A key legislative panel spiked billions of dollars in American Rescue Plan Act spending from Gov. Charlie Baker’s jobs and downtowns bill, and its top senator now says no one in his chamber outright endorsed that move.
Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee Co-chair Sen. Eric Lesser said in a statement to the News Service that all seven senators on the committee reserved their rights on a poll to advance the scaled-down $1.2 billion bill (H 4864), opting not to take an up-or-down position.
“The senators in the Committee reserved their rights. We were not prepared to fully strip ARPA but did not want to delay things any longer,” Lesser said Tuesday evening. “There will be many more versions of the legislation to work with moving forward. Coincidentally, I was in Springfield today with Governor Baker and Mayor Sarno highlighting ARPA investments for Gateway Cities.”
Baker’s original bill (H 4720) paired $1.2 billion in bonding with spending the remaining $2.3 billion in ARPA funds that state government has on hand, which must be obligated by the end of 2024.
The committee favorably reported a revision that calls only for the borrowing component and leaves the pot of federal aid untapped for a future date.
Lesser’s statement did not make clear what, if anything, senators would do to pursue ARPA spending. The legislation heads next to the Joint Bonding Committee, and lawmakers could reintroduce spending some or all of the federal pot at any upcoming committee stop or via amendments during debate.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday morning how each of the 13 representatives on the panel voted. Like other joint committees, the Economic Development Committee has more representatives than senators, effectively giving the House the numbers needed to advance legislation without support from their colleagues across the building.