Photo courtesy of city of Everett
Following an appeal from Gov. Maura Healey, the leaders of the House and Senate said late Friday that they are willing to call a special formal session of the Legislature to approve an economic development bond bill.
Both Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano issued statements saying they are interested in resolving differences between the two branches on the bill and then holding a special session to approve it and send it along to the governor so she can sign it into law.
In a statement issued at 3:41 p.m., Healey appealed to the speaker and the Senate president to pass the economic development legislation.
“The economic development bond money and legislation are extremely important to Massachusetts,” Healey said. “This is absolutely essential for economic growth and development, to support critical economic sectors, and to protect our economy and businesses in the face of increasing competition from other states. To that end, I am imploring the Senate and House to return as soon as possible and work together with me and my team to get this done. The people of Massachusetts deserve it and are counting on us.”
Shortly after 4 p.m., Spilka and Mariano issued statements indicating they want to resolve differences between House and Senate versions of the economic development legislation and then call a special formal session of the Legislature to approve it.
Healey filed her economic development package in March, which contained $2.8 billion in bond authorizations and tax credits benefiting a number of business sectors, including the life sciences and climate tech industries. As the package moved through the Legislature, a number of other initiatives were attached to it, including an amendment paving the way for a soccer stadium in Everett for the New England Revolution, authorization for the merger of two state development authorities, and legal blessing for a shared appreciation mortgage offered by the nonprofit BlueHub Capital.
The move to call a special formal session follows a marathon final formal session of the year for the Legislature that started on Wednesday morning and ended Thursday morning. During that final session, a housing bond bill and a handful of other measures gained final approval but a number of major pieces of legislation failed to reach the finish line. In addition to the economic development bill, measures dealing with climate change, health care, and a number of issues failed to gain traction.
Many lawmakers have indicated since Thursday morning that they would be willing to come back in informal sessions to try to complete their work, but the bonding portion of the economic development bill could not be done in an informal session because the state constitution requires a recorded roll call vote and such votes cannot be taken during an informal session.
It was not immediately clear whether the special formal session would focus strictly on the economic development bill or consider other legislation as well.
It’s highly unusual for the Legislature to call a special formal session, but officials in the Legislature and the executive branch had no immediate information on how rare it is.
This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
