Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Testifies in Support of Mass Ready Act

Boston — Today, the Healey-Driscoll Administration testified in support of Governor Maura Healey’s Mass Ready Act, a $3 billion investment to help Massachusetts prepare for extreme weather events like flooding, heatwaves and wildfires. This legislation comes in the wake of the devastating flooding seen in Texas and the flash flooding in Massachusetts, underscoring the need for immediate and effective measures that are included in the bill. 

The Mass Ready Act focuses on strengthening the state’s infrastructure, protecting water and nature and investing in farms and local economies. It also streamlines permitting processes for housing and natural infrastructure projects, helping communities move priority projects forward faster and at a lower cost. Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, along with Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper, Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew J. Gorzkowicz, mayors, real estate advocates, farmers, insurance leaders and environmental advocates all came together to express their support for this critical bill. 

“The Mass Ready Act is about making Massachusetts a place where families are safe, businesses can grow and communities are prepared for the future,” said Governor Healey. “Our legislation cuts permitting and wait times to get critical housing and infrastructure projects moving, makes commonsense investments in clean water, and supports our farmers and fishermen during this uncertain time. We’re grateful to the Legislature for their review of our proposal.”

“Cities and towns know what needs to get done, but are often stuck waiting on funding or permits,” said Lieutenant Governor Driscoll. “The Mass Ready Act gives communities the ability to cut through red tape and move projects forward without unnecessary delays. Our bill offers practical fixes that allow local governments to prioritize and accomplish critical projects.”

“As we testified today, we were thinking of the communities recently devastated by flooding. Through the Mass Ready Act, we’re preparing for disasters beforehand, protecting our residents and businesses,” said Secretary Tepper. “The Mass Ready Act is a direct response to the climate threats we’re already facing. It invests in real, on-the-ground solutions like upgrading drinking water systems, protecting coastlines, supporting local farms before the next storm hits. Our legislation not only addresses extreme weather events but also helps communities proactively prepare for them.”

“Now is the time to make thoughtful, effective investments in Massachusetts’s future by improving the resilience of our cities and towns,” said Secretary Gorzkowicz. “We were grateful for the chance to testify today in support of the Mass Ready Act, a bill that authorizes critical bond financing for projects and programs that will protect our resources, enhance our communities, and support our local economies for years to come.”

The Mass Ready Act includes funding for flood control, dam safety, and seawall repairs, as well as the establishment of a Resilience Revolving Fund that provides low-interest loans to improve stormwater systems, restore nature, and enhance critical infrastructure to reduce flood and heat risks. The legislation also expands support for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program and the Food Security Infrastructure Grant (FSIG) program while making significant investments in PFAS mitigation, land conservation and the state’s Biodiversity Conservation Goals.

Statements of Support:

Katherine Warden, Town Administrator, Becket:
“The Resilience Revolving Fund is exactly the kind of forward-thinking investment rural towns like Becket need. It turns climate readiness into a practical reality by making infrastructure improvements—like roadwork and stormwater upgrades—financially feasible for our community.”

Tamara Small, CEO, NAIOP Massachusetts, The Commercial Real Estate Development Association:
“The Mass Ready Act proposes expedited pathways to build the housing Massachusetts needs while protecting the environment and advancing climate resiliency. The legislation ensures we are not choosing between homes and our environment or between our resiliency and our residents. Through sensible permitting reforms and funding for critical infrastructure, it strengthens our competitiveness and invests in a bright future for all Massachusetts residents.” 

Christopher Stark, Executive Director, Massachusetts Insurance Federation:
“The Massachusetts Insurance Federation wants to thank legislative leadership and Chairs Rausch and Barber for quickly holding a hearing on Governor Healey’s Mass Ready Act. This important legislation will make Massachusetts a leader once again in creating a culture of resiliency. As we face more powerful major storms and more frequent smaller convective storms, we must ensure we are building with that future risk in mind.”

Katie Theoharides, President & CEO, the Trustees:
“We commend the forward-thinking approach in this bill to support healthy communities and ecosystems through investments in flood risk mitigation, land conservation, infrastructure in our state parks, and more. When we invest in conserving and protecting our natural resources, we prioritize the health, resilience, economic stability, and quality of life for Massachusetts residents for current and future generations.”

