BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: Beacon Hill continues to drag its feet on the economic bill

By the Editorial Board
Originally appeared in the Boston Business Journal on October 23, 2024

Letters. Op-eds. Reports.

In the three months after lawmakers ended formal legislative sessions without passing most of the major legislation on their plates, nothing has moved lawmakers to pass the $3.5 billion economic development bill proposed by Gov. Maura Healey.

Small parts of the bill have seen a modicum of movement. The latest came last week, when legislative negotiators said they had reached “an agreement in principle” on part of the climate legislation regarding siting and permitting rules. Yet that agreement doesn’t cover the bulk of the climate bill, which would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in both clean energy and life sciences businesses over the next several years. Those investments not only would ensure the Bay State remains the global hub of drug development research, but also would capitalize on the innovation happening here that could help stop climate change.

Many have sounded the alarm on the need for this investment — countless times already. So have we. In August, we reported on the more than two dozen businesses across the state that supported the 2024 Climate Omnibus Bill. We also reported on the state’s biotech industry group’s efforts to get lawmakers to reconvene and pass much-needed funding to keep the Mass. Life Sciences Center afloat for the next several years. Unfortunately, it has mostly fallen on deaf ears on Beacon Hill, whose members still seem incapable of getting over their own dysfunction in order to perform the basic tasks of government.

Other states are not sitting by idly.

New York City is investing more than $1 billion into the life sciences to try to create 40,000 jobs there. And the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority just celebrated six gigawatts of distributed solar energy in the state, powering over 1 million homes and businesses.

Such increased competition comes at a time when Massachusetts is vulnerable to the perception — and in many cases, the reality — that it is becoming less friendly to businesses. Leaders of the Mass Opportunity Alliance, a bipartisan nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the state’s business climate, recently pointed out that the Bay State fell to 38th place in CNBC’s annual ranking of the best states to do business in, a huge drop from 5th place in 2010.

There’s a lot of work to do to overcome the challenges ahead. Step one is for lawmakers to complete the economic development bill that’s been languishing for months.