Photo: WBZ File Photo
BOSTON (State House News Service) — House Republicans want to rebalance a surtax spending bill up for a vote Wednesday to provide less safety and workforce money for the MBTA and more funding for statewide repairs to local roads and bridges.
More than a dozen GOP representatives signed onto an amendment to the surtax supplemental budget (H 4005) that would reduce a one-time injection to the T by $50 million, and redirect that amount toward the Chapter 90 program.
The amendment (#10) filed by Rep. Joseph McKenna of Sutton specifies that the extra Chapter 90 funding would be distributed "using a formula based on each municipality's share of road mileage," which could steer more of it toward rural communities with longer stretches of roadway.
Some western Massachusetts lawmakers voiced frustration last week that the vast majority of transportation funding in Gov. Maura Healey's version of the bill would go to the T, a dynamic that House Democrats kept in their redraft.
McKenna told the News Service his amendment would "show regional equity in supporting transportation infrastructure in all corners of the state."
"The biggest take-away from the Ways and Means hearing about this bill last week was the overcommitment of surplus 'fair share' funds to the MBTA, with very little dedicated to non-MBTA transportation. This drew bi-partisan discussion and criticism from the Committee," he wrote in an email.
Representatives filed 142 amendments by an end-of-Monday deadline, most seeking earmarks for local projects or organizations.
One noteworthy earmark proposal came from Rep. William Galvin of Canton (amendment #23), who called for committing $150 million toward capital improvements at the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children. Healey proposed closing the facility in Galvin's hometown, then paused that effort in late February.
The House will take up the roughly $1.3 billion bill, which calls for spending mostly unallocated surtax dollars as well as a smaller amount of money from the state's General Fund, at a formal session Wednesday.
Written by Chris Lisinski/SHNS