As they look to put the finishing touches on a year-end budget bill, it appears a sure thing that state lawmakers will approve extra disaster relief funding for Massachusetts cities and towns that are still feeling the effects of last summer’s devastating rains and flooding.
The big question is how much money they’ll get.
A $2.7 billion supplemental funding bill previously approved by the state House includes $10 million in assistance. The $2.8 billion supplemental bill approved on a 36-3 vote by the state Senate on Tuesday includes $15 million in assistance.
The two chambers wrap up their voting sessions for the year on Wednesday, which means the House and Senate, both controlled by Democrats, will have to reconcile their differences on the disaster relief funding and other provisions included in their respective budget bills.
But while there may be some disagreement over how much to spend, as far as one Central Massachusetts lawmaker is concerned, there’s no doubt over whether to spend the money.
“I’m hoping we take the higher number, but the House did a great job right?” Sen. Joanne Comerford, D-Hampshire/Franklin/Worcester, told MassLive on Tuesday. “They got to [$10 million] which is good. This is a good partnership.”
During floor remarks, Comerford told her colleagues that “the climate crisis is upon us,” and it’s taking a toll on municipal finances.
“We have to figure out a sustainable source of revenue that will help our municipalities. My cities and towns are passing really painful overrides and debt exclusions, trying to figure out the way they’re going to pay unthinkable costs,” she said, according to State House News Service. “We’re going to see this more and more.”
The Senate funding measure was the target of some parliamentary gymnastics by the chamber’s Republican minority, as GOP Floor Leader Bruce E. Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex, offered failed amendments to boost the disaster relief to $20 million, and to append more specific instructions on how the money could be spent.
In floor remarks, Tarr called the funding level a “Band-Aid approach that needs to be improved in the future,” State House News Service reported.
“We toured the damage in the Merrimack Valley. There was an expectation when you saw all that damage, windows and doors blown out of buildings in North Andover, business people rolling up their sleeves trying to move damaged equipment by hand out of their building because there was no electricity, when you saw people desperately struggling with a belief that when something this terrible happens, there has to be an effective response — then we saw that belief undermined,” Tarr continued.
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Comerford, joined by Rep. Natalie Blais, D-1st Franklin, rolled out legislation authorizing the creation of a special disaster relief fund that would speed the flow of assistance to disaster-stricken communities.
Right now, Massachusetts is one of only two states that doesn’t have a permanent disaster relief fund, the two lawmakers said during a news conference.
That means state officials only can provide assistance when the Legislature and governor pass a supplemental appropriation that addresses a community’s specific need. And that can result in months of delay when the need for funding is an urgent one, they said.
The news conference featured first-hand accounts from local officials and residents who still are dealing with the after-effects of last summer’s heavy weather.
Speaking to MassLive on Tuesday afternoon, as the Senate vote loomed, Comerford reinforced the need for the new legislation.
“You heard the stories today. I thought they were really unbelievably moving. It’s really characterized as a statewide problem, which is what we were hoping to do … to be able to lift up the fact that this isn’t a [Western Massachusetts] bill or an [Eastern Massachusetts] bill or a [Central Massachusetts] bill. This is a 351 cities and towns bill.”
