President Joe Biden was finally able to sign the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Nov. 15 that had been held up for months due to haggling and maneuvering by members of his own party in Congress. One of those Democrats was U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern of Worcester, who joined 214 other Democrats and 13 Republican House members in voting for the measure on Friday, Nov. 5. The bill had passed the Senate in August, with 50 Democrats and 19 Republicans voting in favor.
In a recent interview, McGovern said that while he’s pleased the state will get a substantial windfall from the spending package, he has heard the concerns of state and local officials that the infrastructure priorities of greater Boston could overwhelm the needs of smaller cities and rural communities. McGovern represents the 2nd Congressional District.
“My team and I are working to make sure that all the priority projects that we discussed with mayors and town administrators and town managers are funded,” he said. “We have broken bridges on Route 2, there’s money in here for broadband expansion, for lead pipe replacement.”
While people may normally associate “infrastructure” with roads and bridges, McGovern said rail service also stands to gain from the package.
“There’s also money in this for intercity passenger rail that I hope will make an east-west passenger rail project a reality. Sen. (Edward) Markey and I both introduced legislation called the ‘brain train,’ which is included in this bill, which would provide a significant amount of money for expanded rail. Lots of things that were on the drawing board, I think, will become reality.”
McGovern’s senior adviser, Matt Bonaccorsi, confirmed that funding for many old municipal and public safety buildings is also on the table.
The funding, he said, is “a little more roundabout. There is not direct funding for construction or repair of municipal facilities, but there’s a lot of new grant money for energy efficiency and green buildings. Municipalities could apply for these grants to help them make major updates. And, because energy is a huge cost driver for facilities, getting these buildings energy efficient would help free up city and town resources for other things.”
Another concern of many communities in McGovern’s district is dam safety.
“There is funding for dams,” Bonaccorsi said. “$3 billion for dam repair, improvement and removal across the country. For context, the U.S. has over 90,000 dams and, according to an AP report from 2019, nearly 1,700 are considered ‘high-hazard.’ That report identified 39 of them in Massachusetts. Funds for this would come from FEMA and go to Mass DCR’s Office of Dam Safety.”
McGovern, who was at the White House for the bill-signing ceremony, said, “What we need to do now is work very closely with our cities and towns and make sure we understand what everybody’s priorities are, and then we’re going to go fight for them. Twelve billion dollars, on top of the state’s normal federal allocation — that ought to mean a lot of projects in some of our smaller towns and medium-sized cities move up the priority list. And we want to make sure the state is clear about what the needs are outside the metropolitan Boston area.”
Speaking two days before the House approved the second part of President Biden’s economic plan, the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, McGovern said he is confident the bill will make it through the Senate and reach the president’s desk for his signature by Christmas, in spite of concerns expressed by moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema.
“The Build Back Better bill, among other things, will help us solve the supply chain issue that, quite frankly, can lead to economic insecurity and inflation,” he said. “And it’s going to create more jobs for people that pay a living wage. This is what the American people elected us to do. So, I do believe it will pass.”