Adam Chapdelaine, Executive Director, Massachusetts Municipal Association:
“The Mass Ready Act offers meaningful opportunities to strengthen the state-local partnership to make Massachusetts and its communities more resilient. Mass Ready will enable and empower municipalities to take action, prepare their communities, and respond to climate change impacts that most directly threaten their local environments and infrastructure. The MMA and local leaders greatly appreciate the administration’s responsiveness to local concerns in the development of Mass Ready, its creative financing solutions, such as a new revolving fund, and its expansion of the successful MVP program.”

Steve Long, Director of Policy and Partnerships, The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts:
“The Healey-Driscoll administration’s Mass Ready bill proposes a strong blend of funding and policy solutions to help Massachusetts rise to the challenge of climate change and biodiversity loss—crises that are global in scale and require local action. We are eager to work with the legislature to support, amplify and enhance funding resources and policy opportunities in the bill to safeguard clean water, protect our forests, and restore better flowing waterways. Our state policymakers can ensure a win for nature, our residents, and our state." 

David O’Neill, President & CEO, Mass Audubon:
“I was proud to stand with Secretary Tepper and our advocacy partners to express support for the Mass Ready Act in front of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee. The bill contains a down payment on implementing the state's Biodiversity Goals, a set of key climate solutions that protects plants, birds, and other wildlife while enhancing climate resiliency, cleaning our water and air, and supporting the economy. Mass Audubon hopes the Committee will vote to approve the bill, and we look forward to working to ensure these investments are realized.”

David Melly, Senior Policy Director, the Environmental League of Massachusetts:
“This legislation proposes smart investments in conservation, resiliency, and climate progress that also make Massachusetts a more attractive place to live, work, and visit,” said David Melly, Senior Policy Director for the Environmental League of Massachusetts. “Residents deserve to live in green, healthy communities, breathing clean air and drinking clean water, and our capital spending and policy should work to comprehensively meet those needs.”

Robb Johnson, Executive Director, Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition:
"The Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition applauds the Governor for including a number of provisions that recognize the critical role that land trusts play in helping the Commonwealth reach its ambitious land conservation goals. When land trusts are eligible for state grant programs, we demonstrate our ability to leverage private funding and strong relationships with landowners and communities to get conservation done."    

Rebecca Miller, Policy Director, Massachusetts Food System Collaborative:
"The Massachusetts Food System Collaborative was pleased to offer testimony in support of the Mass Ready Act. We applaud the legislature's Joint Environment and Natural Resources Committee for holding a hearing on the proposal three weeks after its introduction, thereby demonstrating the urgency of the need. We respectfully urge the legislature to support the appropriations for critical food system capital grants programs including the Food Security Infrastructure Grant Program, the Climate Smart Agriculture Program, and the Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program. Many of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources' grant programs are consistently oversubscribed, and increased investments in land access, climate adaptation and mitigation, and food security infrastructure are needed for a sustainable, equitable, and resilient local food system."

Lizzi Weyant, Acting Executive Director, MAPC:
“MAPC was honored to testify today in support of the Mass Ready Act, which includes policies and programs we have long supported, such as the MVP program, and funding to repair and safeguard water infrastructure. These investments will be even more crucial for the communities in our region with uncertainty around federal dollars. As an agency that thinks about the intersection between flooding and housing, we are thrilled that this proposal includes a provision around flood disclosure and provisions around permitting, a recommendation suggested by the Unlocking Housing Production Commission. The proposal before the Joint Committee on Environment provides a blueprint for investment and programs that support our residents, our environment, and make critical progress on our climate and economic development targets.”

Linda Dunlavy, Executive Director, Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG):
“Mass Ready thoughtfully balances our Commonwealth’s goal to make Massachusetts more resilient to climate impacts while also preparing for possible federal cuts that will impact our cities, towns, farms and businesses. It was my honor and pleasure to testify in support of the bill particularly to support the creation of a CT River Resiliency Commission.” 

Chris Osgood, Director of the Office of Climate Resilience, City of Boston:
“Mayor Michelle Wu is very focused on reducing the risk of extreme weather events to the people of Boston and its neighborhoods. The Commonwealth has been a key partner in this effort, with grants supporting projects from Tenean Beach in Dorchester to Bennington Street in East Boston. The Mass Ready Act will accelerate this collaborative effort, with $3 billion in potential investments and opportunities for further improvements to the permitting process, among other proposed reforms.” 

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