Hearing held on economic development bill

The Joint Committee on Economic Development held a hearing on May 19 on an economic development bill filed by Gov. Maura Healey in April, called the Mass Wins Act.

The bill is aimed at strengthening the state’s competitiveness and lowering costs for businesses, building upon investments made in the Mass Leads Act of 2024.

The bill’s $305 million in capital authorizations include funding for the following key municipal economic development programs:
• $25 million for the Downtowns Initiative, delivered through the Community One Stop program and intended to reduce storefront vacancies and enhance pedestrian infrastructure to revitalize downtown areas
• $25 million for the Creative Economy Capital Program for grants to initiate streetscape improvements, historic district rehabilitation, wayfinding signage, and the modernization of public gathering and performance spaces

The bill includes a number of policy provisions aimed at accelerating municipal processes to help spur development, including provisions that would:
• Establish consistent definitions for the site plan review process
• Enable municipalities to opt in to zoning changes focused on commercial conversion incentives, intended to transform underused properties into housing
• Allow mayors to initiate zoning proposals in their cities
• Increase the number of home inspectors by allowing engineers with certain qualifications to automatically qualify as a housing inspector

Previous practice with economic development bills suggests that this legislation would be one of the final “omnibus” bills passed in the House and Senate ahead of the July 31 session deadline.