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Lawmakers hear administration plan to spend FY25 fair share surplus on education and transportation
Summary
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means heard testimony on House Bill 55, the Healy administration's supplemental proposal to spend surplus FY25 fair share surtax revenue, which the administration said it intends to divide roughly between transportation and education.
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means heard testimony on Tuesday about House Bill 55, the Healy administration's proposal to appropriate surplus fair share surtax revenue collected in fiscal year 2025.
Committee co-chairs Representative Aaron Mikowitz, House, and Senator Mike Rodricks, Senate, opened the public hearing and said the panels would review the governor's supplemental budget that the administration filed to allocate surplus fair share funds. Representative Mikowitz described the hearing as part of a public process to consider how best to invest more than $1.3 billion in surplus fair share revenue.
Administration witnesses framed the bill as a one-time, surplus proposal meant to complement the FY26 operating budget. Matthew Gorkowitz, identified in testimony as Secretary for Administration and Finance, said the bill would spend funds collected above the consensus revenue estimate and described the administration's intent that the package and House 1 operating budget be considered together. “This bill proposes to spend a total of 857,500,000.0 for transportation and $462,500,000 for education,” he said in his oral remarks to the committee.
The administration described its broader approach as leaning on surtax dollars for one-time capital and stabilization uses and using the FY26 operating budget to maintain recurring education and transportation programs. Gorkowitz told lawmakers the administration had previously constrained surtax appropriations while the new revenue stream established a multiyear record: the FY24 limit was $1.0 billion; FY25 was increased to $1.3 billion; the FY26 operating plan the administration filed would increase the operating threshold to $1.95 billion.
Education and transportation secretaries followed with more detail. Monica Tibbitsnutt, Secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, outlined transportation priorities included in the supplemental: she listed a $400 million Federal Transit Administration (FTA) reserve, $300 million to replenish the MBTA stabilization reserve, programs for MBTA low-income fares, winter-resilience assistance for municipalities, RTA workforce supports, MassDOT workforce capacity funding and micro-transit grants. Pat Tutwiler, Secretary of Education, summarized education investments in the proposal including expanded preschool access, funding for early literacy tutoring, increased adult basic education and English-language learning capacity, support for early college and career-technical education and a proposed increase to the special education circuit breaker.
Committee members asked administration witnesses about the mechanics and interaction of this supplemental with House 1, how one-time funds would be used without creating future structural obligations, and how the administration arrived at its estimates for special education reimbursement needs and MBTA operating shortfalls. Secretaries and staff characterized many supplemental line items as one-time or time-limited supports that are intended to stabilize systems and, where appropriate, to seed multi-year strategies that would be continued only if and when recurring revenue could be identified.
Why it matters: House Bill 55 would spend a large, visible surplus in ways that affect school budgets, local roadway and bridge projects, and MBTA operations. The administration described the package as part of a suite of governor initiatives — including the FY26 operating budget and a proposed chapter 90 reform — that together are intended to meet the roughly 50/50 split between education and transportation that the administration says reflects the Fair Share Amendment’s intent.
What comes next: The committee invited additional written testimony and follow-up questions. Members said they will request additional data — including MBTA and RTA per-rider investment comparisons and more detailed projections of special education circuit breaker costs — before deciding how to amend and report the supplemental. The committee’s budget work on House 1 and this supplemental will proceed in parallel.
