[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6097855,"mediaKeyId","2826374-ac295bab4a41253821e1666ad40941ce","parentId",2826374,"title","MassDOT presents House 1 transportation plan: billions for roads, bridges, MBTA and regional transit","audioSeconds",10169,"startMs",6791000,"endMs",16960000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2826374-ac295bab4a41253821e1666ad40941ce&start=6791&end=16960","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2826374-ac295bab4a41253821e1666ad40941ce/thumbnail_6791000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6097855/Massachusetts/MassDOT-presents-House-1-transportation-plan-billions-for-roads-bridges-MBTA-and-regional-transit","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6097855-4f00fd9a7fcb69299cf2472bf814a216/orig.mp4?Expires=1770434874&Signature=PWessohCxXrCAXnYe8ymlcxOclJtuHB3lsiHvWsPkoZTvsTyXYdXlx1DB2v6w-XLTABCtaUDXHlJVkjDTt9NJvVNgKPHX9QVeGcm3DdcKNYBYvsLvJBjyTdNeIclX5dN3UWWAPRxmw1lBHhSe1XUfcNAvCtQTuwscKIOJRJMpUe9DGeWtr6V5wfZc5x3EskXsSGbAq8MfcMOsP59Dg9pT9z0JKcPQhHK1u1atnvqzVWImHuJGAJf3trg1UwZHYSbJUqRf-8dNOxiZiWKcoN4PGPYJZi94KYlA-hfgeOBQ~lZh7jT8mq7GlLM8Ftq7raXwq4Tx2n~i1fH1wZKidwBRA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Massachusetts State Legislature","date","2025-03-31T00:00:00Z","article","Monica Tibbetsnutt, Secretary of Transportation and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, told the Joint Committee on Ways and Means that the governor’s House 1 budget proposes major investments aimed at maintaining the state’s roads, bridges and transit system and boosting workforce capacity.

“This budget reflects a bold vision for mobility across our state,” Tibbetsnutt said, outlining a package of operating and capital recommendations intended to stabilize MBTA operations, increase Chapter 90 funding for municipalities, and unlock borrowing capacity via fair-share revenue directed to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund.

Why it matters: House 1 proposes multi-year funding intended to address deferred maintenance, improve resilience and support regional transit authorities and the MBTA. The plan would shift additional fair-share revenue into transportation to increase capital borrowing capacity and fund long-term projects that the administration says will deliver road, bridge and transit improvements across the Commonwealth.

Top line items the administration highlighted include roughly $765,000,000 in proposed fair-share allocations to transportation in FY26, a proposal to unlock approximately $5,000,000,000 in transportation capital over the next decade, $1,500,000,000 over five years targeted to Chapter 90 road improvements and $1,500,000,000 for road and bridge life-cycle asset management. The presentation also lists $615,000,000 for the Allston multimodal project, $850,000,000 for MBTA maintenance and power resilience, $200,000,000 for culverts and small bridges statewide, and $110,000,000 in fair-share funding for regional transit authorities (RTAs).

David Pottier, MassDOT chief financial officer, told the committee the non-toll operating budget would increase by 15% year-over-year and said the administration seeks to align snow-and-ice funding more closely with five-year average spending. “House 1 allocates $765,000,000 of fair share funds to transportation,” Pottier said as he walked through the budget arithmetic and the supplemental allocations proposed in the FY24 surplus.

Highway Division priorities: Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver described a record year of construction and maintenance activity and presented programs designed to help smaller communities. He noted that in the past year the division advertised 89 construction projects and awarded more than $1.1 billion in new contracts. Gulliver emphasized safety tools and local grant programs such as Complete Streets, municipal paving and the rural roadways program, and he urged committee members to consider the larger chapter-90 increases in the governor’s request.

