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Massachusetts Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Revs Stadium, Economic Development Bill
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Massachusetts Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Revs Stadium, Economic Development Bill

House leaders plan to recall representatives to the State House for a special formal session this week to approve this bill, a necessary step because the bill includes bonding measures, which require roll-call votes. Senate approval will likely follow, although Senate rules allow members to participate remotely in roll-call votes.

House and Senate leaders have been negotiating for months over the bill, which was the highest-profile proposal that lawmakers failed to complete before formal summer sessions ended. The day after their departure, Governor Maura Healey lawmakers publicly lobbied return to Beacon Hill to finish the bill – a top priority of the governor.

The football stadium language, initially included in the Senate version of the bill, had been closely watched in part because it was the third time the project’s supporters had attempted to gain approval to remove the site from the 43-acre stadium in what’s called a designated harbor area. , where only industrial uses are permitted. The Kraft Group has been looking for years for property in or near Boston to build a stadium for the New England Revolution and move the team out of Gillette Stadium, which the Revs share with the New England Patriots. That hunt, of late, has focused on a shuttered power plant across the Mystic River from Charlestown and across from the Encore Boston Harbor casino.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria defends the language, but Boston officials, including Mayor Michelle Wu, irritated by the proposaldeploring that the city was excluded from negotiations between the Kraft group and Everett. The Wu administration is particularly concerned about the potential impact on traffic in Charlestown.

To address this issue, the latest legislation to remove the power plant lands from the DPA now includes a provision requiring the Krafts to enter into community impact agreements with Everett and Boston; If an agreement cannot be reached with Boston by the end of next year, the matter will be resolved by a panel of three arbitrators. A community impact agreement could include items intended to sweeten the deal, such as land for a public park or money for a community center.

“It’s been a long but healthy process,” said Steve Tocco, a lobbyist with ML Strategies who represents Kraft Group and Wynn Resorts, which owns the casino and stadium. “We’re looking forward to having a real chance to put this together.”

In a statement before the bill’s release Tuesday, Wu said she was “grateful to the Legislature for recognizing the need for Boston to be included in discussions on this major proposal.”

“We look forward to learning the details of this proposal and working on behalf of Boston residents to represent the needs of the community at this site,” she said.

The bill also includes provisions prohibiting the use of public funds for stadium construction, although it allows public funds for infrastructure work related to the project if there are matching private funds. Even with legislative approval, the stadium proposal still must go through extensive state and local permitting, in addition to mandatory negotiations with Boston officials.

The bill would reauthorize a steady stream of government spending for the life sciences sector, begun during the administration of former Governor Deval Patrick, while the clean technology funding provided in the bill would provide a significant boost to this sector, including up to $30 million per year in tax credits for climate technology companies. Also included: $100 million to boost the artificial intelligence sector.

State Sen. Barry Finegold, the lead negotiator on the Senate side, said the bill was destined to grow. sectors in which Massachusetts is already a leader.

“In the areas where we are winning, we want to increase that lead,” Finegold said. “Here in Massachusetts, we can’t get comfortable. We must continue to compete. We must continue to grow. We need to make this state very attractive so that businesses can not only start here, but stay here. »

Parliament initially completed the adoption of formal laws for the year after a 23 hour marathon session which continued until the early morning hours of August 1. At the time, state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and lead negotiator of the economic development bill on the House side, admitted that the relationship between Democratic leaders rooms had deteriorated to the point where they could not complete their work.

“We kept trying to engage and we ran into brick walls,” the North End Democrat said in August.

After the two sides reached a compromise on the bill, Michlewitz told the Globe that the resulting package was “well worth the effort and the wait.”

He said the package will be a boon to the state’s economy by targeting industries that “will continue to become very important to the growth of the overall economy (here).”

Brian Johnson, president of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, said Tuesday that while “this didn’t happen the way we hoped,” the expected passage of the bill is “timely” and “important.”

The injection of funds into the life sciences sector represents a “generational investment” in emerging areas such as robotic surgery, advanced organ transplants and neurotechnology – all areas in which the “brain belt” of New England is thriving, Johnson said.

“We’ve written a template for other states, and many of the things we’ve done over the last 15 years have been very good,” he said. “But it’s time to invest in a seasoned product and solidify our place.”

Jim Rooney, executive director of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, agrees. He said he expects the new funding for climate technologies to generate a similar response to Parliament’s decision to support the life sciences sector in 2008, which received national attention .

“I think it sends a signal to the rest of the country, which is also aiming to be competitive in this industry, that Massachusetts is serious about this,” Rooney said of the climate technology sector. “I expect the country will wake up to the fact that Massachusetts is getting into the game in a big way.”

The bill also included several riders and policy provisions. Among those that were included in the final version of the bill are:

Several policies were also removed in the process. Those that did not make the cut include:

  • A provision for bring back happy hour discounts on drinks
  • Tax credits for the video game industry
  • A policy change to raise the age of juvenile court to include 18-year-olds, meaning they would be tried as juveniles rather than adults for certain crimes.

Samantha J. Gross can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @samanthajgross. Jon Chesto can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @jonchesto.