I hope everyone had a nice week and enjoyed Wednesday’s 50 degree weather. It was practically a beach day! Spring is finally right around the corner, and there’s a lot to look forward to next week. Yesterday was the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce’s St Patrick’s Day Breakfast, which was an absolute blast. Who knew the local officials could be so funny? There are plenty of opportunities to get your corned beef and cabbage fix, including the First Congregational Church’s dinner tonight. Other exciting events will take place next weekend in Holyoke: Saturday is the St. Patrick’s Day Road Race and Sunday is the annual Parade. We’ll be able to see the 2015 Sons of Erin Colleen Kristen Bonsall and her Court, as well as Westfield’s Parade Marshall Councilor James Adams, and all of the floats that committee members have been working hard to construct.
On Wednesday, the house passed a Supplemental Budget in the amount of $350 million to make up for midyear budget shortfalls. Some of the areas that were addressed in this budget include additional funding for emergency assistance shelters, the Department of Children and Families, and for snow and ice removal, which will help alleviate some of the burden on cities and towns.
This winter was absolutely brutal. What was supposed to be the shortest month of the year felt like the longest in its seemingly never ending storms that buried the state. Currently, we are around $22 million over budget for removal of snow and ice. The Governor and my colleagues in the legislature are highly aware of this, and we took action to lift some of the burden that is put on to our local governments. Part of the supplemental budget that passed in the house this week was $50 million for snow and ice removal. The legislation also allows municipalities to pay back the deficits from snow and ice removal over two years rather than one. Towns and cities may have cleared their roads, but they are still buried by payments of those services. The supplemental budget bill will now go to the Senate.
A lot of snow melted this week, but while it may look like we’re out of the woods in terms of February’s record-setting weather, winter is leaving its annual gift for us: potholes. It seems like each day there is a new pothole that is out for my tires, hubcaps, and front end. The Secretary of Transportation is well aware of this situation, as well as the Governor and my colleagues in the legislature who are looking into allocating funds for patching of potholes, cracking and other surface defects, including paving projects. There was a similar program last year, where municipalities were given $30 million in local aid to make repairs to local roads that were damaged. This would be a huge help to municipalities who are struggling to create their own budgets, and I’m looking forward to working on securing these funds to help our cities and towns to recover from this winter.
While I’m looking forward to St Patrick’s Day events, there is another amazing event that is happening this weekend. Today, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is recognizing the activation of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Gold Star Mothers. I am absolutely honored to be able to participate in this ceremony.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and has a safe celebration on St. Patrick’s Day this Tuesday. As always, please contact me with any issues, questions, or concerns at [email protected].
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
