REPRESENTATIVES ARE THROWING the kitchen sink at a $425.1 million economic development bill the House plans to pass Wednesday.
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On Monday, the House Ways and Means released its redrafted version (H 5562) of an economic development bill Gov. Maura Healey filed in response to greater global competition. The Ways and Means Committee redraft maintains the $305 million in borrowing – and roughly $254 million in deauthorizations – Healey originally proposed and adds $120 million for various housing grants.
On top of that, the redrafted version strays from many of the governor’s policy ideas she included in the original draft. And now, representatives have proposed 688 ways to change the legislation. A lot of those are local project earmarks, though some amendments carry statewide implications as representatives look to squeeze as many of their priorities as possible into the late-session legislation.
Asked how much room there is for amendments, Rep. Carole Fiola, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, noted the bonding authorization is lower than previous major economic development bills and that signals members will be “more cautious.”
“Some would say fiscally responsible, knowing that we don’t want to, we can’t be unrealistic with that bond cap,” she told reporters Wednesday after a House Democrats caucus.
Housing and zoning
With less than a month left for standard formal sessions, a major housing bill hasn’t emerged this session, but housing and zoning reforms have emerged in both the Ways and Means Committee’s redraft and many representatives’ amendments.
House Speaker Ron Mariano and Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz noted the bill allows multifamily housing as of right on land owned by religious institutions for the first time, which they said is meant “to ease the housing crisis and increase development.” Representatives have proposed ways to water that language down.
An amendment (#396) from Rep. Michael Soter would exempt municipalities with more than 10 percent of their housing stock deemed affordable from the requirement to allow multifamily housing by right on religious land. Also, an amendment from Rep. Kathleen LaNatra (#672) would exclude municipalities with more than 10 percent affordable housing or that don’t operate a public water or sewer system from the requirement. LaNatra also proposed an amendment (#667) that would grant municipalities the power to decide whether to accept the bill’s provisions on allowing housing by right on religious lands.
Republican representatives who have been avid critics of the MBTA Communities Act have also proposed ways to protect municipalities that have not complied with the controversial zoning law. A Minority Leader Bradley Jones amendment (#631) would ensure that municipalities can access the funding the bill proposes regardless of whether they’re in compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. Democrats, under an amendment from Rep. David Allen Robertson (#657), are also seeking to prevent a municipality’s noncompliance with the MBTA Communities Law from affecting access to funding for schools, fire departments, and police departments.
While state leaders have been struggling to pull Massachusetts out of its housing crisis, several amendments look to address rising prices and access to affordable housing.
Weeks after the Supreme Judicial Court disqualified an initiative petition to establish statewide rent control, an amendment from Rep. Christine Barber (#605) would establish a two-year rent stabilization task force. The 33-member commission would be tasked with investigating and making recommendations around “rent stabilization, housing affordability, displacement prevention, eviction trends and legislation, development activity, vacancy rates, and related housing matters within the commonwealth,” according to the amendment’s text. An amendment from Reps. Andy Vargas and Chynah Tyler (#553) would create a commission to study changing the area median income limits to boost access to affordable housing.
Labor
Some representatives are looking to enshrine more protections for workers into the economic development package. Amendments (#2 and #85) from Rep. Tram Nguyen and Rep. Paul McMurtry would boost workers’ compensation protections and entitle employees to bereavement leave. Also, a Rep. Marjorie Decker amendment (#490) seeks to remove barriers for union organizing and expand labor organizing rights.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing President Trump to rollback Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Syrian immigrants, a Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid amendment (#467) would create a fund for employers to assist workers who were here under the TPS program. It’s a ruling that Gov. Maura Healey called “devastating” for both families and the economy, and officials have estimated it could affect thousands of Massachusetts health care workers.
As far as wages, Rep. Carlos Gonzalez filed an amendment – very similar to provisions in legislation he’s sponsoring – that would raise the minimum wage for farmer workers from $8 an hour to match the statewide minimum wage, which currently sits at $15 per hour.
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Climate and energy
The House and Senate are set to negotiate details of energy affordability legislation and representatives have pitched several other ideas in the economic development bill for ways to bring down energy costs and advance the state’s climate goals.
