Good morning Westfield! I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of Summer. Here is a quick update of the past week.
As you know, the legislative session wrapped up last weekend on July 31st. It was a long but productive weekend for us at the State House. We addressed the last of the overrides to the Governor’s budget vetoes and were able to pass a few remaining bills before wrapping things up late Sunday night.
One of the vetoes the House and Senate were able to successfully override related to Westfield State University. The Governor initially vetoed an earmark for the University to build a Veteran’s Center on campus for all student Veterans. Westfield State is one of few public universities in our Commonwealth without such a building. I was extremely pleased to see that veto overridden and the funding restored.
Among the bills passed this last weekend was House Bill 4424, An Act providing for the financing of certain improvements to municipal roads and bridges. Overall this is a strong bill that will help repair and maintain roads and bridges in our Commonwealth. As I mentioned in last week’s update, this bill was amended to include a provision that would require the state to apply for funding to create a pilot program to research a mileage tax in Massachusetts. This is a concerning addition, particularly for those of us in Western Massachusetts who would bear a greater burden of this tax. I sent the governor a letter strongly encouraging him to strike that section of the bill. This bill has passed the House and Senate and is on to the Governor. I am hopeful that he will utilize his line-item veto to strike the section regarding the mileage tax program.
We were also able to pass final versions of a few other pieces of legislation and send them on to Governor Baker. Legislation regulating ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft, a municipal modernization bill, and an economic development bill were among those passed.
That’s all for this week Westfield! I am looking forward to seeing some of you around this week as the Babe Ruth World Series comes to town. We are in for an exciting week. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns at [email protected] or my district office phone 413-472-392
