BOSTON — The Healey administration is proposing to create a new disaster relief fund as costs to the state and local governments from climate change-fueled storms continue to mount.
Tucked into Gov. Maura Healey’s preliminary $56.1 billion budget she filed with the state Legislature two weeks ago was a proposal to divert a portion of excess capital gains taxes for a new “disaster relief resiliency fund” that would fast-track the flow of public assistance to disaster-stricken communities.
“We need it now more than ever,” Healey said in a recent interview. “Our cities and towns are getting decimated by damage from storms and collectively we have to figure out a way to help them.”
Massachusetts is one of only two states that doesn’t have a permanent disaster relief fund, according to the Healey administration.
Healey said she doesn’t plan to tap into the state’s reserves or ‘rainy day’ fund — which is projected to reach a record $8 billion this year — for the disaster fund.
Lawmakers who must approve Healey’s budget plan are generally supportive of the proposal for a disaster fund, saying the impact of climate change-fueled storms is impacting the shoestring budgets of many local governments.
“What’s challenging is that we don’t know when the next storm is going to come,” said state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, who supports the move. “It’s really not a question of if, but when, the next big storm will hit the state or region.”
He said the focus of the new fund should be on protecting roads, bridges and public infrastructure and not as a replacement for property insurance.
“We don’t want it to be a substitute for insurance,” Finegold said. “It would have to be a fund of last resort.”
Last month, the Healey administration released $10 million in disaster relief funding for communities that were damaged by flooding last year. This money comes from a supplemental budget signed by Healey in December. Another $5 million will be distributed this spring to cities and towns impacted by September’s storms.
Locally, several Essex County communities, including Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen and Andover, received funding through the disaster relief program.
Healey said the state is also boosting funding for its Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program by 35% this year. The additional $7 million in funding will help communities plan, design and construct nature-based solutions to inland flooding.
State leaders say communities are searching for ways to protect against the worst impacts of climate change as scientists issue increasingly dire warnings about rising seas, excessive heat and powerful storms. About 93% of the state’s cities and towns participate in the grant program.
Despite the record level of grant funding in the previous, there still wasn’t enough money to meet the demand.
The state received 153 requests for grants totaling more than $50.8 million in 2023, according to the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It awarded $31.5 million to 109 projects.
The state Office of Coastal Zone Management also has a grant program that provides limited funding to communities to fortify their coastlines against storms driven by climate change.
In 2022, that program doled out about $12.6 million in grants for nearly 30 resiliency projects in coastal communities including Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea and Marblehead.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com