An Act to Sustain Community Preservation (Amendment 737)
April 24, 2012: In an outstanding show of support for the Community Preservation Act, the Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously passed the long-awaited CPA legislation Monday evening (4/23). The roll call vote was taken just after 8pm, with 155 representatives voting YES and none opposed. Next stop for the CPA legislation is the Massachusetts Senate, which will take up the proposal as part of their debate on the state budget in mid-May.
Monday's vote was an opportunity for CPA to shine. The CPA legislation had been filed as an amendment to the House's version of the state budget. House Ways and Means Committee Vice-Chairman Stephen Kulik and House Minority Leader Bradley Jones introduced the amendment at about 7:30pm, and many other legislative supporters followed them to the podium to speak about CPA. Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo then introduced Representative Paul Schmid of Westport who delivered his maiden House speech in support of the amendment. After an extended ovation, Speaker DeLeo opened the roll call vote and then announced the final tally.
The amendment's language contains the full text of An Act to Sustain Community Preservation (HB 765), with one exception. The funding mechanism in the amendment that passed is an annual transfer of $25 million from the state's end-of-year budget surplus into the CPA Statewide Trust Fund, rather than an increase in the registry of deeds recording fees. Click here for the State House News article on the House vote.
If it passes in the Senate and is signed by the Governor, $25 million from the state's budget surplus would be added each year to the revenue from the existing CPA deeds recording fees, beginning with the Fall 2013 CPA Trust Fund payment. All of the other provisions of HB 765 are included in this budget amendment, including the changes to the rules for CPA recreation projects.
You can read the full text of the amendment here.
The Coalition is grateful to Vice Chairman Kulik, Minority Leader Jones, Ways & Means Chairman Brian Dempsey, Speaker Bob DeLeo, our many CPA legislative supporters in the House, and the 100+ statewide organizations who advocated for this important legislation. But most of all we are grateful to you, the CPA advocates across the state. Through your hard work on CPA at both the local and state level, you have created a program that is a national model. Congratulations on this important milestone!
Bill History
The Community Preservation Coalition has been advocating for passage of An Act to Sustain Community Preservation - a bill designed to stabilize and strengthen the Community Preservation Act. The bill cleared an important hurdle in early June 2011, when the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business gave it a favorable recommendation. The bill was then forwarded on to the House Committee on Ways and Means, and became known by its house number, HB 765.
The bill's lead sponsors are Senator Cynthia Stone Creem and Representative Stephen Kulik. An impressive 114 legislators signed on to co-sponsor the bill; 25 in the state Senate and 89 in the House. We are grateful for such a significant show of support across the state, as well as to the local CPA supporters who have proven the value of CPA in their communities.
Further Resources. . .
State House News Transcript of the 4/23 House session passing Amendment #737
Letter from groups supporting CPA to House Leadership
Summary of An Act to Sustain Community Preservation
Text of An Act to Sustain Community Preservation, as filed
Legislative Sponsors for the 2011-2012 legislative session
Economic Benefits of CPA
Recent Press Coverage
"State may boost Community Preservation Act funding," by John Laidler, Boston Globe North. May 10, 2012
"Bill would ease CPA fund use," by Calvin Hennick, Boston Globe West. May 10, 2012
"Senators press for CPA changes adopted by house," by Michael Norton, State House News Service. May 2, 2012
"OUR OPINION: Bill would be a boon for older recreation facilities," by the Patriot Ledger. April 24, 2012
"House adopts reforms to CPA to expand use and funding for preservation," by Matt Murphy. State House News Service. April 23, 2012
"Editorial: Legislature should shore up the CPA," by the MetroWest Daily News. April 22, 2012
"Boston-Area lawmakers recognized for community planning," by Johanna Kaiser. boston.com. January 6, 2012
"Guest View: Legislature should improve community preservation for cities," by Jack Clarke. South Coast Today. December 21, 2011
"Advocates for community preservation in Massachusetts seek ways to increase state matching dollars," by Dan Ring. The Republican. October 29, 2011.
"Editorial: Building a Better CPA," by the MetroWest Daily News and the Patriot Ledger. Oct 9 and 11, 2011.
"Creem bill to reform Community Preservation Act advances again," by David Riley. Wicked Local Newton. April 28, 2011.
