By Bob Katzen

The House and Senate approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey legislation that would leverage the interest from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to better compete for federal dollars, to ensure the state receives the maximum possible share of federal funds and to pay down the state’s long term debt liabilities. The Rainy Day Fund currently has a historic balance of $8.2 billion.

Supporters said the bill would require the state comptroller to transfer interest from the Rainy Day Fund to the Commonwealth Federal Matching and Debt Reduction Fund on a quarterly basis if the Rainy Day balance contains a healthy amount of money. The Secretary of Administration and Finance would then pursue federal funds for infrastructure, resiliency and economic development.

“This final legislation … increases our commonwealth’s ability to compete for federal funds while also paying down our debt obligations,” said Rep. Jack Lewis (D-Framingham), Chair of the House Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight.

“The needs of the public are ever-changing when it comes to the infrastructure of the state, and to be able to keep up with the needs of our residents is imperative when it comes to accomplishing important public purposes,” said Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “Public safety and convenience will ensure that the roles that we all have continue to operate smoothly and keep Massachusetts on the national stage as a competitive economy.”

“Remaining competitive, equitable and affordable as a commonwealth means thinking creatively about our state’s finances and seizing opportunities,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “We have been fiscally prudent in building up the largest rainy day funds in Massachusetts’ history, which allows us to leverage our robust interest earnings to compete for federal dollars that will help us strengthen our infrastructure.”

“Ensuring that the commonwealth is able to aggressively compete for the federal funding being made available to states is critical,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “The projects and investments that will be funded across the United States because of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act will transform this country and create a significant number of jobs in the process. It’s vital that Massachusetts does everything that it can to share in that prosperity.”