Healy announces $3 billion 'Mass Ready Act' bond bill to fund resilience, water and housing projects

Governor Maura Healey announced the Mass Ready Act on Thursday in Braintree, a proposed $3,000,000,000 state bond bill intended to fund municipal and regional climate resilience, water and PFAS remediation, dam removals and culvert upgrades, food-security infrastructure, and expedited permitting to accelerate housing production.

The governor said the legislation “is a $3,000,000,000 investment in our state's infrastructure, in our communities, and in our economy,” and described measures intended to cut permitting timelines, provide low-interest resilience loans and finance coastal and inland projects meant to reduce future disaster costs.

The bill, as described by the administration, would authorize a set of targeted allocations and new financing tools. Secretary Rebecca Tepper described several of the administration’s stated priorities, saying the package includes $200,000,000 for coastal resilience, $20,000,000 for biodiversity priorities, and a $315,000,000 allocation to support municipal vulnerability preparedness (MVP) initiatives. Tepper also said the proposal would establish a new resilience revolving fund to…