Romney Proposes Nearly $1 Billion in New Capital Spending
State House News Service
       Gov. Mitt Romney filed a $950 million proposal Thursday for the state to issue bonds covering capital projects at public colleges, the State Police crime lab and a new medical examiner facility, library projects, water pollution cleanup, and national guard facilities. Capital projects are typically approved by the Legislature, prioritized by the administration and advanced with available funding under the state’s annual $1.25 billion annual bond cap.
       Specifically, Romney’s legislation proposes to spend $450 million on improvements at the state and community colleges and UMass campuses; $15 million for a new chief medical examiner’s office in Southeastern Massachusetts; $125 million for improvements to the State Police Crime Lab in Sudbury, or to build a new facility; $25 million for a national guard facilities, with $4 million going toward a new facility in Methuen; $72 million for local public library projects; $13.2 million to leverage federal matching funds for the water pollution abatement trust; and $250 million for information technology improvements throughout the state.