BRIGHT Act at UMass Dartmouth

Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll visited the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Thursday, Sept. 25 as a part of their announcement of a new bill to improve Massachusetts public education. 

The bill, known as the BRIGHT Act, stands for Build Resilient Infrastructure To Generate Higher Education Transformation. The bill includes a $2.5 billion dollar investment, which will allow public higher education to modernize and will create 20,000 construction jobs and 3,000 to 5,000 jobs annually. 

The modernizing efforts will focus on new classrooms, labs and mental health spaces, as well as deferred maintenance and long term projects. 

This bill will also continue the Workforce Skills Capital Grants program, support housing development by providing for higher education costs associated with land development, incentivise technology capital projects and encourage regional secondary and higher education projects.

The investment will use funding from the Fair Share surtax and unlock government funding.  The Fair Share surtax adds additional taxes on homes with a high income to support public transportation and education.

“The BRIGHT Act will modernize our public higher education campuses to make sure that our students have the best labs, classrooms and other facilities that they need to succeed,” said Governor Maura Healey, “It was great to be with our incredible university and labor leaders today to showcase how this bill is a win for our students, workers, employers and economy.”