Good morning Westfield! I hope everyone had a great week and enjoyed the 4th of July holiday. It was a beautiful weekend to spend celebrating our wonderful country.
This week, as usual, was a busy one in Boston. On Thursday, the House voted to pass House Bill 4461, An Act Relative to job creation workforce development and infrastructure investment. The bill passed almost unanimously with a 151-1 roll call vote.
The general aim of this bill is economic development across our Commonwealth. There was a lot to consider with this bill, including 183 amendments. Although the majority of these amendments were withdrawn before they came up for discussion, we did vote to pass 19 of them.
One of the provisions approved by the House included $45 million in funding for the Transformative Development Fund. This fund, administered by MassDevelopment, will be used to stimulate development in our Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities.
Additionally, the House approved $500 million in funding requested by the Governor for the MassWorks infrastructure program. This is essentially a “one stop shop” for any city or town looking for grants to repair or build local infrastructure. This bill is now on to the Senate for consideration.
In other news this week, Friday afternoon Governor Baker signed the compromise transgender anti-discrimination legislation. This compromise bill was put forth by a conference committee made up of members of the House and Senate. With the Governor’s signature, this bill will go into effect October 1st.
That’s about all for this week Westfield. We’re getting ready to finish up the last few weeks of formal session! Until then, as always, please feel free to contact me with your questions, issues, or concerns at John.Velis@mahouse.gov or at my district office phone number, 413-572-3920.
