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Healy‑Driscoll administration unveils $3 billion 'Mass Ready Act' environmental bond
Summary
Administration officials told a joint legislative committee the Mass Ready Act would authorize $3 billion for resilience, clean water, parks, conservation and housing‑permitting reforms, but emphasized authorizations do not obligate spending.
The Healy‑Driscoll administration on Tuesday asked a Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources to authorize $3 billion in bonding through the Mass Ready Act to finance resilience, conservation and infrastructure projects across the Commonwealth.
Administration officials including the Lieutenant Governor, Secretary Matthew Gorkowitz of Administration and Finance, Secretary Rebecca Tepper of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Undersecretary Stephanie Cooper described the bill as a multi‑year package to help cities and towns prepare for flooding, extreme heat, wildfires and other climate threats.
The bill, the administration said, authorizes $3,000,000,000 for a mix of existing programs and new initiatives. Officials described major line items that include investments in parks and recreation, municipal resilience grants, clean drinking‑water and wastewater upgrades, land conservation and new financing tools for communities.
“This bill is really about protecting our state’s future and improving our residents’ quality of life,” the Lieutenant Governor told the committee during an opening presentation. Secretary Tepper said the bill would include over $600 million for inland and coastal flood protection, $764 million for Department of Conservation and Recreation improvements, and $385 million for drinking‑water and wastewater upgrades.
Secretary Gorkowitz and administration witnesses repeatedly emphasized the difference between authorization and appropriation. “Bond authorizations enable the spending that we then program in the state’s five‑year capital investment plan,” he said. “Authorizations do not obligate spending; we borrow only what we can responsibly afford.”
Committee members welcomed the package and pressed administration officials for details on new items such as a resilience revolving loan fund, permitting reforms intended to speed housing and restoration projects, and flood‑disclosure requirements for home buyers and renters. Several local officials and stakeholder groups testified later in the hearing in support of specific line items.
The administration acknowledged the bill builds on authorizations that remain unspent from earlier environmental bond bills and said many authorizations are intended to replenish or continue existing programs while creating new tools for communities.
Administration officials said they would work with the committee on appropriations and on details for program implementation as the bill proceeds through the legislative process.
