House targets life sciences as part of potential surplus

House leaders on Wednesday morning recommended that no more than $20 million of any state budget surplus left over at the end of fiscal year 2017 be set aside for investments in life sciences and for community preservation efforts. 

Included in a bundled amendment to the House budget proposal dealing with labor and economic development, House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey recommended that half of any surplus, but not more than $10 million, be set aside for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund. 

Dempsey and House leaders are also recommending that the remaining half of any surplus, but also not more than $10 million, will be put into a trust fund to support communities that participate in the Community Preservation Act.

Cities and towns that have adopted the CPA are allowed to raised additional local tax revenue to support conservation efforts, and by doing so qualify for state matching funds. CPA supporters say state matches have eroded over the years, especially as more communities have embraced the local option law.

Rep. Peter Kocot, of Northampton, had filed an amendment that garnered 40 co-sponsors in the House that would have set aside $25 million of any surplus for the CPA.

Overall, the labor and economic development amendment would add $16.1 million to the bottom line of the House budget.