Sen. DiDomenico helps secure $750,000 in funding for local education, transportation projects

Special to The Advocate

Senator Sal DiDomenico joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate to pass a $1.33 billion plan to invest in public education and transportation across the Commonwealth. The Senate’s bill directs funding to expand career and technical education opportunities and bolster construction projects at local schools and college campuses, as well as support public transit and road and bridge funding for cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth.

DiDomenico secured $750,000 to support education and transportation projects across every community in his district. His funding will go towards projects such as playground enhancements, athletic and theater programs, creating sensory classrooms, assisting with repairs in our schools, new bleachers in a high school gym, afterschool programming, traffic calming measures on our streets, and new signalization to create a safer environment for drivers and pedestrians.

This bill prioritizes regional equity by providing support statewide for K-12 school district special education programs, roads and bridges, capital improvements for public bus transportation, and infrastructure upgrades at Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities.

The overwhelming success of the Fair Share amendment to the Constitution — voted for by residents in 2022 — generated more than $1 billion over initial projections in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. This legislation contains restricted one-time investments in public education and transportation initiatives and primarily uses funds from that surtax, which is paid by households in Massachusetts earning more than $1 million per year. The Senate will debate its annual general budget later in the month.

“I am thrilled that I could bring such a significant investment home to my district to improve and support school programs, public infrastructure, and transit projects,” said Senator DiDomenico. “I am excited to witness new projects improving daily transit across our communities and the new education initiatives that will support countless students of all ages. I want to thank Senate President Spilka and Chair Rodrigues for this bill that will have far reaching benefits in our state in the near term and long into the future.”

Education

Education investments in the supplemental budget include funding for:

• Special Education Costs: $248 million (M), including circuit breaker reimbursements to local school districts.
• Public Higher Education Deferred Maintenance: $190M for higher education overall, including $10M for lab resources for community colleges following the success of MassEducate.
• Career Technical Education Capital Grants: $100M to expand capacity and accommodate additional career technical education opportunities.
• Local School Construction Relief: $50M to support cities, towns and school districts experiencing extraordinary school construction increases due to inflation or the impacts of tariffs.
• Literacy Growth: $25M to support accelerated literacy growth for students in kindergarten through grade 3.
• English Language Learning Programs: $10M for educational grants to reduce the waitlist for services for speakers of languages other than English to learn English and subsequently help fill in-demand jobs.

Transportation

Transportation investments in the supplemental budget include funding for:

• MBTA Improvements and Infrastructure Upgrades: $370M for improvements and infrastructure upgrades across the MBTA system, comprising:

⚬ $200M to replenish the MBTA budget reserve after the MBTA’s recent use of reserve funds for operations support

⚬ $100M in workforce and safety training to implement Federal Transit Administration improvement recommendations

⚬ $50M for commuter rail system maintenance and infrastructure upgrades

⚬ $20M for the MBTA’s low-income fare relief program

• Local Road Improvements: $190M for shovel-ready transportation improvements to roads, bridges and culverts.
• Regional Equity in Transportation: $105M for regional transit initiatives composed of:

⚬ $50M for capital improvements to equipment and facilities at Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) that serve and connect all regions of the Commonwealth

⚬ $25M for RTA workforce recruitment and retention improvement efforts

⚬ $20M for ferry infrastructure improvements

⚬ $10M for on-demand micro-transit shuttles and Last Mile grants to foster an innovative multimodal transit system

• World Cup Preparations: $5M for transportation improvements associated with the upcoming 2026 World Cup.