BOSTON — The Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed a $779.4M supplemental budget from fiscal year 2019 Oct. 24.
This budget will provide additional aid to issues troubling the Commonwealth such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), rural school aid, carbon emission reduction, and much more. A conference committee will now be appointed to resolve any differences between the House of Representatives version and the Senate version of this bill.
“Personally, for my constituents, I am happy to see my amendment for additional funding to tackling the PFAS issue threating our drinking water,” said state Sen. Donald F. Humason Jr. (R-Second Hampden and Hampshire). “It is my intent to provide the city of Westfield and the Water Department with the resources to do a number of additional testing to help residents.”
Some of the large items included in this budget include:
- $60M in Chapter 90 funding for cities and towns
- $5.2M for Regional School Transportation reimbursements
- $5M to be used for de-leading projects, prioritizing elementary schools
- Ensuring that active duty service members who are also state employees reserve the differences between their military base pay and their state base pay
Humason filed two amendments to the supplemental budget. The first amendment would allow towns, who have already spent money to test and/or clean water supplies of PFAS, to apply for cost defrayment grants.
The second amendment filed by Humason would provide $200,000 for drinking water testing, purification, and improvements to the water supply infrastructure in the city of Westfield.
Humason also co-sponsored an amendment filed by state Sen. Eric P. Lesser (D-First Hampden and Hampshire) that would give another $200,000 to the Friends of Chicopee Senior Citizens Inc. in the city of Chicopee.
