Speech  Auditor Bump's Written Testimony to the Joint Committee on Transportation

Boston — Dear Chairman Straus and Chairman Crighton:

I write to advocate for increased funding for the state’s Chapter 90 program. Last fall, my office’s Division of Local Mandates examined the Commonwealth’s east-west divide in terms of three aspects of critical public infrastructure in Western Massachusetts including, roadways, culverts and bridges, municipal buildings, and broadband internet access. The report found that the maintenance of roadways, culverts and bridges is a significant issue facing the western part of the state as many of these structures are in a state of disrepair.

General funding from the state for these repairs comes from the annual Chapter 90 appropriation however, the report exhibits how the formula heavily favors more populated areas, most of which are in eastern Massachusetts. This disparity has led to crumbling roadways, making development a challenge in the Western Massachusetts region. The report recommends increasing the annual Chapter 90 funding from $200 million to at least $300 million, and calls for an update to the formula to put more emphasis on road mileage, rather than population, which would provide additional funding to towns in Western Massachusetts.

The report showed a large deficiency between the $200 million annual appropriation and the need identified by municipalities is over $500 million. In a survey of municipalities, my office found the Chapter 90 program is popular because it allows municipal officials to decide priorities within program’s existing structure. With so much federal infrastructure spending going to competitive grants, many of which rural communities may not be able to compete for since they lack engineering and planning staff, the Chapter 90 program becomes even more important.

I applaud the Governor’s intent to add $100 million through a supplemental budget to get to $300 million for this year however, this should be done on a permanent basis with $300 million as the annual appropriation and funding approved for multiple years so officials can plan to spend appropriately.

Anything short of that is a disserve to the rural communities in Western Massachusetts which have fallen behind in terms of their basic infrastructure needs.

A $300 million appropriation would be a prudent step toward funding the variety of needs for infrastructure including, bridges, culverts and municipal buildings.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.