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"An Act To Sustain Community Preservation Revenue" Receives Favorable Recommendation

Posted on: May 9, 2018 - 11:44am

May 1, 2017: Legislation has been filed at the State House that would provide for a higher CPA Trust Fund distribution for all 172 CPA communities. "An Act to Sustain Community Preservation Revenue" was filed in the House by Representatives Stephen Kulik and Kevin Honan (H.2615) and in the Senate by Senator Cynthia Stone Creem (S.1504), and co-sponsored by 121 legislators. The bills were assigned to the Joint Committee on Revenue in early March, and a public hearing was held on Monday, April 10th. On May 1st, the House and Senate bills were redrafted as a single bill, H.3662, and then recommended favorably out of the committee. It now advances to the House Committee on Ways & Means.

For the last three fiscal years, the legislature approved short-term funding from the state's budget surplus to bolster the CPA Trust Fund. However, because there was no budget surplus in FY16, the CPA Trust Fund distribution fell to a record low of 20% last November. It's for this reason that the Coalition is advocating for a longterm solution -- an adjustment in the current funding source for the CPA Trust Fund. The Trust derives its revenue from fees collected at the Registries of Deeds across the state, but those fees have never been adjusted since CPA was signed into law by Governor Cellucci in 2000. The legislation calls for an increase to the recording fees that would provide all current CPA communities a 50% first round distribution.

As the CPA program continues to see success, there is urgency in implementing a fix to the trust fund. A majority of the 12 communities that adopted CPA in 2016 will receive their first state matching funds in November of 2018. Because any new legislation affecting the collections at the Registries of Deeds will need several months in order to accumulate funding, the Coalition will be hard at work to advocate for these changes to take effect as soon as possible.

In addition to our three sponsors, there are 121 co-sponsors of the CPA legislation. Below is a complete list of legislators that have co-sponsored the bill.

Sponsors: Representatives Stephen Kulik and Kevin Honan and Senator Cynthia Stone Creem

House Co-Sponsors: James Arciero, Brian Michael Ashe, Bruce Ayers, Ruth Balser, Christine Barber, Jen Benson, Antonio Cabral, Thomas Calter, James Cantwell, Gailanne Cariddi, Evandro Carvalho, Nick Collins, Mike Connolly, Edward Coppinger, Brendan Crighton, William L. Crocker, Jr, Claire Cronin, Daniel Cullinane, Joshua Cutler, Marjorie Decker, Angelo D'Emilia, Geoffrey Diehl, Daniel M. Donahue, Paul Donato, Shawn Dooley, William Driscoll, Carolyn Dykema, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Dylan Fernandes, Ann-Margaret Ferrante, Michael Finn, Carole Fiola, William Galvin, Sean Garballey, Denise Garlick, Colleen Garry, Carmine Gentile, Thomas Golden, Solomon Israel Goldstein-Rose, Carlos Gonzalez, Kenneth Gordon, Danielle Gregoire, Patricia Haddad, Jonathan Hecht, Natalie Higgins, Kate Hogan, Russell Holmes, Steven Howitt, Daniel Hunt, Randy Hunt, Louis Kafka, Jay Kaufman, Kay Khan, Peter Kocot, John Lawn, Jack Patrick Lewis, David Linsky, Jay Livingstone, Adrian Madaro, Elizabeth Malia, Paul Mark, Christopher Markey, Paul McMurtry, Joan Meschino, James Miceli, Leonard Mirra, David Muradian, James Murphy, Brian Murray, David Nangle, Harold Naughton, James O'Day, Sarah Peake, Alice Peisch, William Pignatelli, Denise Provost, Angelo Puppolo, Jr., David Rogers, John Rogers, Daniel Ryan, Jeffrey Sanchez, Paul Schmid, John Scibak, Frank Smizik, Todd Smola, Thomas Stanley, William Straus, Jose Tosado, Paul Tucker, Steven Ultrino, Aaron Vega, Chris Walsh, Thomas Walsh, Timothy Whelan, & Bud L. Williams

Senate Co-Sponsors: Michael Barrett, Joseph Boncore, Michael Brady, William Brownsberger, Harriette Chandler, Julian Cyr, Viriato deMacedo, Sal DiDomenico, Kenneth Donnelly, James Eldridge, Anne Gobi, Adam Hinds, Patricia Jehlen, John F. Keenan, Eric Lesser, Jason Lewis, Barbara L'Italien, Thomas McGee, Michael Moore, Patrick O'Connor, Kathleen O'Connor Ives, Marc Pacheo, Michael Rodrigues, Michael Rush, James Timilty, & James Welch.

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