Representative Steven S. Howitt announces passage of spending bill providing municipalities with winter road relief funding

Fair Share supplemental budget includes $100M for cities and towns

Boston – State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk) said the state will provide $100 million in financial relief to cities and towns to assist with extraordinary snow, ice and winter recovery costs, under a $1.56 billion supplemental spending bill that was recently finalized and enacted by the House and Senate on June 5.

House Bill 5470 allocates $1.35 billion in surplus Fair Share surtax revenues and $207 million from the General Fund to support a variety of education and transportation-related initiatives across the state. The final bill was negotiated by a six-member conference committee that worked to resolve the differences between earlier versions of the bill previously passed by the House and Senate.

Approved by Massachusetts voters as a constitutional amendment in 2022, the Fair Share surtax places an additional 4% surtax on income over $1 million, taxing it at a rate of 9%. The revenue raised is to be used only for education and transportation purposes.

Representative Howitt highlighted language included in the final supplemental budget that will provide $80 million in funding to all 351 cities and towns to help offset the costs communities incurred last winter for snow plowing; roadway preparation and salting; icebreaking; flooding; the reconstruction and resurfacing of roadways; damage repair from downed trees; and other unanticipated costs attributed to winter weather preparation or recovery. This funding will be distributed using a formula based on a community’s total road mileage. Although the final distribution totals still need to be calculated by MassDOT, Representative Howitt estimated that it would provide approximately $248,111.27 to Norton, $361,499.33 to Rehoboth, $269,697.80 to Seekonk, and $273,566.06 to Swansea.

The supplemental budget also sets aside an additional $20 million that will be made available to communities that experienced extraordinary weather impact costs compared to other areas of the state during the winter of 2026. Representative Howitt noted that the Secretary of Transportation will make the final determination as to which communities will qualify for this funding.

The supplemental spending plan also includes funding for local initiatives Representative Howitt secured for his district, including $50,000 for emergency locking systems for the Seekonk Public Schools, $50,000 for capital needs and safety improvements for schools in the town of Rehoboth, $250,000 for auditorium seating upgrades at Joseph Case High School in Swansea, and $100,000 for the study, redesign, planning, and reconstruction of the intersection at Route 140 and Route 123 in the town of Norton.

House Bill 5470 includes a total of $794 million in transportation funding and $558 million for education initiatives. In terms of transportation, the bill provides $595 million for MBTA operations, along with $35 million for regional transit authorities to support workforce recruitment and retention as well as capital improvements. Education-related funding initiatives contained in the bill include $152 million for special education, $150 million for early education, and $7.5 million for rural schools.

The House passed its original version of the supplemental budget on March 18 by a vote of 150-3, while the Senate approved its version on April 9 by a vote of 35-4.

Now that both branches have enacted the conference committee report, it will be sent to Governor Maura Healey for review by June 14 to be signed into law.