Amendment #1345 to H3900

Providing Relief to School Districts Impacted by Construction Inflation

Mr. Day of Stoneham moves to amend the bill by adding after section 50 the following sections:-

SECTION X. Effective on July 1, 2022, Section 7 of Chapter 70B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the figure “$800,000,000” and inserting in place thereof the following: "$1,100,000,000.00; grant amounts relating to the Authority’s Accelerated Repair Program shall not count against the limit set forth in this section."  and further, in said section, by striking, in line 7 the figure "4.5" and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- "6.5"

SECTION XX. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, not later than July 1, 2023 and without further appropriation, the comptroller shall transfer  $300,000,000.00  to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the purpose of providing grant funding, in addition to amounts previously approved by the Authority’s Board of Directors, for certain cities, towns, and school districts with core program school facility projects in the Authority's capital pipeline that have been impacted by unanticipated cost escalations; provided further, that such funds shall be used to assist school districts with escalations incurred in connection with school facility construction projects that received Project Scope and Budget/Project Funding Agreement approval by the Authority’s Board of Directors prior to October 1, 2022 and have accepted or will accept bids on or after January 1, 2022, which parameters shall define a “cost escalation eligible project” under this section, and projects that are not within the defined “cost escalation eligible project” cohort shall not be eligible for additional grant monies under this section; provided further, that such school construction assistance monies and disbursement of such shall be administered by the Authority in accordance with the Authority’s December 2022 funding limit policy and as approved for each specific project by the Authority’s Board of Directors; provided further, cities, towns, and school districts shall be required to submit budget and project documentation to the Authority in a form prescribed by the Authority to be eligible to receive additional school assistance monies under this section;

provided further, that the Authority, with the approval of its Board of Directors, may provide the maximum grant allowable under this section and may waive certain cost cap limits or other grant limits that have been established as part of the Authority’s grant program, for “cost escalation eligible projects” as defined under this section; provided further, that the Authority shall not treat funding provided to cities, towns, and school districts under this section as third party funding in accordance with its Third Party Funding Policy;

provided further, that no city, town or school district shall be remunerated in an amount that exceeds the actual cost incurred by the city, town, or school district on such “cost escalation eligible project”;

provided further, that the amounts distributed to cities, towns and school districts for “cost escalation eligible project” pursuant to this section shall not be calculated as part of the limit on the estimated amount of grants approved by the Authority during a fiscal year, which limits are set forth in section 7 of chapter 70B, as payment of the additional amounts through this section shall cause the Authority to exceed the annual cap limit.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #1345 to H3900

Providing Relief to School Districts Impacted by Construction Inflation