Senators to debate loaded relief bill
ARPA spending bill filled with ‘self-serving’ amendments, watchdogs say
State senators are slated to debate a massive coronavirus relief spending bill intended to ease suffering brought about by the pandemic, but Beacon Hill watchdogs called out lawmakers for loading up the bill with hundreds of “selfserving” amendments.
“They are using this money on pet projects so when they are up for reelection this time next year, they can say ‘look what I got for our town’ instead of actually dedicating pandemic relief money to pandemic-related costs,” said Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
The Senate last week revealed a spending bill that proposes using more than $3.66 billion in available American Rescue Plan Act funds and surplus tax revenue to make investments in housing, workforce development, schools and health care systems to help boost communities hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Debate opens during a formal session on Wednesday.
But Senate lawmakers — like their cohorts in the House — have loaded the relief bill up with 722 amendments totaling more than $5.5 billion in additional spending.
While the majority of the amendments — which run the gamut of investments in schools, public safety, economic development, local projects and more — are likely to get spiked, watchdogs say its indicative of the attitudes on Beacon Hill.
“The Legislature should be looking to fix what’s broken and hasn’t been paid for already,” said Greg Sullivan, a former state inspector general and current research director for the Pioneer Institute. “The Legislature ought to be focusing on taking care of our current underfunded projects and not succumb to self-serving amendments.”
Amendments include a $2 million ask by Sen. Brendan Crighton for a senior center in Lynn, $200,000 for the Community Music School of Springfield by Sen. Eric Lesser and $400,000 to replace a Ware bridge pitched by Sen. Anne Gobi.
An amendment pitched by Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr that would boost a contribution to the state’s indebted Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund from $500 million to $1 billion is one of few exceptions, watchdogs agreed.
“There’s no better way to spend that money,” Craney said. “This not result of what these businesses did or didn’t do, it’s a result of the orders that restricted them or shut them down completely and they’re now being asked to repay a $7 billion debt over 20 years.”
The House passed its $3.82 billion version of surplus/arpa spending last Friday night, with the bill ultimately growing by about $170 million after lawmakers considered more than 1,000 amendments.