An economic development bill is one of the major pieces of legislation Massachusetts state lawmakers will take up in the next few weeks.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is trying to instill a sense of urgency about the $4 billion economic development legislation he filed earlier this year – a catch-all bill that funds a range of programs and initiatives such as brownfields cleanup, new infrastructure, and job training. It would be paid for through traditional borrowing by the state and with federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Baker said.
Promoting the bill at an appearance in Springfield Tuesday, Baker said there is money in it for all 351 cities and towns in the state “for either environmental infrastructure, housing, or downtown development.”
Odds are the legislature will approve an economic development bill in one form or another before the current legislative session closes at the end of July.
“Generally speaking, it is one of the last pieces of legislation that gets passed,” Baker said.
The urgency to pass a bill is twofold, said the Republican governor. First, the ARPA money has a deadline of 2024 to be allocated and 2026 to be spent, which is not a lot of time when it comes to planning and executing construction projects. Second, there is the current state of the economy with high inflation, rising interest rates, and the possibility of a recession.
If there is a recession, Baker said “you want to have the state putting these resources to work at the same time the economy softens so people have work and communities can continue to make progress.”
Baker’s bill proposes $1 billion just for environmental projects including building infrastructure to help the state withstand the effects of climate change and to hasten the conversion to all-renewable energy sources, said Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Martin Suuberg.
He said it is a generational opportunity.
“We are eager to work with all our partners as this legislation moves forward but we are also eager to get this bill passed as soon as possible,” Suuberg said.
Joining with Baker to call for swift passage of the economic development bill was Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.
“People are hurting now and businesses are hurting,” Sarno said.
The bill is moving through the legislative process, assured Democratic State Senator Eric Lesser, who co-chairs the legislature’s economic development committee.
“I think everybody wants to get something done,” Lesser said. “We have to get something big done on the economy right now.”
Baker spoke in a community room at the Overland Lofts, a downtown apartment complex that was constructed in a former automobile showroom and warehouse originally built in 1917.
The project, which was completed last year, received $2 million from a state program to help develop housing in the state’s Gateway Cities. Funding to continue that initiative is included in Baker’s economic development bill.
