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Special to The Advocate
On Jan. 11, 2024, State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate to pass (39-0) An Act to provide for competitiveness and infrastructure investment in Massachusetts, an economic development bill to use the interest accrued from the Commonwealth’s Stabilization Fund to help ensure the state is making the most of federal grant funding opportunities. The Commonwealth’s Stabilization Fund currently has a historic balance of $8.2 billion, and it accumulates approximately $250 million in interest each year. It is estimated that Massachusetts has the opportunity to receive up to $17.5 billion in federal grant funding opportunities for various infrastructure projects.
Under the bill, interest transferred from the Stabilization Fund to a (new) Commonwealth Federal Matching and Debt Reduction Fund will be used to fund the state or municipal match requirement for competitive federal grant opportunities, as well as for planning work that will help municipalities with the process of preparing applications for federal grants.
“We should do everything possible to maximize our share of federal grant opportunities that help save money for Massachusetts taxpayers,” said Senator Lewis. “Using excess interest from the Commonwealth’s Stabilization Fund to unlock these federal opportunities is a smart way to do so, and will enable the state and local municipalities to fund important infrastructure projects.”
The bill was originally filed by Governor Maura Healey and now heads to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for consideration.
