© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Jobs Bill Provides Funds For Research Grants At UMass

    The Massachusetts legislature has passed a bill designed to spur economic development and create jobs.  It should also provide a boost to the national research profile for the University of Massachusetts flagship Amherst campus.  WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports

   The 115 page bill includes millions  of dollars to help unemployed workers learn new skills. It establishes a fund for research projects at U-Mass and other institutions. There are tax breaks for start- up companies and other incentives supporters of the bill hope will encourage cutting-edge companies to make Massachusetts home.

   The bill, which was a priority of House Speaker Robert DeLeo, establishes a $50 million fund  to support research at the University of Massachusetts and other state  universities. U-Mass Amherst spokesman Ed Blaguszewski says the fund will be a source for researchers to compete for matching grants.

   Research grants can be used to hire  people, expand facilities, and in the long term produce new products and technologies .

   The legislation promotes new business in Massachusetts by exempting start ups from the corporate excise tax for three years.  It provides $2 million for paid internships at technology start ups. It offers grants for technical assistance to small and mid-sized manufacturers.  

   The bill raises the cap on historic rehabilitation tax credits by $10 million dollars, and extends for two years the tax credits available for brownfields cleanup projects.  It directs the state pension fund to deposit $100 million  in institutions that make loans available to small businesses.

   There’s $5 million for a training program for unemployed, under employed and older workers to address the so-called skills gap. Kevin Lynn of the Future Works Career Center in Springfield said employers frequently struggle to find workers with the skills to match job openings.

   The jobs bill, which passed the Massachusetts House with just one no vote, and was approved unanimously by the State Senate also includes a temporary sales tax break.  On August 11 and 12th  most items purchased will be exempt from the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax.  Exceptions include restaurant meals, cars, boats, tobacco and any single item that costs more than $2500.

   Sales tax holidays have become regular fixtures of mid August in Massachusetts, but the legislature has resisted calls to make it a permanent annual occurrence.  Giving up two days of sales tax receipts costs the state about $20 million in revenue.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.