Amendment ID: S3041-15

Amendment 15

Cape Cod Bridges

Messrs. Fernandes and Cyr move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting at the end thereof the following sections:-

SECTION X. Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section ## the following section:—

Section ## Bourne Bridge Replacement Fund. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Bourne Bridge Replacement Fund, hereinafter the "Fund". The Fund shall be administered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). (b) The Fund shall be credited with: (i) amounts appropriated by the general court and amounts otherwise made available by law; (ii) any public or private gifts, grants and donations; (iii) federal reimbursements, grants, or other funds available for the replacement of the Bourne Bridge; and (iv) interest earned on amounts in the Fund. (c) Amounts in the Fund shall be available to MassDOT, without further appropriation, for costs associated with the replacement of the Bourne Bridge, including but not limited to planning, permitting, design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocations, procurement and construction, and any costs reasonably related thereto. (d) Amounts remaining in the Fund at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years. Interest earned on the Fund shall be retained in the Fund. The Fund shall not be subject to section 5C of this chapter. (e) If a fund of the same name has been previously established by law, that fund shall continue in existence and be deemed the Fund for purposes of this section; all references in this act to the Fund shall be construed to refer to such previously established fund.

SECTION X. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, within 30 days of the effective date of this act the comptroller shall transfer $200,000,000 to the Bourne Bridge Replacement Fund from the Education and Transportation Fund established in section 2BBBBBB of chapter 29, to be derived from surtax revenues credited to said Education and Transportation Fund, as certified by the comptroller.

SECTION X. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, on or before September 1 of each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2026, the comptroller shall transfer $200,000,000 from the Education and Transportation Fund established in section 2BBBBBB of chapter 29 to the Bourne Bridge Replacement Fund. The comptroller shall make each such annual transfer from surtax revenues credited to the Education and Transportation Fund for the prior fiscal year, as certified by the comptroller pursuant to section 5H of chapter 29, provided that if, in a given fiscal year, the amount of surtax revenue available for transfer to transportation purposes under said section 2BBBBBB is insufficient to support the full $200,000,000 transfer, the comptroller shall transfer the maximum amount available for transportation purposes and shall record any remaining amount as a priority first claim on transportation-designated surtax revenues in the next fiscal year.

SECTION X. MassDOT shall file quarterly reports with the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on transportation detailing expenditures from the Fund, project milestones achieved, the uncommitted balance of the Fund, and any federal awards or matching requirements related to the Bourne Bridge replacement. The first report shall be filed not later than 90 days after the effective date of this act and quarterly thereafter.

SECTION X. This act shall take effect upon its passage