Sen. Lewis leads effort to reform Massachusetts School Building Authority

State Senator Jason Lewis led the passage of a bill in the Massachusetts Senate, S.2885, An Act establishing a special commission to review the adequacy and equity of the Massachusetts school building program. The special commission established by this bill would study and make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the capacity of the MSBA to meet the needs of current and future school building projects, and about the racial, ethnic, socio-economic and geographical equity of the grant funding formula to ensure that all communities can participate in the program. On July 22, 2024, the Senate passed S.2885. On July 24, the House referred the bill to its committee on Ways and Means.

Since its creation by the state legislature in 2004, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which is a quasi-independent government authority, has partnered with municipalities to provide $17.4 billion to help build or renovate more than 600 schools statewide. But the MSBA has struggled in recent years to keep up with the demand given many aging and deteriorating school buildings, and concerns have grown about the equity of the program. The special commission established by this bill would study and make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the capacity of the MSBA to meet the needs of current and future school building projects, and about the racial, ethnic, socio-economic and geographical equity of the grant funding formula to ensure that all communities can participate in the program.

“Communities are waiting many years before they are accepted into the MSBA program and can begin making badly needed renovations to their public school facilities,” said Senator Lewis, who is Senate Chairperson of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education. “At the same time, some lower-income communities are finding it very difficult to partner with the MSBA given the inadequate reimbursement rate, and even many communities that are able to move forward with projects are struggling to secure the necessary local funding from taxpayers. The program needs significant updates and reforms.”

Separately, as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, Senator Lewis supported a three-part plan that was ultimately included in the final budget: authorizing the MSBA to make supplemental grants to school building projects that were adversely impacted by rapidly rising costs during the COVID-19 pandemic; increasing the annual spending cap for the MSBA to authorize it to spend additional money; and appropriating an additional $100 million to the MSBA. These additional funds came from the new Fair Share revenue that the state received from the 4% surtax on annual household income above $1 million approved by Massachusetts voters in 2022. As a result of this plan, multiple school building projects in Senator Lewis’ district received tens of millions of dollars in supplemental state grants from the MSBA, thereby reducing the financial burden on local taxpayers.