MARPA Gathers for Regional Planning Agency Day at the State House
Written by Norman Abbott, Senior Government Affairs Specialist
February 25, 2025 – Executive directors and staff representing the Commonwealth’s 13 regional planning agencies gathered for a day of advocacy at the State House to brief lawmakers and staff on the wide range of completed projects across Massachusetts, from Berkshire County to Cape Cod. Hosted by Representative Paul Donato and Senator Jamie Eldridge, the event highlighted the importance of the District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) and the Grant Assistance Program (GAP), funded by the state budget and included in line item 1599 – 0026.
The event kicked off with remarks from Rep. Donato and Senator Eldridge – the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA) longtime legislative champions. Co-Chairs of MARPA Linda Dunlavy, executive director of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and Jeff Walker, executive director of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) gave an overview of the importance of the DLTA and GAP programs. They also encouraged legislators and staff in attendance to support a permanent change to allow hybrid and remote meeting flexibilities for public meetings (HD.2863/SD.1850) which will expire on March 31.
The briefing also featured presentations from four different RPAs on the work that they do in their regions. The first presenter was Kim Robinson, the executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, who highlighted how each dollar they receive from member communities generates as much as $5,375 of economic activity. She also showed how her RPA uses every DLTA dollar they receive to leverage $16.40 in other funds and how the agency uses GAP dollars to help communities apply for One Stop Grants that they would not be able to apply for on their own.
Next, Tom Matuszko, executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Agency discussed how RPAs help rural and smaller communities – especially when it comes to housing production and community development. He also talked about the ways that the agency is supporting outdoor recreation through their county-wide outdoor recreation plan and website.
The third presentation was from Kelly Lynema, deputy director of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments. Lynema briefly showcased the ways that DLTA was used to help Dunstable, a smaller community with limited staff, foster economic development through the historic preservation of the Union Building. She also briefly presented the ways that the Council of Governments is supporting the regionalization of services in their region.
Finally, Joanne Zygmunt, senior planner with the Old Colony Planning Council's Comprehensive & Sustainability Department, provided a snapshot of the ways they support their municipalities stay livable for all. Old Colony Planning does this by developing livable for all action plans, raising funds to support planning and implementation, and harnessing volunteer power to encourage civic engagement. As a result, five of their 16 communities have been designated or are pending designation as Age Friendly.
To close out the event, Lizzi Weyant, MAPC’s deputy executive director, discussed how DLTA and GAP funding are especially necessary this year. While the future of federal discretionary funding is uncertain, without DLTA and GAP, many of our municipalities will be at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for federal and state dollars that are available. Similarly, while DLTA has been helping communities with local plans and projects for several years, it has not received an increase since FY20 – meaning that the size and number of projects that RPAs are able to take on have decreased with DLTA’s decrease in value. To ensure that RPAs can continue to support all 351 municipalities, Weyant and the other speakers called on the legislature to provide a $400,000 increase for District Local Technical Assistance, which would bring that line item to $3.4M and level funding of $2M for the Grant Assistance Program in the FY26 budget.