Baker-Polito Administration Files $240 Million
Economic Development Bill
Comprehensive economic development bill enables investments
in housing production, new community tools, and innovative technology as well
as provisions of An Act to Promote Housing Choices
SALEM — Today, Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn
Polito and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy joined
Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll to celebrate the filing of An Act Enabling
Partnerships for Growth, a $240 million economic development legislative
package that includes provisions of An Act to Promote Housing
Choices to produce more housing, build community and regional
capacity, support diverse businesses and create jobs. This bill encourages more
market rate housing in Gateway Cities and similar regions by expanding the
Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP); invests in affordable housing
near transit; provides new flexible, responsive tools to build vibrant
communities; and facilitates further economic growth and job creation by
significantly increasing support for small businesses and industry clusters.
Last year, following
extensive public engagement and stakeholder input, the Baker-Polito
Administration released Partnerships for Growth, an economic development
plan with four pillars – Addressing the Housing Crisis, Building Vibrant
Communities, Supporting Business Competitiveness and Training a Skilled
Workforce – that serve as the framework for the legislation filed today by
Governor Baker.
“Building on the success of our
two previous economic development bills, An Act Enabling Partnerships for
Growth invests in further housing development and supports small businesses
and innovative companies throughout the Commonwealth,” said Governor Charlie
Baker. “This important legislation, partnered with our Housing Choice
initiative, will continue our work to promote growth and success in every
region of the state.”
“Since 2015, I have visited
all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth, and have had the privilege of
visiting with residents to understand what each community needs to thrive –
from housing, to the economy, and to their workforces,” said Lt. Governor
Karyn Polito. “This legislation will allow communities across Massachusetts
to provide opportunities and incentives to residents and businesses alike to
ensure regional development and success.”
Governor Baker re-filed An
Act to Promote Housing Choices last year to create targeted zoning reform
to advance new housing production in Massachusetts and support the administration’s
goal to produce 135,000 new housing units by 2025. An Act Enabling
Partnerships for Growth includes these Housing Choice provisions to enable
cities and towns to adopt certain zoning best practices through a simple
majority vote rather than the current two-thirds supermajority.
This bill includes $50
million towards the construction of new affordable housing, including units for
low and extremely low income residents, and housing near transit hubs like
train and subway stations, while mitigating traffic congestion. It also invests
$10 million in sustainable, climate-resilient affordable housing developments
to mitigate climate change impacts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The
legislation expands HDIP by increasing the incentive cap three-fold from $10
million to $30 million. To improve housing stability, the bill also makes
$25 million available to nonprofits, municipalities and community development
corporations to support the reuse of blighted or vacant properties.
“After a statewide planning
process that brought us to communities like North Adams, Chatham, and Salem and
included extensive public engagement, we are excited to put the framework that
is the Partnerships for Growth plan to work through this $240 million economic
development package that encompasses housing, community development, and
business competitiveness,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary
Mike Kennealy. “This legislation builds on the state’s successful
innovation and technology ecosystems by funding initiatives undertaken by
universities and businesses, and also expands the Commonwealth’s investments in
diverse small businesses and advanced manufacturing. We are grateful to our
partners in the Legislature and in the Commonwealth’s cities and towns for your
collaboration, and look forward to ongoing work to continue economic
opportunity across Massachusetts.”
Today’s event was held near
the future BRIX Condominiums, new housing supported through HDIP. Close to the
Salem Commuter Rail Station, BRIX will replace the former Salem District
courthouse with 55 market rate condos, six affordable units, and 3,000 square
feet of new commercial space, and is part of Salem’s ongoing effort to
transform the northern part of its downtown.
“As the Mayor of a vibrant
and busy city, I am so pleased that Governor Baker and his team are advancing
this new economic bill and especially that it includes supports for critically
needed affordable housing, funding for economic capacity building and community
development, and, measures to boost the competitiveness of our businesses,” said
Mayor Kimberley Driscoll. “Salem is working hard to implement all the tools
available to us to help increase our residents’ access to housing that meets
their needs, whether it is affordable or market-rate. We’re also pushing hard
to advance our competitiveness when it comes to jobs in the innovation economy.
This legislation presents a framework of supports that are instrumental in
continuing the efforts we’ve achieved on these fronts, while also laying the
groundwork for future success.”
This legislation provides new
flexible, responsive tools to build vibrant communities, including $40 million
in financial assistance to redevelop underutilized buildings and lots to unlock
new economic development and housing opportunities, and $10 million for a rural
and small town development fund. The bill also increases community and regional
capacity by making $5 million available through grants to support
locally-driven, locally-beneficial growth, $5 million for maintenance of
broadband infrastructure. Additionally, it provides $15 million in
reauthorizations of the Site Readiness Fund and improves existing tools to
better serve communities.
Leveraging private sector,
academic and federal funding sources, this legislation strengthens partnerships
and invests in technology and innovation priorities to encourage cluster
growth. This includes making $45 million available for grant opportunities in
areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, fintech, quantum computing,
blockchain and blue tech. The bill also continues the administration’s support
for advanced manufacturing with a new $10 million expansion of the
Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2), as well as support
for small and growing businesses, including enterprises owned by minority,
female, immigrant, or veteran entrepreneurs, through $10 million of increased
funding for community development financial institutions (CDFIs).
