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The Massachusetts state Senate, following steps taken last fall by the House of Representatives, approved a state borrowing bill that could bolster plans for a shared Haverhill campus for Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School and Northern Essex Community College.
Like its House counterpart, senators Thursday approved a $3.28 billion version of a bond bill, called the BRIGHT Act initially filed last year by Gov. Maura Healey. BRIGHT stands for Build Resilient Infrastructure to Generate Higher Education Transformation. The Senate version included an amendment from Sens. Bruce E. Tarr, minority leader, and Barry R. Finegold and Pavel M. Payano, setting aside $30 million for Northern Essex Community College “for facilities for high school career and technical education.”
“Public higher education provides invaluable advantages to students, businesses and our communities. These investments strengthen opportunity here in Massachusetts,” Finegold said in a statement following the vote.
The amendment appears to echo sponsored by Haverhill Rep. Andy X. Vargas last December that would provide $20 million for “facilities for high school career and technical education, including construction, renovation, modernization, equipment acquisition and instructional technology to expand regional vocational pathways.”
In December, Philip DeCologero, the college’s director of president’s office communications and external affairs, said “It’s no secret for anybody who’s a regular reader of WHAV that we’ve been working hand and glove with Whittier to try and come up with the most innovative solution to serve our shared population of students.”
Finegold further won support for $20 million for Middlesex Community College for infrastructure improvements including Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades and modernization at the Cowan Center and the implementation of geothermal energy technology for energy optimization and decarbonization at the Lowell campus.”
The Senate and House versions must be reconciled before being sent back to Healey for her signature. The borrowing plan would be financed, in part, by $125 million in annual surtax revenue, sometimes called the millionaire’s tax.