By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate have both voted to pass the state’s fiscal year 2026 budget of $61.47 million, with a number of earmarks for North Attleborough.
State Rep., Adam Scanlon, D-North Attleborough, and state Sen. Paul Feeney, D-Foxboro, voted in favor of the budget, bringing forth a handful of proposals that they hope will positively impact the town.
Funding for North Attleborough’s schools is always top of mind for Scanlon, and the FY26 budget includes earmarks for $40,000 to pay for new high school band uniforms and an additional $25,000 to fund an extended STEM program at the middle school.
Chapter 70 funding for North Attleborough was also increased, with the $104 allocated per student up to $150. Scanlon noted that the budget also continues to fund free universal school meals and free community college in Massachusetts.
“North Attleborough has been impacted by an inequitable funding formula for a very long time, where we were actually seeing decreases in state aid for Chapter 70,” said Scanlon. “Since taking office we’ve been very strong, successful advocates in making changes to the formula to put North Attleborough at a better advantage when it comes to receiving state aid for public education.”
To Scanlon, investing in the STEM program is a way to help ensure North students are ready to go when they enter high school and take courses that focus on this growing field of study. The allocated $25,000 will pay for necessary materials like the STEM kits needed to teach the sixth grade technology and computer science courses.
“The idea was to get updates and improvements to the ModTech program at the middle school to give students a taste of a CTB type of programming,” said Scanlon. “When our new high school is built, hopefully, it will have similar types of programs and this will complement that.”
The high school marching band is a program near and dear to Scanlon, a self-proclaimed “theater kid,” His brother and sister were also part of the high school band. Music and arts programs often get overlooked in school budgets and, according to Scanlon, providing new uniform funding at the state level is one way to show his support and help with this cost.
“I’m a big supporter of arts education in our schools, so I try to advocate whenever I can for our arts, such as the music program,” said Scanlon. “Sometimes they often get the short end of the stick when it comes to funding.”
A newly proposed rail trail called the Metacomet Greenway, which would span 17 miles from Walpole to North Attleborough, also received $50,000 in earmarked funds for a feasibility study. While other neighboring towns have begun to conceptualize or construct the trail, North Attleborough is in the very beginning stages.
“This pricing is based on a similar study conducted by the Town of Wrentham, which went through the same process,” said Scanlon. “The majority of the proposed bike path is not owned by the town; we’re hopeful that the people who own the land will work with us to get the bike path going in the long run.”
In a statement from Feeney, sent out the morning of May 23, two additional earmarks were presented for the town of North Attleborough in the $61.4 billion budget approved by the Senate. $30,000 was allocated to the Newell-Blais VFW Post 443 in North Attleborough for capital improvements to the building and parking lot. A line item of $50,000 was also included for the Hockomock Area YMCA in North Attleborough for the construction of an inclusive ADA compliant splash park and additional recreation opportunities at the YMCA.
“It is an honor to secure funding for the people, communities and organizations in the Bristol and Norfolk Senate district that continue to enrich our communities,” said Feeney in his emailed statement. “Whether it be funding to support arts and culture, substance misuse prevention organizations, veteran organizations, public health initiatives or local business development, these appropriations will go a long way towards supporting the day-to-day lives of district residents.”
Antonio Morabito, North Attleborough’s assistant town manager, met with the Metacomet Greenway Association about six months ago to discuss the project, and learned that a feasibility study could be done even if the land was owned privately. Securing funding from the state to perform such a study, according to Morabito, is the first step in what will be a lengthy process.
“We’re so in the beginning stages of this, we don’t want to rush into something that wouldn’t potentially work for the town,” said Morabito. “So, that’s why we thought it would be good to get some of these dollars for a feasibility study to just look at it and ask the questions: if it’s worth doing, if anyone is interested, meaning the people who actually own the property, what if would cost to the town, who maintains it, and so on.”
The next steps in getting the budget to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for her final signature is a Conference Committee of representatives and senators who will negotiate any differences so each chamber can vote on a final budget to send for review. Scanlon was also quick to point out that no new taxes or increases will be imposed on residents in order to pay for these budget asks.
“One thing that’s very important to me right now is affordability, and all of this budget was made possible due to decisions that were made in a fiscally responsible way, without raising any taxes,” said Scanlon. “We rejected any new proposals related to tax increases. At one point there was discussion of taxing candy and pharmaceutical drugs, and we had eliminated that proposal in the House budget.”