By Isaiah Johnson, Outreach & Media Manager
Since I joined the team at MyRWA in September, I have been in awe at all of the incredible work being done across the state on making communities more climate resilient. Cities and towns are taking big steps to prepare for the many challenges brought on by climate change. In the face of extreme weather, worse flooding, droughts, and summer heatwaves, municipal leaders and staff have been hard at work on projects. They are creating climate action plans, raising awareness of environmental hazards, studying and modeling solutions, and putting shovels in the ground to build infrastructure that makes communities safer, more resilient, and more beautiful.
MyRWA Climate Resilience Manager Mariangelí Echevarría-Ramos and Senior Policy Advisor Julie Wormser present to municipal officials and local leaders during a boat tour of MVP-funded projects in the Lower Mystic. Credit: Marilyn Humphries
But great work requires investment. It takes money not only to put great projects in the ground, but also to support planning and design and, critically, to engage communities in finding the solutions that best fit residents and the challenges they face. Luckily, funding for climate resilience is available through a state program called the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant program, or MVP. MVP is a centerpiece of the state’s commitment to climate resilience. Over the past five years, MVP grants have provided over 100 million dollars in funds across Massachusetts. It is the only state grant program dedicated to climate resilience, but at its current level, it amounts to only around $20 million per year for all 351 communities in the state - if divided equally, that’s around $60,000 per community - far less than the need.
Part of my work over the past three months has been to help support a push to increase the funding for this critical program from ~$20 million to $100 million per year, led by the Massachusetts MVP Coalition - a group of watershed associations, planning councils, and economic development councils who came together to help the program reach that milestone. As one of the people helping staff this effort, I have had the chance to dip my toes into state politics as an advocate for a critically important cause.
What Does it Mean to Be a Lobbyist?
The MVP grant program is part of a five-year Environmental Bond Bill, which uses state bonds to fund a number of initiatives. Now that this bill is five years old, it must be passed again by the Massachusetts state legislature, which means that in order to increase its funding, state elected officials need to understand why MVP is so important.
For some, the idea of “lobbying” may call to mind backroom conversations between special interests and politicians, but for the MVP grant program, it looks a lot different. Ultimately, our work has been to connect leaders in state government with the people in their districts who are impacted by the program. Many of these people are municipal staff like town managers and engineers, whose job it is to make sure that residents live and work in a built environment that serves their needs. These folks are doing the hard work of conceptualizing projects and moving them forward and know first-hand how valuable MVP funding is.
MyRWA Environmental Resiliency Manager Cat Pedemonti speaks with EEA Secretary Rebecca Tepper. Credit: EEA Secretary
From our conversations, what we have heard over and over again is that MVP is an essential program for funding climate resilience in communities across Massachusetts. It has helped kickstart many projects that would not have been possible without investment from the state. However, the limited funding makes the program more competitive, and town staff are faced with deciding whether it is worth putting together a proposal for a project that might not get off the ground.
Throughout the past year, the Mass MVP Coalition has worked to bring these amazing constituents together with their legislators to deliver a simple message - MVP is a good and essential program, and with more funding it could be even better at serving the needs of the 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth.
What Have We Done?
Over the past year, the Mass MVP Coalition, along with our constituent partners, has spoken directly with over 20 legislators from key committees in the House and Senate about what MVP is and why it is so important. In the fall, when I joined the team, we worked with leaders in the House and Senate to circulate multisignature letters letting the Healey administration know that there is broad support for MVP in the legislature. They were signed by over 60 legislators across the state. We have also begun working on getting great news coverage of our MVP projects. For example, we got great coverage of a constructed wetland in Reading, which received MVP funding.
Reading Senior Civil Engineer Alex Rozycki speaks with WBUR reporter Paula Moura about the construction of the Maillet, Sommes, and Morgan Stormwater Wetland, funded by MVP. Credit: Isaiah Johnson
In 2024 we hope to be able to secure $100M per year for climate resilience over the next five years to help our state continue to lead the nation in combating climate change and make all of our communities safer, more beautiful, and better prepared to face the challenges ahead.
