Executive Summary A Letter from the Governor

To the People of Massachusetts:

We are proud to present the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s newest five-year capital investment plan that calls for investing $16.6 billion between Fiscal Year 2026 and Fiscal Year 2030.

This plan builds on the progress we have made over the past two and a half years. When I took office, I said my administration would deliver on the issues that matter most in people’s lives, starting with our economy and lowering the cost of living. We have done that by refusing to kick the can down the road on our toughest challenges. It’s why we passed the first tax cuts in 20 years. We have gotten the MBTA back on track after decades of broken promises. We are tackling our housing crisis that was years in the making. We have invested in our schools and expanded access to pre-k, vocational and career training, and early college for students. We have made community college cost-free and lowered the cost of public colleges and universities. We have cut regulations on businesses and invested in innovative industries to create jobs.

We are seeing the results. Massachusetts schools were just ranked #1 on the Nation’s Report Card. We are ranked as the most innovative state, the safest state, the best state to raise a family, the best state to have a baby, and the best state for working parents.

We also know we have much more to do. We have already seen significant cuts from the federal administration and expect to see more from Congress. That is why it is essential that we move the Massachusetts economy forward by focusing on the things that matter and doing the things we know work. This Capital Investment Plan (CIP) does that by making smart, fiscally responsible investments to make Massachusetts more affordable, more competitive, and create more jobs. The priorities of this plan include:

1. Building more homes to lower the cost of housing;
2. Creating more jobs in innovative industries like life sciences, climate tech, and AI; and
3. Fixing our roads, bridges and public transit while advancing transformative regional infrastructure projects to grow the economy.

The administration’s updated CIP for Fiscal Year 2026 spends $3.2 billion. This represents an increase of $110 million over Fiscal Year 2025 and makes significant progress toward addressing some of the biggest challenges facing us as a state. This plan also builds in an additional $110 million in growth for Fiscal Year 2027, a change from recent years when only one year of growth has been factored into the total.

This capital plan begins the work of implementing two critical pieces of legislation that our administration filed and worked hard with the Legislature last year to finalize – the Affordable Homes Act and the Mass Leads Act.

It’s no secret that the cost of housing in Massachusetts is too high. This impacts not just families looking to put down roots, but our businesses fighting to attract talent and grow here in Massachusetts. Since taking office, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has increased capital funding for housing by 71 percent and created new programs, including HousingWorks, the largest and most flexible capital source for public infrastructure projects that support and accelerate housing production, spur private development, and create jobs. The CIP further advances the administration’s housing efforts with a $2.34 billion investment over five years, growing the overall portion of the CIP dedicated to housing from 9 percent when the Healey-Driscoll Administration took office to 14 percent today.

The Mass Leads Act authorized investments that will ensure Massachusetts continues to be a global leader in climate tech and applied artificial intelligence (AI), while also building on the success of the state’s renowned life sciences sector. The capital plan we are publishing invests $1.5 billion in funding for the Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED) over five years, including $251 million to support implementation of the Mass Leads Act and expand initiatives that reinforce Massachusetts’s leadership in innovation. Included in these funds is $57.5 million for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) — promoting job creation and workforce development through deployment of climate technologies— $68.6 million for the Massachusetts AI Hub and $28 million for the Mass Impact program, which invests in large-scale infrastructure improvements that revitalize underserved communities. All of these investments will create jobs, support business growth, expand workforce development programs and support rural and regional economic development initiatives

The FY26-FY30 CIP also unlocks new development in communities across the state through $657 million in support to municipalities. 

While these investments showcase exciting potential for Massachusetts, it is critical not to forget about the assets we already have. That is why our plan provides resources to maintain, modernize, and decarbonize Massachusetts’s capital assets, including over 1,700 buildings, over 4,000 bridges and tunnels, and 450,000 acres of public space. The $1.03 billion to address deferred maintenance in the FY26 CIP will extend asset life, minimize future costs, and maximize building efficiency so that government can better meet the needs of Massachusetts’ residents.

The plan also advances key projects, including the replacement of the Sagamore Bridge, West-East Rail, new Veterans Homes in Chelsea and Holyoke, major court projects in Springfield, Framingham, Quincy and Lynn, and the rehabilitation of MCI-Framingham. And it invests in the roads, bridges and transit systems that our residents rely on every day, including continued support for Chapter 90, $61.2 million in reliability and modernization-oriented spending for the state-owned rail system, $59 million in for pavement improvements on the National Highway System, and $52.9 million for regional transit authorities.

There is much to celebrate in this plan. However, one key priority that we were unable to address through the Capital Investment Plan is our public college campuses. That is why I filed the BRIGHT Act, a higher education bond bill. Once passed, it will enable our administration to capitalize on new resources from the Fair Share surtax to address the deferred maintenance and modernization needs at UMass and on our state university and community college campuses – all while creating 20,000 construction jobs across our state. We are working to get that legislation across the finish line.

I would like to thank the people of Massachusetts, whose input and advocacy helped us build this plan. We look forward to our work together as we implement this plan to move the Massachusetts economy forward, create jobs, and lower costs for all.