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One of the ever-present challenges for our State Legislature is how to sustain a strong economy that generates jobs and revenue. Building on this morning’s regional Chamber of Commerce candidate forum for the 12th Middlesex District, I want to talk in this week’s newsletter about responsible and durable economic development strategy and how that fits with a progressive agenda and the agenda of working families in the labor movement. I also want to talk about the big Economic Development bill (the "Mass Leads Act") from Governor Healey, which is now making its way through the legislature. That bill addresses climate tech, life sciences, small businesses, tourism, equitable business practices, and much more.
Why choose Massachusetts?
When it comes to location decisions for businesses that have the ability to move (and whether to open one that can’t), the fundamentals are what matters. Do we have enough housing, reliable transportation networks, sufficient daycare capacity that doesn’t break the bank, great public schools and great universities, a stable and expansive power grid, enough water capacity, access to healthcare, and so on?
That’s what companies look at in the long run for site location decisions, far and away above tax incentives or overall tax rates. They’re not going to move operations to a state that has no taxes but also doesn’t have functioning transportation, power, water, schools, or amenities their employees are looking for. Even a fairly good state like North Carolina that we in Massachusetts often compete with just had a massive deal fall apart for an Apple campus (Forbes).
We should be in a race to the top, not a race to the bottom, as a way to make Massachusetts as attractive as possible to business. We need to build a business community that works naturally, not begging businesses to ignore our shortcomings. This is what the experts recommend, such as Chris Steele, the CEO of EBP US, who is a 30 year professional in North American site location consulting, who lives in the 12th Middlesex District. He has endorsed my candidacy as the most likely to advance policy on the fundamentals necessary to support vibrant businesses of all sizes in Massachusetts.
The question is always what are we getting for our taxes? If we have incredible programs for building housing at all income levels, guaranteeing public childcare and eldercare, and taking care of other expensive cost factors to allow our professionals to flourish, and if we meet current global workplace standards prevalent in places like the European Union, businesses will be fighting to get in the door. These are investments in our population that create and sustain jobs and promote economic activity. And they are indeed investments, in a meaningful sense, because they will promote growth that we need to support our revenues.
Health insurance as a business consideration
Supporting universal, single-payer healthcare isn’t just some moral aspiration. It’s something most countries have deployed successfully to unlock the full potential and entrepreneurial spirit of their business-minded communities and people. High costs and unpredictable increases in health insurance for small business owners are way more significant than inflation, for example, in making or breaking the viability of a business. Lack of stable health insurance and health insurance tied to employers holds back entrepreneurialism, too. People might make a career leap or create the next big thing if they didn’t have to worry about where their insurance was coming from.
The housing crisis
Housing, housing, housing is one of the biggest topics in state government and this election – and I’ve certainly made clear my support for (and adding features beyond!) Governor Healey’s ambitious housing legislation, where unfortunately the House of Representatives has fallen short this term. I agree that lack of housing, especially in Eastern Massachusetts, has been a major barrier to promoting a strong business climate and we’re beginning to lose young people. (I myself have always had to choose between living in my family’s home or moving away from my community and maybe even my state.)
The key problems in housing policy are how to increase supply (including addressing the financial mechanisms to do so) and how to promote stability for those already in homes. In this newsletter I’ll focus on the former, but I’ve commented on the latter in my website platform and various candidate questionnaires focused on housing.
For affordable housing supply, the legislature should fund rehabilitation and preservation funding for existing stock, expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for specialist developers, pass the Real Estate Transfer Fee to fund local affordable housing trusts (the legislature unfortunately did not adopt this proposal from the Governor), and directly build quality, mixed-price social rental homes anyone would be proud to live in.
For middle-income housing supply, there should be an all-price-points comprehensive strategy featuring further intervention into zoning reform and codes that promote smaller units (think triple-deckers, for example), legalizing Accessory Dwelling Units statewide (this is likely to pass in this term, fortunately), capitalizing a public bank with the state’s deposits to offer discounted financing to restart stalled projects, and piloting social ownership units for downsizing middle-income seniors (which would help free up more family homes for young families while keeping our seniors rooted in our communities.)
On both counts, neither the private sector nor the public sector alone will be able to close the gap in need. There is no silver bullet. It will take all hands on deck to build the green homes of the future that we need.
Crucially, as legislators, we also need to ensure that money authorized for bonding to advance housing is actually spent, not just authorized. The state has a bad habit of authorizing borrowing and then not using that authority, thereby claiming credit for progress while not actually progressing.
And, of course, we can’t talk about housing policy without committing to funding strong, reliable public transit services nearby to get people where they need to go, especially to their jobs.
