Governor Signs $626 Million Economic Development Bill

Link to Economic Development Bill

Governor Baker Signs $626 Million Economic Development Bill

Major Housing Production Measure Becomes Law

On January 14, 2021, Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation spreading $626 million around the economy over the next five years and making it easier to build new housing, an area where Massachusetts has lagged behind other states. He did veto several provisions in the bill, which are outlined in this letter.

The bill includes: 

- $40 million the bill designed to revitalize underutilized properties.

- authorization for zoning rule changes to be made by a majority vote of local boards rather than a two-thirds vote.

- a major section in the bill encouraging multifamily zoning in MBTA communities, while citing the discretion afforded to his administration under the measure.

- a section of the bill that aims to educate student loan borrowers about their responsibilities and borrowing rights.

The Governor vetoed 11 sections of the bill, including:

- a provision in the bill delaying the so-called "housing choice" measure for 90 days, saying it should take effect now.

- three sections that would have required housing development projects benefiting from a housing development incentive program tax credit to have at least 10 percent affordable units. The proposal would have made projects more difficult to finance, as the bill doubles the cap on the state low-income housing tax credit for the next five years to $40 million.

- a rural jobs tax credit that had some implementation challenges. With the veto, the governor committed to more direct rural investments that he said would have a greater impact.

- a section of the bill requiring the Registry of Motor Vehicles, before issuing a vehicle registration, to confirm the validity and status of the applicant's driver's license and to certify that the person complies with licensing rules and regulations. 

- Other vetoed sections pertain to local option tenant right to purchase bylaws and ordinances, creation of a process for sealing records in eviction cases, and the formation of a commission to study the participation of minority and women-owned enterprises in public construction projects. 

The governor's vetoes are final since the Legislature that passed the bill expired and a new Legislature has been sworn in.

Legislature Passes $626 Million Economic Development Bill

Early in the morning of January 6, 2021, the Legislature passed this economic development bill to to spur job growth and help businesses. The $626.5M economic development bill (H 5250) includes a version of Governor Charlie Baker's housing production proposal to lower the threshold for local boards to approve zoning bylaw changes to a simple majority. This has been a key part of his goal of creating 135,000 new units of housing by 2025 to ease the housing crunch, especially around Greater Boston.

The bill also:

• includes $50M in funding for transit-oriented housing
• $30M for a loan program similar to the federal Paycheck Protection Program for businesses hurt by COVID-19, and funding for job training, tourism, technology and advance manufacturing. 
• $35M in loan funding for community development lending institutions to extend capital to small businesses, with a focus on minority- and women-owned businesses that have historically had trouble accessing financing and have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic
• would also seal no-fault eviction records. 
• includes a $52M set aside for science and technology research, $20M for economic development in small, rural communities, $14 M for tourism, and $6M to support artists and local museums
• creates a "Future of Work" commission to study how to promote sustainable jobs with fair benefits and workplace safety standards across industries, along with commissions that would be created to study the negative impact of changes in media on local journalism and how to help the arts community recover from the pandemic.
• includes "student loan bill of rights," which would make sure borrowers are educated about their responsibilities and borrowing rights and student loan servicers that take advantage of students could be fined and forced to repay student borrowers.
• would double the low-income housing tax credit program to $40M.

In addition, the final compromise bill capped the fees third-party delivery services can charge restaurants for their services at 15% of the price of the online order for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency. The cap also only applies to restaurants with fewer than 25 locations.

The bill passed the House 143-4 at 4 am and cleared the Senate 40-0 at 4:15 am.