributes money based on population, employment and road mileage.

The current breakdown hurts more rural communities in central and western Massachusetts, some lawmakers and local officials have argued, because they have a lot of roads to care for but a shrinking population and limited commercial and residential tax base to raise money from.

Straus talked about the possibility of reforming the formula when he argued against adding $100 million for Chapter 90 as part of a supplemental funding bill before considering changes to how that money gets distributed.

House Democrats plan to resume in-person caucuses Wednesday when lawmakers will gather at the State House to privately discuss the bill, with an option to participate remotely.

Democrats are also expected to review changes to the House’s remote voting protocols. Leaders have said remote voting will remain an option through the end of the 2021-2022 session, though the speaker’s office asked members in an email on Friday that they either participate fully remotely or fully in-person during any one daily session.

Speaker Pro Tempore Kate Hogan, who has been leading the House’s reopening working group, is expected to be there to answer members’ questions.

Speaker Ron Mariano is not expected to propose any changes to his leadership team at the Wednesday caucus, according to officials, despite several vacancies.

from Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
Source: https://ift.tt/DzcN3TC
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Virginia family gets keys to Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D-printed home in the US

By
(CNN) — One Virginia family received the keys to their new  3D-printed home  in time for Christmas. The home is Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D-printed home in the nation,  according to a Habitat news release. Janet V. Green, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, told CNN it partnered with Alquist, a 3D printing company, earlier this year to begin the process. The 1,200-square-foot home has three bedrooms, two full baths and was built from concrete. The technology allowed the home to be built in just 12 hours, which saves about four weeks of construction time for a typical home. April Stringfield purchased the home through the  Habitat Homebuyer Program . She will move in with her 13-year-old son just in time for the holidays. “My son and I are so thankful,” Stringfield said in a  live feed streamed on Habitat’s Facebook  page. “I always wanted to be a homeowner. It’s like a dream come true.” To purchase the home, Stringfiel...
Post a Comment
Recent News

Lawsuit: High school football player says coaches forced him to eat pizza as punishment, violating religious beliefs

By
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio high school football player who says coaches forced him to eat a pizza covered with pepperoni grease in violation of his religious beliefs is suing his former district and the ousted coaches. The former Canton McKinley High School athlete and his parents filed a federal civil rights suit this week seeking millions of dollars in damages and alleging violations of his religious freedom and constitutional rights. The athlete says in the lawsuit that coaches were notified he doesn’t eat pork or pork residue as a member of the Hebrew Israelite religious faith, but that they ordered him to eat the pizza as punishment for missing an offseason workout — and indicated his spot on the team was at risk if he didn’t. The coaches say the player chose to remove pepperoni and eat the pizza rather than an alternative food. They weren’t aware it violated his religious beliefs, according to a  defamation case they filed  previously against the teen’s father, his a...
Post a Comment
Recent News

After court victories, Michael Jackson estate eyes revival

By
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Michael Jackson’s musical legacy never left, but a kind of comeback is coming. With a series of court victories that bring the end to serious legal crises, with a Broadway show beginning and a Cirque du Soleil show returning after a long pandemic pause, the Jackson business is on the upswing 12 years after the pop superstar’s death. Very recently, things looked grim. The 2019 HBO documentary “  Leaving Neverland  ” raised child molestation allegations anew. The once-dead lawsuits brought by the two men featured in it had been  revived  by changes in the law. And a decision in the estate’s appeal of a $700 million tax bill was taking years to arrive. “I was always optimistic,” John Branca, the entertainment attorney who worked with Jackson through many of his biggest triumphs and now serves as co-executor of his estate, told The Associated Press in an interview at his Beverly Hills home. “Michael inspired the planet and his music still ...
Post a Comment
Recent News