The Mass Leads Act
Right now, the Healey-Driscoll Administration also has proposed, and the Legislature is debating and amending, an economic development bill that marries progressive policy with a strong business agenda. Here’s my analysis of those proposals and how I think they could help or where we could go further.
Small business
To support small business, the idea is to fund and support startup incubators, infrastructure, and state matching programs to unlock federal grant eligibility, as well as to provide “front door assistance” to navigate government processes and regulations for business.
More broadly, of course, we always need to try to anticipate needs and adopt policies that promote our objectives. Other things not covered in the bill that legislators should be paying attention to when it comes to small businesses and progressive thinking include: credit card fee regulation, a state local option allowing vacancy taxes to address storefront vacancies and revitalize business districts by constraining commercial rents, and promoting zoning geared toward small business as opposed to chains (e.g. square footage rules).
Climate tech
My personal priority is always action on the climate crisis and the bill focuses heavily on making Massachusetts a national and global hub for “climate tech” development. The bill focuses on how to attract businesses that want to invent technologies that don’t currently exist that could help not only reduce emissions but maybe also remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. This is addressed in the breakthrough technologies / green tech fund sections.
There might be some projects that fail, but we’re on the precipice of some really incredible technological changes that can enable a more livable world. Our role as elected officials should be to create the conditions for the innovators to develop here, but we should not put the public on the hook directly for potentially overhyped venture projects. Instead, our public sector should be part of driving forward that innovation by making possible an environment where these breakthroughs are happening here in Massachusetts and not on the far side of the country or the far side of the world. (I would also be supportive of direct, public sector research and development laboratories, but that’s different from some proposals for public dollars or credits to private research firms.)
Some specific technology sectors we might see happen here in Massachusetts under the right conditions include: Offshore wind, sensors and monitoring techs, and waste management / sustainable materials / plastics reduction solutions.
As always, we also need to authorize credits & grants for energy installation and home conversions.
Life Sciences
Life Sciences are a major focus of the proposed economic development bill, too. It includes reauthorization for the Mass Life Sciences Center (the organization that facilitates partnerships with private sector biotech and promoting the Commonwealth to the sector worldwide). Here in our district, Brookline and Newton are “bioready communities” that have permitting and safety processes geared to attract life science and have identified sites where it can go. But there’s a lesson to be learned from how far behind the curve Newton was in trying to get on the bandwagon for life science with all the revenues that would have brought. The very slow political processes to make these types of reforms, whether locally or at the state, caused us to miss out. And besides the interest rates obstacle to life sciences investment, we also simply need to get our housing supply back on track to make those companies view Massachusetts as an expansion prospect, not a place to exit.
Arts/Culture/Tourism
The bill also pays vital attention to the Arts/Culture/Tourism industry in Massachusetts (one representing $27 billion and 130,000 workers), by focusing on historic preservation grants, cultural districts, and the Mass Cultural Council. It’s also important to understand that the draw of tourism plays a role in other industries because this is the first exposure many skilled out-of-state individuals (workers, executives, and founders) have to Massachusetts.
Equity
The bill also applies a progressive lens to business development through its focus on equity issues. Equity policy in the business community allows us to access the full range of human capital and resources in our commonwealth and it builds up future generations of business leaders and workers from previously marginalized and disempowered communities. That’s a net gain for our economy. The Governor’s bill includes a pilot program for increasing successful bids from minority-owned businesses on public contracts, especially in construction. Likewise, we need to support minority-owned startups through experienced and vetted business incubation and coaching.
The perennial topic of broadband equity makes an appearance too: Not only do our rural and low-income urban communities need high-speed internet equity, decades overdue now, but also we should be investing in quality public internet options in our suburbs too, to support our small businesses, work-from-home workforce, and public schools. The private utilities have consistently failed to deliver a good product at fair prices to everyone.
And finally, as ever, we can’t lose sight of the importance of educational opportunities in future business equity. Everyone regardless of zip code should have an amazing academic experience with clean and safe school buildings – and the chance to attend public higher education for free, especially for the types of professional paths we are trying to fill, like doctors and nurses and so on.
Closing thoughts
I hope you’ll join my efforts to support our Governor’s progressive economic development agenda and the human development legislative agenda of the many labor unions endorsing my candidacy, whose members and leaders are eager to part of the solution for making Massachusetts the place to be. (This week the United Autoworkers and SEIU Local 509 threw their support behind our efforts, too.)
This campaign is about voting for a clear vision for a better Commonwealth for everyone and taking advantage of the organized labor relationships I have built at the State House and in the progressive lobbying community over the past eight years, even while I have been focused on the local work of serving Ward 5 on the Newton City Council.
Learn more at billhumphrey.org – and please volunteer or donate if you are able. I hope to earn your vote by September 3rd.