On July 11, the Senate debated and unanimously passed omnibus economic development legislation.
The legislation, S.2856 — An Act Relative to strengthening Massachusetts’ economic leadership, includes $2.86 billion in bond authorizations to make bold investments in all sectors of the economy and to create an environment where businesses and workers thrive.
Four of the amendments I filed were adopted into the bill that passed the Senate.
Economic Development Through Agricultural Preservation and Ensuring Equity in Agriculture
My amendment helps Massachusetts preserve valuable farmland, helps farmers diversify their revenue streams and broadens farm-ownership in the state. The amendment:
- strikes the five year limit for special permits that allow nonagricultural activities on land in the Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) Program so that farmers do not have to reapply for these special permits every five years;
- allows the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) to buy and hold farmland while a buyer is identified and then sell that land to a farmer, to ensure that when farmland goes up for sale it remains as farmland;
- specifies that land used to create products from horticultural crops (like a kitchen to turn strawberries into strawberry jam, or the farmstand where that strawberry jam is sold) should be assessed and taxed as horticultural land; and
- creates a special commission to promote equity in the agriculture industry for groups who have been historically excluded.
Strengthening Agriculture, Fishing, and Cranberry Economies
The bill authorizes funds for a grant program to support the growth of the agricultural, commercial fishing, and cranberry-growing sectors, including promotion of climate resiliency and acquisition of eco-conscious gear.
My amendment increases the funding for the grant program from $15 million to $21 million.
Statewide Action for Public Health Excellence 2.0
The Commonwealth’s local public health system is fractured, inefficient, inequitable, and underfunded, built on a patchwork of unevenly-funded municipal Boards of Health. Unlike almost every other state in the nation, Massachusetts lacks a dedicated stream of state funding for local health.
My amendment is almost identical to legislation enacted last session but returned by then-Governor Baker after formal sessions had ended. The amendment directs the Department of Public Health to establish the State Action for Public Health Excellence program to:
- provide uniform access to core public health services for every resident of the Commonwealth;
- assist local Boards of Health to adopt effective public health services;
- develop a set of common local public health standards; and
- promote and provide adequate resources for boards of health.
The amendment sets out categories for standards, including inspections, permitting, workforce education, training and credentialing standards, and data collection. Local health departments will be able to access state funds to help them meet the standards.
Protecting patients and health care workers from surgical smoke
Surgical smoke is the fine particles created by surgical procedures using lasers or electrosurgical devices. The smoke can be inhaled by the surgical team and the patient, and may contain 150 hazardous chemicals. Patients, nurses, and other operating room staff are exposed to these substances, which can increase the risk for pulmonary conditions. My amendment requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to eliminate surgical smoke with cost-effective smoke-evacuation filters.
These amendments build on the bill that came to the Senate floor, which already featured many of my priorities, including:
- $100 million for a new Rural Development Fund
- Creating a Rural Development Program within the Executive Office of Economic Development
- $30 million for the development of a regional food hub at UMass Amherst
- $40 million for a quantum innovation hub located in western Massachusetts
- $90 million to improve or redevelop abandoned, vacant, or underutilized properties — more than double the previous funding which will help transform abandoned mill buildings
- Hundreds of millions in bonding authorizations for existing grant programs for cultural facilities, travel, tourism, the arts, and other sectors
In addition to the above policy amendments, I also secured bonding authorizations for four economic development projects in the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district:
- $4,000,000 for water system needs in the Town of Northfield
- $4,000,000 for a research and education simulation lab at the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at the UMass Amherst
- $1,000,000 for design, engineering, and repairs to the King Street Bridge in Royalston
- $1,000,000 for capital repairs and improvements to the Academy of Music in Northampton
More about the legislation:
Maintaining Massachusetts’ Life Sciences Leadership
While 18 of the top 20 biopharma companies now have ties to Massachusetts, the national ecosystem remains competitive.
The Senate’s economic development bill authorizes $225 million over five years for the Life Sciences Breakthrough Fund to reauthorize the Life Sciences Initiative, totaling $45 million annually. Known as “Life Sciences 3.0”, the reauthorization adds health equity, biosecurity, digital health, and artificial intelligence (AI) to the mission of the Life Sciences Center.
It redefines “life sciences” to include preventative medicine, biosecurity, life sciences AI, and medical technology. It also allows for awards and grants to public higher education institutions or public private partnerships.
Keeping Climate Tech Companies in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is first in the nation for per-capita climate tech startups—despite being outpaced in investment by New York and California—with 49 businesses per one million residents.
To incentivize these startups to stay in Massachusetts and continue to build their companies, the legislation provides $200 million for the Clean Energy Investment Fund to facilitate research and development, commercialization, and deployment of climate technologies. It adds a further $200 million for the Massachusetts Offshore Wind Industry Investment Trust Fund to support the growth of the offshore wind industry.
Additional incentives include a climate tech tax credit, a climate tech jobs credit, and a climate tech research credit.
Regional Equity
The legislation reflects the different needs of different communities and ensures none of the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns are left behind.
This will partly be accomplished through statewide targeted infrastructure improvements, with the bill authorizing $400 million for MassWorks public infrastructure projects that spur economic development and help support job creation, $100 million for local economic development grants for cities and towns, $90 million to support the redevelopment of underutilized, blighted, or abandoned buildings, and $10 million for the Broadband Incentive Fund for the capital maintenance of the MassBroadband 123 middle mile network.
In addition to infrastructure, the legislation recognizes the importance of local cultural and economic sites, providing $150 million for capital grants for public libraries, $50 million for the Cultural Facilities Fund, $40 million for Destination Development grants to support capital improvements of tourism assets, and $8 million for historical preservation grants through the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Accelerating AI & Advanced Manufacturing Development
To position Massachusetts as a leader of the economy of the future, the bill includes provisions to further develop the rapidly growing AI industry as well as high-tech advanced manufacturing jobs.
It contains $115 million for the Massachusetts Tech Hub to establish key industry consortia across the Commonwealth, $100 million for the Applied AI Hub program to facilitate the application of AI, $99 million for flexible grants to support advanced manufacturing initiatives, and $25 million for capital grants to advance research, commercialization, and training in robotics.
Retaining Talented College Graduates
Outmigration is notably prevalent among students who graduate from Massachusetts colleges. To keep students and their talent in the state, the legislation includes $85 million for the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority (MEFA) to improve access to affordable higher education opportunities.
Additional talent-retention provisions promote internships for students and recent graduates through the employer internship tax credit and allow foreign-licensed physicians to apply for a limited license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth with a pathway to a full unrestricted license. The program would enable their talents to be used to fill the state’s physician shortage.
Supporting Small Businesses
With nearly 50 percent of Massachusetts workers employed by companies with fewer than 500 employees, small businesses are a key part of the Commonwealth’s economy. The Senate’s legislation recognizes this, providing $25 million through MassVentures for small business technology grants to help early-stage companies commercialize new technologies, $35 million for grants to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to help disadvantaged and underserved businesses, and $10 million for Biz-M-Power matching grants to small businesses with capital needs.
To assist small businesses in rural areas and areas impacted by pollution, the bill authorizes $3 million for grants to improve the readiness of sites for economic development projects and $30 million for the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund to support the remediation of land impacted by environmental contamination.
A previous version of this bill having passed the House of Representatives, the two branches will now reconcile the differences between the bills before sending a final version to the Governor’s desk.
