Western Massachusetts stands to “greatly benefit” from a $1.33 billion spending plan for education and transportation adopted by the state Senate last Thursday, thanks in part to lengthy debates leading up to a vote on the package that sought to reverse an initial proposal that Sen. Jo Comerford called “skewed” and “wildly unfair” to this region.

“We talked a lot about regional equity and I believe the Senate got it right,” Comerford said. “We have to level the playing field for western Mass.”

The plan is funded by the 2022 Fair Share amendment to the state Constitution, which comes from a surtax paid by households in the state making more than $1 million per year. The bill approved last week, S.2512, will provide funding statewide for public K-12 education, special education, rural roads, bridges and culverts, public transit expansions, and infrastructure upgrades at colleges and universities.

When presented with the initially proposed Fair Share spending breakdown, Comerford said she “wanted more for RTAs (regional transit authorities), for roads, for culverts, for bridges,” especially in the western part of the state.

She explained that Chapter 90 funding, which is earmarked for capital improvements on local public ways, from the state “has been historically bad for small communities” because of the way the funding formula relies on population, economic activity and road mileage.

To provide a more regionally equitable distribution of funding, the Senate this year decided to distribute $82.5 million — half of the total $165 million in supplemental Chapter 90 funding — based solely on road mileage.

In addition, fiscal 2026’s Fair Share investments call for regional equity in transportation, including $50 million for capital improvements and $25 million for workforce recruitment at regional transit authorities, $25 million for small bridges and culverts, and $10 million for on-demand micro-transit shuttles and “Last Mile” grants designed to increase access to public transportation in small, rural communities.

Comerford expressed excitement about offering micro-transit options for rural residents, especially in the wake of regional transportation fees being waived for riders.

“Now, we have to make them accessible,” Comerford said.

The bike share program in the region will also receive $75,000 for new bikes and other capital improvements.

The bill further includes $175 million for deferred maintenance at higher education institutions, $10 million of which is earmarked for lab resources for community colleges, and another $10 million for expansion of the UMass Amherst School of Nursing training center, “which will be terrific for out public health workforce,” Comerford said.

“We are a knowledge economy, so we have to keep these institutions excellent,” she added.

An additional $248 million will fund special education throughout Massachusetts, including circuit breaker reimbursements for local school districts and transportation costs. Comerford said that this will be vital funding, because “in western Massachusetts, our miles are long for out-of-district education.”

For technical education programs, $100 million will be disbursed to aid in expansions and capacity building. Comerford also expressed enthusiasm about the $750,000 she secured in direct spending earmarks for local communities — most of which, she said, is going to fund local education.

On top of these funds, which Comerford hopes will benefit communities in the region, $5 million will also be put toward transportation improvements in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in the state.

Statewide, $25 million will be dedicated to literacy improvements in students grades K-3, $10 million will help to shorten wait lists for English language learning services, and $50 million will be awarded to municipalities and school districts facing “extraordinary school construction increases due to inflation or the impacts of tariffs,” according to a state announcement.

“I felt very proud of the Senate’s work yesterday,” Comerford said on Friday.

She also expressed her pride in state voters, particularly those from western Massachusetts, who voted the Fair Share amendment into action, making these appropriations possible.

House and Senate Democrats will need to iron out differences in their approaches before the money can be put to use. Both versions of the bill would appropriate about $1.3 billion in surtax dollars, but the House wants to divide it up with $857 million for transportation and $405 million for education, while the Senate bill broke it down with $670 million for transportation and $617 million for education before amendments.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.