Representative Steven S. Howitt supports $1.39B supplemental budget bill to pay for education and transportation initiatives

Boston – The House and Senate have finalized a supplemental budget that will provide communities with additional special education circuit breaker funding and money for local road improvements as part of a $1.39 billion statewide investment in education and transportation-related initiatives.

House Bill 4227, which is funded primarily with above-cap Fair Share surtax revenues available from fiscal years 2023 and 2024, was enacted by the Legislature on June 18, with the support of State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk). The bill reflects a compromise agreement between earlier versions of the bill passed by the House and the Senate and is now with Governor Maura Healey awaiting review and signature.

House Bill 4227 allocates $716 million for transportation-related initiatives and another $593.5 million for education-related programs. Under the 2022 voter-approved ballot question, the Legislature is constitutionally required to utilize Fair Share revenues only for public education and transportation purposes.

Multiple local earmarks for cities and towns are included in the supplemental budget, including $34.4 million in one-time education projects and $42.3 million in one-time transportation projects. Representative Howitt successfully supported funding in the bill for his district, including funding for the Norton Public Schools to purchase math and science curriculum materials for grades 6 to 12, for capital and safety improvements to public school facilities in the towns of Rehoboth and Seekonk, and for the Swansea Public Schools to make 1-time improvements and upgrades to school security and surveillance equipment.

Representative Howitt noted that House Bill 4227 sets aside $103 million in transportation-related funding that will directly assist cities and towns, including $80 million in supplemental local road funding, half of which is directed at small and rural communities. Another $16.4 million is included in the bill to help communities pay for the repair and replacement of municipally owned small bridges and culverts, along with $7 million to fund a pilot program to repair, maintain and improve unpaved roads.

According to Representative Howitt, the education funding component of the supplemental budget includes $248 million that will be made available to school districts in the form of special education circuit breaker reimbursements. Of this total, $190 million is funded through the surtax and will be used to support Fiscal Year 2026 reimbursement payments for costs incurred in Fiscal Year 2025. The remaining $58 million will be funded through the Student Opportunity Act Investment Fund.

Another $100 million is allocated in the bill for grants to build capacity for additional career technical education school opportunities across the state. Of this total, $35 million will be made available to comprehensive high schools and $15 million set aside for a pilot program for comprehensive high schools to support career and vocational technical annex buildings on their campuses.

Other initiatives funded in the supplemental budget include:

• $8.1 million for regional school transportation
• $115 million to address the higher education deferred maintenance backlog
• $45 million to support workforce, affordability and quality improvements in early education and care
• $10 million to establish the Boston Holocaust Museum
• $10 million for the Green Schoolworks program for K-12 school clean energy projects
• language stablishing the Imagination Library to promote a comprehensive statewide initiative encouraging preschool age children to develop a love of reading and learning
• $175 million for an MBTA workforce/safety reserve
• $300 million to replenish the MBTA’s Deficiency Fund
• $25 million for Regional Transit Authority facility upgrades and transit improvements
• $25 million for Regional Transit Authority workforce training grants
• $40 million to support the MBTA’s physical infrastructure
• $20 million for MBTA low-income fare relief
• $13 million for water transportation infrastructure, including ferry service
• $10 million for microtransit and last-mile grants, including projects that expand mobility options for rural communities and extend services to veterans, working families, older adults, people with disabilities and low-income individuals

Representative Howitt noted that Governor Healey has until June 28 to sign House Bill 4227 into law.