Baker files $240M economic development bill
Photo | Courtesy of Baker Administration
Gov. Charlie Baker giving the State of the State address.
A new $240-million economic stimulus bill filed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday seeks funding to incentivize the construction of new housing near public transit, maintain broadband service in western Massachusetts, grow manufacturing jobs and support key technology industry clusters centered around the work being done on university campuses.
Baker unveiled his bill on Wednesday afternoon in Salem, where Mayor Kim Driscoll has been a vocal supporter of his separate "Housing Choices" bill, which he attached to the new economic development bill to reinforce his desire to see it passed.
The administration said the legislation was based on its new economic development plan, and would continue the growth that has led to the creation of 200,000 new private-sector jobs in the last five years and the lowest unemployment rate in nearly two decades.
"Some regions of the Commonwealth are better off than others, and economic opportunity continues to elude some of our fellow residents," Baker wrote in a filing letter. "This bill is designed to get at the challenges that remain and better position the state for further prosperity."
Highlights of the bill include $50 million for high density, mixed-income affordable housing near transit, $40 million to support the redevelopment of underutilized or abandoned buildings, and $45 million to support "key clusters" with a focus on technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and bluetech.
It also requests $25 million to help rehabilitate blighted or vacant housing, $5 million for broadband access, $5 million for matching grants to help low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses, and $10 million to support advanced manufacturing, based on the model of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative.
The bottom line of the economic development bill is smaller than ones sought in recent past years.
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