State Senators unanimously approved a sprawling $2.86 billion economic development bill just before midnight last night. S 2856 is seen as a critical tool for maintaining the commonwealth’s successful life sciences sector and making a similar massive investment in the climate tech landscape.
Senators adopted an overall economic development package that dramatically scales back investments into the life sciences sector compared to the bill the House recently passed and the proposal that Gov. Maura Healey championed for months as a way to secure Massachusetts’ competitive edge against other states.
The Senate approved $225 million in bonding to reauthorize the life sciences initiative for another five years, while broadening the mission of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to include health equity, biosecurity, digital health and artificial intelligence.
Representatives and Healey proposed funneling $500 million into the life sciences sector over the next decade. Also unlike the House and governor, the Senate stopped short of boosting the life sciences tax incentive cap from $30 million to $50 million per year.
The state’s historic investment in the life sciences initiative spurred 17,000 jobs, and 18 out of the top 20 biopharma companies in the world have a presence in Massachusetts, Sen. Barry Finegold said.
Finegold also touted Massachusetts’ prowess in the health care and education sectors. While the commonwealth’s “bold investments” have paid off, the Andover Democrat warned that “other states are taking notice and taking steps to attract these industries.”
“Since 2022, the share of Massachusetts businesses that plan to reduce their presence here or expand outside of Massachusetts has increased nearly six times. This should sound the alarm bells to all of us,” Finegold said during opening remarks Thursday. “We must now act to remain competitive in a changing global and national economy.”
He added that the bill will help Massachusetts “become someday a trillion-dollar economy.”
Aligning with the House, the Senate approved $400 million in climate tech bonding authorizations, augmented by a climate tech tax incentive with a $30 million annual cap, as state officials also see an opportunity for Massachusetts to become a global leader in that burgeoning sector.
The bill carves out $100 million for the Seaport Economic Council, $99 million for advanced manufacturing, $400 million for MassWorks public infrastructure projects, $100 million for the Rural Development Fund, $100 million for an Applied AI Hub, $115 million for the Massachusetts Tech Hub, $100 million for local economic development grants, $85 million for the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority, and $150 million for public library capital grants, among a bevy of other investments.
Through a successful amendment from Sen. Sal DiDomenico of Everett, lawmakers also approved $2 million for the “planning, design or construction of public infrastructure projects along the Route 99 corridor,” which is home to the parcel the Kraft Group is eying for the New England Revolution’s new home.
Chris Lisinski and Sam Drysdale contributed reporting. Read the full State House News Service article.
