How and When Will Massachusetts Spend Its $5.3B in COVID Relief Funds? Federal aid to four communities is tangled in a larger power struggle between Gov. Charlie Baker and the Legislature By Colin A. Young •
Updated 2 hours ago
Office of Governor Baker
Democratic leaders in the Legislature doubled down Wednesday on their plan to stash $5.3 billion in federal aid into an account they could control over the next several years as they and Gov. Charlie Baker engaged in the first skirmish in what could soon be a major clash between the state s chief executive and its Legislature.
At the heart of the matter is a tug-of-war over who will take the lead in deciding how Massachusetts will spend the majority of its $5.3 billion in American Rescue Plan Act aid the Republican governor s executive branch, or the Democrat-controlled Legislature. Whichever branch of government controls the ARPA purse strings will probably also control the pace at which the federal mo
Democratic leaders in the Legislature doubled down Wednesday on their plan to stash $5.3 billion in federal aid into an account they could control over the next.
Shaun Robinson Boston University Statehouse Program
BOSTON Massachusetts is set to receive about $8 billion from the American Rescue Plan, about $4.5 billion of which will go to the state and $3.4 billion of which will go to cities and towns, officials say.
The state is in better financial health than was initially expected amid the economic challenges of the pandemic, having upgraded revenue projections several times for the 2021 fiscal year.
How exactly the state will leverage the $8 billion in aid remains unclear, at least until there is additional guidance from the federal government. The Massachusetts House of Representatives this session created a Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight, which is charged with reviewing federal spending and making recommendations for how the state can secure additional funding.
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