Maura Healey

A pair of lawmakers launched a Life Sciences Caucus Wednesday, adding another layer of Beacon Hill lobbying for the biopharma industry that appears likely to receive a third round of major financial support and tax incentives from the state under a proposal offered by Gov. Maura Healey.

Dubbed the Mass Leads Act, Healey's roughly $3.5 billion proposal invests heavily in workforce development, including a $10 million-per-year pilot program to launch a statewide internship tax credit that would benefit companies recruiting from Massachusetts-based colleges.

Four Central Massachusetts organizations working to afford individuals with disabilities job training, workforce placement, and post-placement support are amongst nine awardees statewide receiving $900,000 in grants.

Asked after her speech what timeline she had in mind for her tax pledge, Healey said, "That's how I see it now and for the foreseeable future."

House Democrats on Friday defeated a Republican bid to restrict migrants' access to the state's overflowing emergency family shelter system, a day after the Legislature shipped a supplemental budget to Gov. Maura Healey that would impose a new nine-month limit on shelter stays.

The grant is part of a federal effort to support technologies with the potential to reduce the country’s emissions by 1% annually.

"I am focused on affordability, I am focused on competitiveness. I'm not putting tolls at the border," Healey said. "I am focused on working with the T and the secretary on ensuring what we are doing so that we improve our transit system."

For the burgeoning life sciences hub that is Central Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey’s $3.5-billion Mass Leads Act economic development proposal looks to add fuel to fires.

With some exceptions, all new Executive Branch hiring between April 3 and June 30 will need to be approved by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance based on time-sensitivity and the importance of positions, the office said.

A handful of local officials warned lawmakers Tuesday that the wide-ranging legislation Healey filed takes too heavy a touch in certain areas, infringing on the local control that community leaders cherish and that opponents contend is often used to stall development.