Legislation extends remote meetings until 2025, funds critical state programs
BOSTON – Reading officials will be able to continue providing remote access to public meetings and to conduct Town Meetings with reduced quorums using fully remote or hybrid participation until March 31, 2025, under a $388.6 million supplemental budget proposal recently enacted by the House and Senate with the support of Reading’s state legislative delegation.
The supplemental spending plan was approved unanimously on a vote of 153-0 in the House of Representatives and 39-0 in the Senate on March 23, and was signed into law by Governor Maura Healey on March 29 as Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023. House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and State Senator Jason Lewis (D-Winchester) noted the bill will offset funding shortfalls in several critical state programs while also recapitalizing other state initiatives through a series of bond authorizations.
“This supplemental budget addresses a number of critical issues by funding programs to help alleviate food insecurity and housing needs,” said Representative Jones. “It also temporarily extends several COVID-era policies to help cities, towns and businesses as they continue to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Municipal officials throughout the state have been very vocal in requesting more flexibility in how they conduct business, and this supplemental budget responds favorably to those requests by allowing for the continued use of remote and hybrid arrangements for public board meetings and Town Meetings for another two years.”
“The critical investments included in this supplemental budget will help our Commonwealth continue to support early child care grants, free schools meals for all our kids, and robust economic development resources,” said Representative Haggerty. “This support makes sure we remain focused on helping our residents and are investing in our future.”
“I’m pleased that the state legislature was able to work closely with our new governor to quickly pass this crucial supplemental budget bill,” said Senator Lewis. “These investments in food security, housing supports, economic development, and infrastructure are urgently needed by residents and communities in our region and across the Commonwealth.”
In addition to providing $65 million to fund free student meals through the end of the current school year, the bill also includes $130 million for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to ensure that families in need have access to healthy food options, now that the additional federal benefits allotted during the pandemic ended on March 2. Another $2 million is included to reimburse SNAP recipients who were the victims of benefits theft.
The supplemental budget includes $45 million for emergency family shelter assistance, along with $15.7 million for the Residential Assistance to Families in Transition (RAFT) program. It also takes steps to support childcare providers who have struggled during the pandemic by authorizing $68 million for the Commonwealth Cares for Children C3 Stabilization Grants program, which helps early education and care providers cover their day-to-day operational and workforce costs.
The supplemental budget extends some pandemic-era policies for restaurants by authorizing a one-year extension of outdoor dining options, along with the continued ability to serve cocktails, beer and wine in conjunction with food takeout orders until April 1, 2024.
The bill also permanently authorizes public corporations and non-profits to hold certain meetings remotely. In addition, the bill permanently allows notaries public to conduct remote online notarization using communication technology and directs the Secretary of State to implement regulations relative to remote notarizations by January 1, 2024.
In addition to the $388.6 million in direct spending, the supplemental budget authorizes $740.3 million in borrowing for multiple state programs, including:
- $400 million for MassWorks, which provides infrastructure project grants to cities, towns and public entities;
- $140 million for the Clean Water Trust;
- $1 million for grants and technical assistance to municipalities and regional applicants to support planning and locally-driven initiatives related to community development, housing production, workforce training and economic opportunity, child care and early education initiatives, and climate resilience initiatives;
- $34 million to provide assistance to projects that will improve, rehabilitate or redevelop blighted, abandoned, vacant or underutilized properties by increasing housing production, supporting economic development projects, and increasing commercial building accessibility to persons with disabilities;
- $8 million for the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund;
- $125 million for the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation for a matching grant program for tech-based innovation;
- $14 million for the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation for a matching grant program for manufacturing;
- $9.3 million for the Massachusetts Broadband Incentive Fund;
- $15 million for higher education manufacturing grants; and
- $30 million to fund broadband infrastructure for public entities
