LOTTERY AID AND ROAD MONEY

By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.

April 1, 2006

Legislatively, we've been in a bit of a holding pattern at the State House these past few weeks.   But while we await the final Conference Committee compromise language on the major health insurance access bill and while we anticipate a heated FY '07 budget debate in a few weeks, there is some good news coming out of Beacon Hill.

Speaker DiMasi indicated this week that he is going to go along with Governor Romney, Lt. Governor Healey, and Republican legislators like me who have been pushing for the legislature to "uncap" the state lottery and return that additional money to cities and towns for their unrestricted use.

A bit of the history:  In 2002 the legislature was desperate for cash in the wake of the economic collapse brought on by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  They voted to freeze the income tax rollback and also to increase taxes.  They also made the decision to put a cap on the state lottery.  Any money the lottery took in over and above that cap would go into the state's General Fund to be spent by the House and Senate, not returned to cities and towns as was the intent of the lottery.

Since then the Massachusetts economy has improved but municipalities like ours have still been hurting.  Cities have begged the legislature to uncap the lottery and return the record revenues to the local governments.  The most the legislature would do was promise to phase out the cap over a number of years.

I argued that since local government is where most of my constituents, you, receive the bulk of the government services (like police and fire protection, roads, sidewalks, bridges, and other infrastructure, etc.) it only made sense to uncap the lottery and keep the promise of its original purpose.  But I was always in the minority until this week when the Speaker agreed with us.  That's good news for Westfield.

Want more?  The Governor and Lt. Governor announced the early release of $120 million in state aid for Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns to help pay for local road and bridge improvements.

Each year, the state distributes money known as Chapter 90 funding to help communities cover the cost of local road and bridge repairs. The money is doled out based on communities’ population, employment rate, and the number of miles of local roadway.

The boost will significantly benefit my district: Westfield will receive $712,026 to care for our roughly 175 miles of roadway.

Three years ago, Governor Mitt Romney raised the annual apportionment of Chapter 90 funding from $100 million to $120 million. This is the second year in a row that Romney directed the road and bridge money to be released early, in order to facilitate local project planning before the upcoming spring construction season.

This $120 million in Chapter 90 funds is on top of a Federal requirement for the Massachusetts Highway Department to spend at least $450 million a year on the statewide road and bridge program.  For the past fiscal year, the state spent $501 million on the road and bridge program.

I'd like to extend my congratulations to the Westfield Evangelical Free Church on Southwick Road on their 25th anniversary, as well as their groundbreaking for a new church expansion project.  Congratulations, too, go to O'Connell's Convenience Plus Gas Station for receiving an award by the Massachusetts Clubhouse Coalition for providing employment opportunities to people recovering from mental illness.  Westfield's own Forum House staff was on hand at the State House for the awards ceremony.

And finally, I attended the 60th annual Professional Firefighters Legislators' Night in Boston with firefighters from Westfield including Randy Quarles, Chris King, and my dad, Don Humason, Sr. It sure was something to be in a huge room with over 500 firefighters from across the Commonwealth.

Representative Don Humason and his aide Joe Wynn may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366.

Their Boston address is State House Room 443, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2460.