Regional transit and RTAs: Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Schlesinger outlined a $204,000,000 RTA package that includes $160,000,000 in contract assistance and $44,000,000 in additional fair-share funding for RTA programs, a $30,000,000 fair-free grant program, $10,000,000 for transit connectivity grants and $4,000,000 to expand community transit grants for older adults and people with disabilities. Schlesinger described ongoing MOUs with each RTA requiring standardized data collection for ridership, assets and financial reporting.

Commuter and inner-city rail: Schlesinger also summarized CompassRail, MassDOT’s inner-city passenger-rail vision, and said near-term projects include track improvements to enable additional Boston–New Haven round trips and planning work for the Boston–Albany (West–East) corridor. She said service improvements depend on federal funding and project-level agreements, and that the Inland route received a $108,000,000 federal award for early actions.

MBTA and service: MBTA General Manager Phil Ng told the committee the T is rebuilding its workforce and service. “We are focused on rebuilding our infrastructure, our service, rebuilding confidence in the T to make public transportation not only viable, but the preferred choice of travel,” Ng said. He cited ridership gains, track improvements, removal of speed restrictions, additions in bus trips and progress on Red/Orange/Green line reliability. Ng also described federal grant wins and the recent launch of South Coast rail service with six new accessible stations and free introductory weekends.

Aeronautics and advanced aviation: Acting Aeronautics Administrator Denise Garcia reviewed a data-driven drone program the Aeronautics Division operates for inspections and emergency-response missions, and she described planning for advanced air mobility and airport electrification pilots. The division reported approximately a thousand drone flights per year and said it is testing “drone-in-a-box” and beyond-visual-line-of-sight capabilities under FAA waivers.

Registry and Real ID: Registrar Colleen Oberle/Ogilvy described RMV efforts to increase Real ID compliance ahead of the federal compliance date, including outreach and new language and accessibility services. She said Massachusetts was at about 57% Real ID compliance at the time of testimony and that the registry had increased appointment availability and launched outreach campaigns to raise awareness.

What was not decided: The presentation was informational; the committee did not vote on House 1 at the hearing. Lawmakers questioned timelines, local impacts and program details. MassDOT leaders said they would follow up on requests for more granular breakdowns of operating details, RTA allocations by provider, and municipal project timelines.

Next steps: MassDOT said it will continue to work with the committee on program details and expects the House 1 numbers to guide appropriation and bonding decisions during the budget process.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Joint Committee on Ways and Means - 3-31-2025 10:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbetsnutt and MassDOT leaders told the Ways and Means committee that House 1 continues major investments in roads, bridges, chapter 90, MBTA stabilization and RTA support, and highlighted priorities including culvert repairs, Allston multimodal work and workforce funding.","taxTitle","Joint Committee on Ways and Means, Joint, Legislative, Massachusetts","taxId",23922,"location","Massachusetts","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6097860,"EEA tells Ways and Means House 1 focuses on climate resilience, clean energy and environmental justice",828,244000,1072000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2826374-ac295bab4a41253821e1666ad40941ce&start=244&end=1072","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2826374-ac295bab4a41253821e1666ad40941ce/thumbnail_244000.jpg","/articles/6097860/Massachusetts/EEA-tells-Ways-and-Means-House-1-focuses-on-climate-resilience-clean-energy-and-environmental-justice","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6097860-ae0e64743af8c393067fa354939c7025/orig.mp4?Expires=1770434874&Signature=k-Zh0IFB-oUymeB~CpPXUIeesEsZbUQwfCLJG09s8hM0Wk6xHiOUP9j6oorgoUDTjim9Hn2bSuIfJ~sGvepZTJl3CC5hDZs93TMZ0PC891MSL6Bu77VGegYJi2QUXcNhqa2DuJsjmFaslgYaDdBf3vOOQbEDQ6ust3jPOCF0p74sW6V~6XO3wYHtmnw07dFvRH1I4lqHNuuhSVaCp~fgRrpI7HDHU2ckcqkW1Ffb8ih3UR9rqaVjM2Y1YSfsJ5HwA2rAQFwFvWHvPkSwRdYVXBX4hsC5BWLXgkpm8MCQs9xlpHOGZH1WdyVIx1bdrba1bhAR-r-nrLvX3syGaxdq7A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Rebecca Tepper, Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, told the Joint Committee on Ways and Means at a March hearing in Barnstable that the governor’s House 1 budget builds on the administration’s work on climate mitigation, resilience and equity.