A Rep. Kelly Pease amendment (#55) would require data center operators to provide a report on annual electricity usage and effects on ratepayers before building, expanding or running the data center. The amendment would also create a legislative commission charged with recommending ways to use onsite energy generation and power purchasing to reduce electric costs that come from data center’s high electric demands.
Also, as residents are facing higher utility bills stemming from oppressive summer heat, an amendment (#76) from Reps. Steven Ultrino, Sean Garballey, and Mindy Domb would establish an extreme heat energy assistance program. The program could be run in coordination with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and would help lower-income residents pay their energy bills from May 15 through September 30. Another amendment from Rep. Christopher Markey (#103) would task the Department of Energy Resources with creating a clean fuel standard. The standard would establish greenhouse gas emission – or “carbon intensity” – benchmarks for transportation fuels with an end goal of reaching at least 45 percent below 2026 levels by 2040.
A Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis amendment (#231) also seeks to help remove double utility poles that have frustrated municipal officials for years. Healey has also included a provision addressing the issue in her municipal reform bill (H 56). Parts of the bill were sent to a study order and several sections – including the ones on double poles – survived in a new draft (H 5131) that’s pending in House Ways and Means.
Health care
Senators are waiting for the House to take up a sweeping primary care bill that emerged as this session’s main health care vehicle, meanwhile representatives are looking to attach several health care policies to the economic development bill.
An amendment from Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa with bipartisan support (#126) seeks to fill reimbursement gaps for care offered by midwives that have limited access to maternal health care in the state. The amendment would ensure licensed professional midwives get paid the same rate as physicians for the same service, regardless of the location. Another amendment (#504) from Decker would create a Midwifery Workforce Development fund to help fill the pipeline of much-needed midwives.
The Arc of Massachusetts is advocating for a Rep. John Lawn amendment (#682) that matches a bill he’s filed (H 526) that requires there to be universal changing tables in all newly constructed, reconstructed, or remodeled public buildings. There are exemptions for when installation isn’t feasible or if a building has historical significance. The nonprofit noted in an email calling for support for the amendment that appropriate options for children, adults, and older adults with disabilities are limited when public restrooms lack changing tables.
Several amendments also deal with licensure for health and human services workers. A Rep. James O’Day amendment (#640) would enact a social worker licensing compact, allowing social workers to practice in member states. This restores a provision the Ways and Means Committee cut from the version released by the Committee on Economic Development. A Rep. David Linsky proposal (#188) would also grant provisional social worker licenses available to those who have taken the exam to become a licensed social work associate at least two times and failed within 10 points. Lewis and Sabadosa are also proposing (#282 and #162) the state join occupational therapist and psychologist licensure compacts.
Other proposals
Another amendment from McMurtry (#378) would allow bars and restaurants to extend last call an hour past their license limit and enable public drinking “districts” through September 30 – a two-month extension beyond the July 31 sunset established in recently passed legislation that aimed to boost businesses during a frenzy of summer tourism events like the FIFA World Cup and America 250th celebrations.
Also related to the World Cup, a Rep. William Galvin amendment (#66) would allocate $5 million to support businesses in Gillette Stadium’s designated “Clean Zone” that was established for the World Cup. FIFA has a “Clean Zone” policy that restricts commercial activity and requires venues to scrub any branding not related to its sponsors.
Representatives are also interested in investing in emerging technologies.
A Rep. Michael Day amendment (#673) would set up a Massachusetts Quantum Center that would act as the state’s central organization for coordinating quantum initiatives as well as promoting research and investments in the industry. The amendment allocates $150 million for several quantum small business and education grants the center would oversee. Day is also seeking another $50 million in bond authorizations for the quantum center.
Earlier this year, Day filed similar legislation to establish the Massachusetts Quantum Center, but it lacked specific funds. Healey has thrown her support behind quantum and recently announced a $25 million commitment in state matching funds to help establish the Quantum Systems Laboratory, or QSL, at MIT.
Another amendment (#166) from Rep. Mark Cusack would enact the so-called “Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act.” It’s similar to a provision the Ways and Means Committee cut from the version endorsed by the economic development committee that would create transparency and incident reporting requirements for AI frontier developers. The amendment would also create “MassCompute,” a “public cloud computing cluster” which boosts the use and creation of AI that supports research and innovation that benefits the public and expands access to computational resources for more “equitable innovation.”
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