Gov. Healey announces 5-year Ch. 90 bill with 50% increase

At the MMA’s Connect 351 conference, Gov. Maura Healey announced that she would be filing a five-year, $1.5 billion Chapter 90 bond bill today that would authorize investments of $300 million per year for local road and bridge maintenance.

The funding level would be a 50% increase for Chapter 90, which has been generally level-funded at $200 million for the past dozen years.

The proposed bond authorization would apportion $200 million each year using the established Chapter 90 formula, which factors in a community’s road miles, population and employment, and an additional $100 million based on road miles only. The administration said the intent is to ensure that traditional apportionments remain stable, while the additional investment favors rural communities with lower population and employment (but significant road mileage).

The Chapter 90 increase was introduced 10 days ago as a key component of the governor’s transportation funding plan. The investment would be partly enabled by a $765 million deposit of fiscal 2026 Fair Share surtax revenue into the state’s Commonwealth Transportation Fund. The governor included this transfer, which would expand the Commonwealth’s bonding capacity, in her fiscal 2026 state budget bill.

Along with her budget, Gov. Healey filed a $1.3 billion fiscal 2025 supplemental budget bill that includes $25 million for the Winter Resilience Assistance Program.

Intended to support communities with transportation infrastructure repairs caused by harsh winter weather, WRAP was established as a reimbursement program and apportioned based on road miles. WRAP funding may be used for the rehabilitation, reconstruction, resurfacing or preservation of local roads, sidewalks, bike lanes and other pathways, as well as road striping or painting, and the repair or replacement of traffic control devices, signage, guardrails and storm grates.

Last year’s transportation bond bill authorized $200 million for the Chapter 90 program as well as $25 million for the Rural Roadway Funding Program that supplements Chapter 90, apportioned with a formula that favors rural communities. An additional $46 million was appropriated to supplement Chapter 90 through the fiscal 2025 state budget.

The MMA has long advocated for a multi-year Chapter 90 authorization along with a significant funding increase. At the MMA’s Annual Business Meeting last year, members approved a transportation resolution calling for at least $350 million per year in a multi-year authorization, indexed to inflation, as well as funding for a rural roads program.

Base Chapter 90 funding has been generally level-funded at $200 million per year since fiscal 2012, despite road construction cost increases that have significantly reduced purchasing power. The MMA’s most recent statewide survey shows that cities and towns need at least $859 million per year in Chapter 90 funding to adequately maintain 30,000 miles of local roads and hundreds of bridges.

The MMA is asking the Legislature to act on Chapter 90 funding early in the legislative session, so municipalities can access this essential funding early in the construction season.

The Chapter 90 reimbursement program was launched more than 50 years ago to help municipalities maintain the municipal roads and bridges.