Governor signs economic development package

On Aug. 10, Gov. Charlie Baker signed an economic development bill that includes bond authorizations for a number of programs for cities and towns, such as $500 million for the MassWorks program, $45 million for brownfields redevelopment, and $45 million for the Gateway Cities Transformative Development Fund.
 
The spending in the roughly $900 million, five-year bond bill, passed by the Legislature on July 31, would be allocated largely through the state’s capital program.
 
More than half of the funding will go to the existing MassWorks program to provide infrastructure grants. (For more information on the program, visit www.mass.gov/hed/economic/eohed/pro/infrastructure/massworks.)
 
Smaller amounts will go to a variety of business-friendly measures, including $71 million in capital grants for higher education-based innovation efforts and $45 million for a new grant program for workforce development training.
 
The law makes additional flexible spending available to the state’s Economic Development Initiative Program in cases of “extraordinary opportunity,” defined by the number of jobs created. Otherwise, the fund would remain at $30 million.
 
The law also makes changes to the Housing Development Initiative Program. A municipal tax-break program will be established to encourage housing production.
 
Cities and towns will be allowed to create demand-based parking fees and use those fees to fund infrastructure improvements in downtown districts.
 
The governor vetoed language authorizing “community benefit districts,” a concept supported by the MMA, due to last-minute concerns raised by several nonprofit groups. The governor also vetoed a section that would have granted the Metrowest Regional Transit Authority the ability to provide commercial driver’s license instruction.
 
The law will capitalize the Smart Growth Trust Fund, which the Baker administration argues will allow for more stable funding for cities and towns seeking to use the program. The law also creates a dedicated funding source for brownfields redevelopment, providing up to $45 million in re-capitalized funding.
 
The law makes small changes to the state’s farmer-winery licensing process and establishes a commission to study the feasibility of Massachusetts remaining on Eastern Standard Time. It also allows the sale of alcohol by liquor stores on Memorial Day.
 
The final version of the bill did not include MMA-supported language from the Senate bill that would have changed the room occupancy tax by adding a classification for “transient accommodations,” which was aimed at providing revenue from online services such as Airbnb.