(BOSTON 5/9/2025) — The Massachusetts Senate yesterday passed 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, bolster construction projects at local schools and college campuses, and support public transit, road and bridge funding for city and town governments.

The bill, S.2512, prioritizes regional equity by providing support statewide for K-12 school district special education programs, rural 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.

“The Fair Share Amendment has been a wild success, allowing us to allocate more dollars to transportation and education priorities across the Commonwealth without burdening working class families with additional taxes,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “I’m thrilled to have secured funding for projects in my district as well as for regional programs that all Bay Staters will benefit from. These are smart investments that will pay dividends for decades to come – exactly what the voters asked for when they approved the Fair Share Amendment in 2022.”

During Senate debate, Second Worcester District State Senator Michael Moore secured a number of earmarks for projects across the district, including:

Regional

$100,000 to Worcester State University to plan, develop, and launch a new cyber range in partnership with Quinsigamond Community College for the education and training of students to work in cybersecurity and related fields.
$100,000 to Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School for cap

Auburn

$75,000 to Auburn Public Schools for the purchase of a bus.

Grafton

$70,000 to Grafton Public Schools for the purchase of a wheelchair accessible van.

Millbury

$90,000 to Millbury Public Schools for the purchase of a bus.
$15,000 to Millbury Public Schools to expand student vocational opportunities in partnership with the North Atlantic States Carpenters Union.

Shrewsbury

$40,000 to the Town of Shrewsbury for the purchase and installation of traffic signal preemption equipment.
$35,000 to Shrewsbury Public Schools for capital expenses.

Westborough

$70,000 to the Westborough Bridging Over to Right Opportunities (BORO) program at Westborough Public Schools.
$35,000 to the Town of Westborough for the development of a design and traffic analysis for the intersection between Milk Street and Fisher Street.

Worcester

$120,000 to Worcester Public Schools for capital expenses.

Senator Moore also introduced an amendment that would have brought more transparency to Massachusetts consumers by requiring retailers to clearly display or disclose the cost of tariffs in a product’s total price. At a time when many Bay Staters are already struggling to keep up with the cost of living, this policy would help consumers better understand why the cost of goods, services, and materials will be increasing in the coming months as the President continues to implement his tariff agenda on the federal level. The amendment was withdrawn for technical reasons.

“The truth is, tariffs are effectively a national sales tax on some of the most essential things Americans buy. When you go to check out online or in person, you expect to see how much you'll be paying in state sales tax — why should it be any different for tariffs?” said Senator Michael Moore. “My amendment was withdrawn on technical grounds, but my commitment to consumer protections and price transparency in this time of economic uncertainty is unwavering. Tariffs are increasing the costs of goods, services, and materials across the board, meaning your dollars — and the dollars of governments attempting to build or upgrade infrastructure — will not go nearly as far as they used to. I will be reintroducing this policy as part of the FY26 budget because Bay Staters deserve to know why the prices of everyday goods are going up.”

Fair Share Amendment investments include:

Education

Education investments in the supplemental budget include funding for:

Special Education Costs. $248 million, including circuit breaker reimbursements to local school districts.
Public Higher Education Deferred Maintenance. $190 million for higher education overall, including $10 million for lab resources for community colleges following the success of MassEducate.
Career Technical Education Capital Grants. $100 million to expand capacity and accommodate additional career technical education opportunities.
Local School Construction Relief. $50 million to support cities, towns and school districts experiencing extraordinary school construction increases due to inflation or the impacts of tariffs.
Literacy Growth. $25 million to support accelerated literacy growth for students in kindergarten through grade 3.
English Language Learning Programs. $10 million 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. $370 million for improvements and infrastructure upgrades across the MBTA system, comprising:
- $200 million to replenish the MBTA budget reserve after the MBTA’s recent use of reserve funds for operations support.
- $100 million in workforce and safety training to implement Federal Transit Administration improvement recommendations.
- $50 million for commuter rail system maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.
- $20 million for the MBTA’s low-income fare relief program.
Local Road Improvements. $190 million for shovel-ready transportation improvements to roads, bridges, and culverts.
Regional Equity in Transportation. $105 million for regional transit initiatives composed of:
- $50 million for capital improvements to equipment and facilities at Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) that serve and connect all regions of the Commonwealth.
- $25 million for RTA workforce recruitment and retention improvement efforts.
- $20 million for ferry infrastructure improvements.
- $10 million for on-demand micro-transit shuttles and Last Mile grants to foster an innovative multimodal transit system.
World Cup Preparations. $5 million for transportation improvements associated with the upcoming 2026 World Cup.

Amendments

During debate on the Senate floor, members from around the state contributed to the initial proposal with amendments reflecting their priorities and district needs. Notable amendments adopted during the debate include:

Amendment 128 from Senator Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn). Sets aside funds for assistive reading technologies so local school districts can purchase resources such as audio books and voice-text format books to bolster struggling readers in Massachusetts, including children with vision impairments, learning disabilities, or physical disabilities.
Amendment 213 from Senator Nick Collins (D-South Boston). Supports nurses by allocating funds toward expansion of the facilities at UMass Boston’s Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the ninth largest nursing school in the country that offers several undergraduate and graduate degree programs; also directs UMass Boston to study the feasibility of establishing a satellite campus at the site of Carney Hospital in Dorchester.
Amendment 106 from Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro). Directs funds for ferry services including pier and dock maintenance serving passengers between the South Coast, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard.
Amendment 223 from Senator Lydia Edwards (D-East Boston). Directs funds toward planning and construction of a ferry dock in the East Boston Designated Port Area, along with money for ferry terminal capital improvements in Winthrop.
Amendment 15 from Senator John Keenan (D-Quincy). Edits the language regarding the bill’s supplemental grant program, which helps school districts deal with skyrocketing material costs for school building projects due to inflation, to also include projects with material cost increases due to tariffs.

A comprehensive fact sheet detailing the investments proposed by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, including further investments and funding sources, is available in the Senate’s press room. Video of debate is publicly available on the Senate website for viewing, as is the full list of investments approved by the Senate.

Different versions having passed both chambers of the Legislature, the branches will now move to resolve their differences before sending a compromise bill to the Governor for her signature.

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