Tepper said the budget would fund new technical assistance for dam and culvert owners, seed coastal resilience planning and expand equity-focused grant programs. “This year we’ll be focusing on strengthening our infrastructure and building resilience to climate change,” Tepper said, linking the proposal to recent extreme-weather damage that has affected farms, forests and communities.

Why it matters: The House 1 request packages capital and operating investments the administration says are needed to meet statutory emissions goals and to protect communities from flooding, heat and drought. The proposal also aims to speed clean-energy deployment while adding staff capacity at agencies that carry out water quality, PFAS and conservation work.

Tepper previewed several specific items included in H1: $1,000,000 for dam-safety technical assistance and $2,800,000 for culvert and small-bridge technical assistance to prepare projects at risk of failure; $8,300,000 to support environmental justice and equity staff and programs across the Secretariat; and funding to advance a Blue Carbon Incentive Program to protect and restore salt marshes and sequester carbon. She said the administration expects the Coastal Zone Management Office to release a “Resilient Coast” plan this year and identified a capital investment target of more than $65,000,000 in climate resilience in the governor’s capital plan.

On clean energy, Tepper said House 1 provides $3,600,000 in resources for the Department of Public Utilities and the Department of Energy Resources to implement siting reforms and that the bill creates an office of public participation at the DPU. “The division of Clean Energy Siding and Permitting at DOER will enable critical reforms by streamlining the process for clean energy projects,” she said, stressing the need to accelerate solar, wind and energy-storage deployment in order to meet emission reduction goals.

Emily Reitman, chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, described workforce and climate-tech uses for the proposed MassCEC funds. “We have supported actually now almost 7,000 interns hosted by 600 companies across Massachusetts, and these interns are in almost every district,” Reitman said, pointing to internship and training grants and investments in college and vocational programs (examples she cited include EV testing facilities and HVAC labs).

Tepper also highlighted food-security funding and farm supports. She said the new Division of Food Security awarded $24,600,000 in food-system grants and that H1 would propose $40,200,000 for the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, which the administration says would translate to more than 38,000,000 meals in fiscal year 2026 to be distributed by four regional food banks.

Fishing and federal rules: Workshop testimony included discussion of federal regulatory uncertainty for commercial fisheries. Tom O’Shea, the department official who answered questions from the committee, said the state will press federal partners and use regional venues to coordinate when possible but that the regulatory pause at the federal level was creating uncertainty for fishing seasons and quota implementation.

What was not decided: The hearing was a budget presentation and question-and-answer session; no committee votes or formal actions were recorded in the transcript on the specific bills or appropriations.

Context and next steps: Tepper said the administration will file an “Energy Innovation and Affordability Bill” to address ratepayer costs and other energy policy matters referenced in the testimony. She closed by offering to take questions from the committee and to work with legislators as the budget goes through the Ways and Means process. The administration also emphasized that some implementation items depend on future rulemaking, federal funding decisions and interagency work.

Tepper concluded by asking to take questions from the committee; she then stood ready to work with legislators on modifications to House 1 as the process continues.","Secretary Rebecca Tepper outlined the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ priorities in the governor’s House 1 budget, highlighting investments in coastal and inland resilience, dam and culvert technical assistance, clean energy siting reforms, and environmental justice grants.","actionData","errors"]

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MassDOT presents House 1 transportation plan: billions for roads, bridges, MBTA and regional transit

EEA tells Ways and Means House 1 focuses on climate resilience, clean energy and environmental justice