“One of the things that
distinguishes Massachusetts from other regions is our breadth of industries
that lead to emerging technology intersections, and a commitment to remain not
only the discoverers but also the makers,” said Dr. Julie Chen, Vice
Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the UMass Lowell. “By promoting
the integration of housing, transportation, technology, and talent, this
Economic Development bill helps to advance the teaming we need between
government, academia, and industry to achieve innovation at scale.”
Bill Highlights
Address the Housing
Crisis:
- $50 million for transit-oriented housing for the
production of new, high density affordable housing near transit
nodes;
- $25 million for neighborhood stabilization to help
nonprofits, municipalities, and community development corporations return
blighted or vacant housing back to productive use; and
- $10 million for sustainable and climate-resilient
construction in affordable, multi-family housing developments to better
respond to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through use
of efficient, sustainable design practices.
- Building on the 2016 reforms to the Housing Development
Incentive Program (HDIP), this bill expands the HDIP program by raising
the annual cap to $30 million so that more multi-unit, market rate housing
development projects can move forward in Gateway Cities and similarly
situated communities.
- State resources can only go so far if local communities
are not zoning for more housing. This legislation includes the language of
the Housing Choice legislation approved by the Joint Committee on Housing.
- This bill proposes a series of modifications to
existing law to better enable local housing authorities to address capital
needs and get the best out of the state’s public housing stock.
Build Vibrant Communities:
- $40 million for revitalizing underutilized properties
by supporting the redevelopment of underutilized, blighted, or abandoned
spaces;
- $15 million for the reauthorization of the site
readiness fund to continue assisting communities with site assembly and
assessment, predevelopment permitting, and other predevelopment
activities;
- $10 million for a rural and small town development fund
to support community development and infrastructure projects in rural
communities and small towns;
- $5 million for a grant program to assist municipalities
and regional efforts through planning and community capacity efforts on
housing and economic development initiatives; and
- $5 million for maintenance of broadband infrastructure
in central and western Massachusetts.
- The Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) is an
effective program that has yielded positive results in Gateway Cities
across the state. This bill amends two facets of the TDI program, TDI
Equity and the TDI Fellows, so that MassDevelopment can better deploy
resources and tools.
Support Business
Competitiveness:
- $45 million for a new research and development fund to
strategically deploy resources in support of the technology and innovation
ecosystems, such as key industry clusters and other emerging areas, and
leverage public-private partnerships;
- $10 million to expand the advanced manufacturing
pipeline by providing state support for advanced manufacturing beyond the
Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative’s (M2I2) current scope
to allow continued growth across the state;
- $10 million to enable community development financial
institutions to reach underserved populations, such as women and minority-owned
businesses, and leverage federal funding to support lending for small
businesses in need of capital;
- $10 million for a matching fund to support large scale
capital investments in tourism assets across the state;
- $5 million for a matching grant program to support
micro-businesses and low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs.
Successes through An
Act Enhancing Opportunities for All, the 2018 economic development bill:
Through the 2019 MassWorks
Infrastructure Program round, the Baker-Polito Administration awarded more
than $72 million in infrastructure awards to a diverse mix of 36 projects in 35
communities across the Commonwealth, including nine Gateway Cities and eight
communities that will receive MassWorks funding for the first time. The awards
will unlock a total of $2.3 billion in private investment and more than 4,600
new full-time jobs, along with more than 3,100 new housing units, more than a
third of which are affordable, building on the administration’s efforts to
tackle the ongoing housing shortage.
In grants approved last
month, the Seaport Economic Council awarded $2.34 million to support
coastal infrastructure projects that include commercial fishing pier
reconstruction and complete marina renovations, as well as more than $580,000
in maritime economic planning grants to help fund projects such as waterway
improvement plans and harbor master plans that seek to identify opportunities
to increase economic activity at established waterfronts and address the
challenges due to climate change. Since its relaunch by the Baker-Polito
Administration in 2015, the Seaport Economic Council has invested over $44
million through 96 grants in 42 coastal communities, funding projects ranging
from local priorities to shared Commonwealth-wide initiatives.
The Baker-Polito
Administration recently announced the opening of the second round of the Massachusetts
Dredging Program, which was created in the 2018 economic development bill.
This standalone grant program offers focused funding for saltwater dredging on
a competitive, annual basis to help coastal communities maintain and improve
their navigational waterways and support the long-term growth and
sustainability of the state’s blue economy. Last year, the administration
awarded a total of $4.1 million to five communities: Beverly, Chatham, Dennis,
Hingham and Nantucket.
In October, the
administration announced two new grants totaling over $5.2 million from the Massachusetts
Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) to support the development of
new advanced manufacturing technologies across the state, including a new
photonics lab operated by Bridgewater State University and Stonehill College.
The Baker-Polito Administration has committed more than $100 million in funding
to the M2I2 effort, which allows the Commonwealth to co-invest in projects
supported by the national Manufacturing USA initiative, helping promote
innovation and job growth across the state.
And last month, Governor
Baker and the Workforce Skills Cabinet awarded $14.6 million in Skills
Capital Grant awards to 54 educational institutions to update equipment and
expand student enrollment in programs that provide career education. To date,
the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded more than $78 million in Skills
Capital Grants to 280 different programs. Through Skills Capital Grants,
schools have expanded their enrollment capacity in high-demand occupations,
enabling more than 14,500 additional students to enroll in educational programs
that are a priority for employers across Massachusetts.
