Lawmakers send $4 billion ARPA bill to Baker
Christian M. Wade | The Eagle-Tribune | December 5, 2021
State lawmakers sent Gov. Charlie Baker a nearly $4 billion spending package Friday packed with money for the healthcare system, housing, workforce development, transportation upgrades and environmental protection.
The money comes from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan Act money and surplus revenue that has piled up amid better-than-expected tax collections this year.
A centerpiece of the massive relief package calls for spending $500 million on bonus checks for certain workers who stayed on the job throughout the pandemic.
The Democratic-controlled Senate approved the measure with bipartisan support Friday, following Thursday’s approval in the House of Representatives, where Democrats also have a majority. The final spending bill was a compromise between both chambers.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport, said the package was based on hearings and input from hundreds of individuals and organizations. In remarks ahead of its passage, he said it focuses on communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
“From the outset, our goal has been to ensure every voice across the state could be heard while making sure we got details of this historic opportunity right,” Rodrigues said. “Informed by testimony we heard extensively throughout the hearing process, this bill encompasses an array of one-time investments to put these funds to work.”
Approval of the measure comes two weeks after lawmakers recessed for a seven-week break. A the six-member committee tasked with working out differences between the two bills wasn’t able to reach an agreement on a final package before lawmakers recessed.
That prompted criticism from Baker, who said the decision to hold hearings and long deliberations on the spending plan has “created a massive delay in putting these taxpayer dollars to work.”
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, who voted for the legislation, said it makes “meaningful and effective investments in a wide range of priorities,” but hoped there was more relief for taxpayers included in the spending package.
“Hopefully, future such spending bills will also incorporate measures to directly support taxpayers, such as the charitable tax deduction that was approved by voters in 2000,” he said.
Lawmakers say despite the delays, the relief package will reach virtually every corner of the state through major expenditures that support crucial programs and initiatives.
“This is truly going to be transformative,” said Rep. Paul Tucker, D-Salem. “We listened to what people had to say, and the ARPA bill is a reflection of what they wanted.”
The spending bill includes $400 million to expand access to mental and behavioral health services, $500 million to help bail out the state’s unemployment trust fund, and $200 million in tax relief for business owners who paid income taxes on relief money.
It also includes hundreds of thousands of dollars for safety-net hospitals and public health systems that are struggling amid the ongoing pandemic.
The bonus checks for frontline workers — such as nurses, police officers and firefighters, and grocery store clerks — would range from $500 to $2,000, depending on income.
The one-time payments would be limited to workers who earned up to 300% of the federal poverty level — or $79,500 for a family of four — and remained on the job during the state of emergency, from March 10 to Dec. 31 last year.
But lawmakers also loaded up the spending bill with scores of unrelated amendments that drove up its final price tag.
Hundreds of non-pandemic related earmarks were plowed into the bill, including $200,000 to improve bicycle safety in Andover, $100,000 for a turf field in North Reading, $150,000 to fix elevators at Melrose High School, $175,000 for Gloucester’s 400th Anniversary and $1.3 million for an Italian immigrant memorial and other projects in Boston’s North End.
Massachusetts has received about $5.3 billion in direct funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed by President Joe Biden.
Under the ARPA law, the funds provided to states and local governments must be committed by the end of 2024, and spent by the end of 2026.
The spending bill approved by the Legislature on Friday leaves an estimated $2.3 billion in ARPA money and surplus revenues to be used in the future.
Baker has 10 days to sign the spending bill, veto it or propose any amendments.