(BOSTON 6/20/2025) — This week, the Massachusetts Legislature approved $1.39 billion in new investments in public transportation and public education across the Commonwealth. The supplemental budget – funded by surplus revenue from the Fair Share surtax on incomes over $1 million, allocates $716 million for transportation and $593.5 million for education at every level.

To allocate the surplus, this supplemental budget makes significant investments in the MBTA, Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs), water transportation, roads, and bridges – with the goal of advancing affordable, safe, and reliable transit for all residents. It also provides critical support for public colleges and universities, expands vocational education programs, and strengthens services for students with disabilities.

“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 capital expenses.

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.

Fair Share Amendment investments include:

Key Transportation Investments

MBTA Upgrades. $535 million for improvements and infrastructure upgrades across the MBTA system, including:

$300 million to support the MBTA budget reserve.
$175 million in workforce and safety funding to implement improvements recommended by the Federal Transit Administration.
$40 million for MBTA physical infrastructure upgrades.
$20 million for the MBTA’s low-income fare relief program.

Aid For Cities and Towns. $103 million for regionally equitable, shovel-ready transportation improvements, including:

$80 million for supplemental Chapter 90 aid to ensure every city and town receives funding to maintain local roads and bridges, including $40 million to help support small and rural communities by distributing funds based solely on road mileage.
$16.4 million for municipally owned small bridges and culverts.
$7 million for the improvement and maintenance of unpaved roads.

Regional Equity in Transportation. $73 million for regional transit initiatives, specifically:

$25 million for capital improvements to equipment and facilities at Regional Transit Authorities, which serve and connect all regions of the Commonwealth.
$25 million for efforts to improve workforce recruitment and retention at the Regional Transit Authorities.
$13 million for public ferry infrastructure improvements.
$10 million for on-demand micro-transit shuttles and Last Mile grants fostering an innovative multimodal transit system.

World Cup Preparations: $5 million for transportation improvements associated with the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Key Education Investments

Special Education. $248 million for special education costs, including Circuit Breaker reimbursements to local school districts.

Public Higher Education Deferred Maintenance. $115 million for public higher education infrastructure investments, including $10 million for lab modernization capital improvements and upgrades at community colleges, helping ensure community colleges have the needed resources to provide a first-class education to the surge of students signing up after passage of MassEducate, which provides free community college to Massachusetts residents.

Career Technical Education Capital Grants. $100 million to expand capacity and accommodate additional career technical education school opportunities, including $15 million for a pilot program to support career and vocational technical annex buildings on comprehensive high school campuses.

EEC Workforce, Affordability, and Quality Improvement. $45 million for initiatives to support workforce development, affordability and quality improvements in the early education and care sector, including $20 million for rate increases to support early education providers.

Literacy Growth. $25 million for high dosage tutoring to support accelerated literacy growth and success for students in kindergarten through grade 3.

Endowment Match. $20 million for the endowment incentive match program to leverage public funds to encourage private fundraising by the state’s public higher education institutions to support accessible and affordable education programming, including $10 million for a Department of Higher Education (DHE) endowment incentive match and $10 million for the University of Massachusetts endowment incentive program.

English Language Learning Programs. $10 million for educational grants to help speakers of languages other than English to learn English—and subsequently aid in filling in-demand jobs—by reducing the waitlist for services.

Holocaust Museum Boston. $10 million to support the Holocaust Museum Boston.

Green SchoolWorks. $10 million for grants to eligible local school districts for clean energy infrastructure improvements and upgrades.

Regional School Transportation. $8.1 million to support regional school transportation costs.

Tomorrow's Teachers Scholarship and Loan Forgiveness. $2.475 million for scholarships and loan forgiveness initiatives to encourage qualified high school and currently-enrolled college students to seek teaching in the Massachusetts public school system as a career pathway.

Having passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, the bill now goes to the Governor for her signature.

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