Gov. Deval Patrick has signed an $86 million spending bill, closing the books on fiscal year 2014, giving the Massachusetts Department of Transportation ownership of its headquarters next to the Boston Public Garden and creating a $2 million fund to support municipal public works and public health projects.
House Republicans had objected to an earlier version of the supplementary budget that included about $1.4 million in earmarks for senior centers and infrastructure projects in Templeton, Hatfield, Hubbardston, Easthampton and Boylston.
The new law also funds low-income home heating assistance and more than 70 collective bargaining contracts and provides funds to sheriffs, while reversing a change to the MBTA’s funding mechanism made in the fiscal 2015 budget bill that was passed in July.
