Legislature may still act on some unfinished business

The formal legislative session ended this summer without enactment of a number of pieces of legislation that have been closely followed by the MMA and municipalities — particularly an economic development package, clean energy siting changes, the Municipal Empowerment Act, and a new program to help communities win federal grants.

Included in these bills were issues such as changes to the civil service system, a reform of public health services known as SAPHE 2.0, and permanent authorization for remote and hybrid public meetings, among other topics.

The end of the formal session changes the rules of operation at the State House, but the session does run through the end of the calendar year, and there may still be progress on some of these issues. In recent weeks, the House and Senate reached an agreement on maternal health legislation and on a long-term care bill. The MMA continues to work diligently to follow the developments and advance municipal concerns.

The following is the latest information on some key legislative issues:

Economic development
A House-Senate conference committee was unable to reach agreement on a proposed multi-billion-dollar economic development bond bill by the end of the formal legislative session on July 31.

A $4.1 billion version passed by the House on June 27 and a $2.8 billion bill passed by the Senate on July 11 included the following investments of interest to municipalities:
• $400 million for MassWorks grants for local infrastructure
• $100 million for the Rural Development Fund
• $150 million for the Public Library Construction Program to help municipalities update and rehabilitate these essential facilities
• $100 million for grants, through the Seaport Economic Council, to help the state’s 78 coastal municipalities withstand and adapt to the impacts of climate change
• $400 million for climate technology bonding authorizations

Civil service: The House version of the bill included an amendment to update and modernize civil service hiring practices. The House’s proposal reflected years of policy deliberation among a comprehensive group of stakeholders. The MMA reported on several key aspects of this proposal in March, including a new “hybrid” pathway that Civil Service departments could use to more easily identify and hire candidates for municipal police and fire positions outside of the traditional exam process. Other reforms include expanded flexibility for residency requirements, and support and expansion for cadet programs.

Public health: The Senate bill included a provision, known as SAPHE 2.0, that would create a statewide action plan for bolstering public health services. The MMA had long been supportive of the intent of previous legislative efforts, but was concerned about potential financial burdens on cities and towns. The MMA worked with the legislative sponsors to add important safeguards for municipalities in a revised amendment, which was supported by the MMA and adopted in the final Senate bill.

Because bond bills require a roll call to authorize borrowing on behalf of the Commonwealth, the bonding authorizations in an economic development bill cannot move in an informal session, and so the governor has called for legislators to reconvene for a special legislative session to act on the package with the necessary roll call votes. Meanwhile, certain policy provisions and outside sections that were included in the bill could move forward as part of a reconciled bond bill or passed separately in an informal session.

The governor had filed her $3.5 billion economic development proposal, known as the Mass Leads Act, in March.

Clean energy
A House-Senate conference committee was unable to work out differences between separate clean energy bills that would, among other provisions, change the process for siting and permitting clean energy infrastructure such as solar arrays, wind turbines and battery storage.

Both bills included a requirement for cities and towns to approve small clean energy infrastructure project applications through a consolidated permitting process within 12 months or the permit would be automatically approved. Regulations and guidance for this process would be developed by a new Division of Clean Energy Siting and Permitting within the Department of Energy Resources.

The consolidation of the local permitting process was a central theme of the final recommendations of the 28-member Commission on Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting. This specific policy proposal was not supported by the MMA during the commission’s work, however, and was a concern articulated to both the Senate and the House as they considered their legislation.

The bills also would require the Energy Facilities Siting Board to approve large projects through a consolidated permitting process within 15 months, and would expand EFSB membership to include municipal representation.

The bills were intended to advance the Commonwealth’s goal to reach a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2050 through a range of initiatives, including shifting energy generation to sources such as wind and solar.

Municipal Empowerment Act
At the MMA’s annual conference in January, Gov. Maura Healey announced an omnibus bill called the Municipal Empowerment Act, which was intended to increase municipal flexibility, strengthen municipal finances, address municipal workforce challenges, and improve the efficiency of local operations. The bill, filed on Jan. 22, received immediate strong support from the MMA and local officials across Massachusetts.

Initially, the Legislature broke the bill into two parts for hearings before the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on Feb. 28 and before the Joint Committee on Revenue on Feb. 29, and it was later referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. The MMA and local leaders testified in strong support at both hearings, and written testimony can be found here (Municipalities), and here (Revenue).

Among its many provisions, the Municipal Empowerment Act would reform procurement rules and update borrowing rules for school projects; make permanent a number of popular pandemic-era allowances for remote or hybrid public meetings; and establish enforcement mechanisms for prohibitions on doubled-up utility poles.

It would also allow cities and towns, which face state-imposed caps on local revenue raising, to increase local-option meals and lodging taxes and create a new local-option motor vehicle excise surcharge.

A new commission would be established to take a fresh look at opportunities to address unfunded liabilities from non-pension employee benefits (known as OPEB), and municipalities would be able to offer a means-tested senior property tax exemption.

(Click here to read the MMA’s op-ed on the package, published in June by Commonwealth Beacon.)

Federal funds
A House-Senate conference committee was unable to reconcile differences between bills that would leverage interest from the state’s rainy day fund to improve the competitive position of the state and its municipalities for federal dollars.

Gov. Maura Healey proposed the concept in a bill she filed last October. The Senate approved its version of the bill on Jan. 11, and the House passed its bill on Feb. 28.

Healey’s bill proposes the creation of a Commonwealth Federal Matching and Debt Reduction Fund to provide a funding source for the state and communities across the Commonwealth to be used to meet the required local match for grants. The proposal would use $750 million in interest generated annually by the state’s stabilization fund.

The bill also proposes $12 million for technical assistance to help municipalities with grant tracking, grant writing and implementation.

Informal sessions
The Legislature will continue to hold informal sessions through the rest of the year, allowing for some additional policy legislation to be enacted, but the risk is that it only takes a single “no” vote to derail a bill during informals.