An Act promoting equitable distribution of Chapter 90 funds

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Shirley Arriaga and 1 co-sponsor

Creates a new Chapter 90 funding formula: 69.334% to road mileage, 15.333% to population, 15.333% to employment, ensuring municipalities share funds by road needs.

Hearing rescheduled to 10/14/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1 and Virtual Hearing location changed

Summary: House Bill H.3647 — An Act promoting equitable distribution of Chapter 90 funds

Purpose and intent

The bill seeks to ensure a more equitable distribution of Chapter 90 funds (Massachusetts municipal highway funds) for maintaining, repairing, improving, and constructing municipal roads, bridges, and other eligible municipal projects.

It proposes a specific statutory formula to allocate Department of Transportation (MassDOT) expenditures for eligible municipal projects among municipalities.

Key provisions

Amendment to law: Inserts a new subsection (b½) into Section 4 of Chapter 6C of the General Laws (as appearing in the 2016 edition).

Allocation formula: Expenditures made by the department under subsection (b) for municipal roads, bridges, and other eligible projects shall be allocated by the commissioner according to:

Population: 15.333%
Road mileage: 69.334%
Employment: 15.333%

Scope of expenditures covered: Applies to expenditures for maintaining, repairing, improving, and constructing municipal ways and bridges, and other eligible municipal projects, when made by the department in accordance with subsection (b).

Affected parties

Municipal entities: Cities and towns receiving Chapter 90 funds for local roads and related infrastructure.

MassDOT and state government: The commissioner would be responsible for applying the new allocation formula.

Other potential beneficiaries: Municipal projects categorized as “other eligible municipal projects” under Chapter 90 funding guidelines.

Procedural and timeline aspects

Introduced: February 27, 2025.

Initial action: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation; Senate concurrence noted.

Hearing information:

Original hearing scheduled for September 30, 2025.
Hearing rescheduled to October 14, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
Location updates: hearing to be held in B-1 with a virtual option; prior notice indicated changes (A-1 and virtual location adjustments).

Related actions: HD 2444 is the related measure and replaces this bill’s filing; similar matter previously filed as House Bill No. 3409 in the 2023-2024 session.

Current status: As of the latest updates, the bill is under consideration by the Transportation committee, with the hearing date and location adjusted.

Potential impact and considerations

Equity in funding: The formula prioritizes road mileage (68.934% weight) while still accounting for population and employment, aiming to balance needs across densely populated and road-dense municipalities.

Predictability: Municipalities would have a clearer understanding of how funds may be distributed over time.

Implementation: Requires MassDOT to apply the formula in the annual allocation process, potentially affecting year-to-year funding variability for some communities.

If you’d like, I can compare this bill to previous Chapter 90 allocation methods or provide a side-by-side with the related HD 2444.