Berry and Senate Pass Economic Stimulus Bill: Focus is on Creating Jobs
Press Release - November 10, 2003

The Massachusetts Senate last week unanimously passed a broad-based legislative package to invest $115 million and adopt policy initiatives that target five major areas of the Massachusetts economy—job growth and workforce training; emerging technology and health care; consumers and tourism and housing and development.

The bill, “An Act to Promote Job Creation, Economic Stability and Competitiveness in The Massachusetts Economy” maximizes limited resources with creative tools for expanding a stable and competitive business-friendly climate.

“With limited funding available, my colleagues and I carefully examined where to invest public dollars to yield the greatest returns,” said Senate Majority Leader Frederick E. Berry. “Some initiatives may generate immediate gains—workforce grants and Research & Development tax credits could be the tie-breaker for businesses to relocate to the state. Other proposals will promote future payoff by nurturing business to create jobs.”

According to Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, the more than two-dozen ideas in the bill grew out of numerous discussions with people from every sector of the economy. “We listened to investors, educators, workers, consumers, anybody who wanted to talk with us. Their overriding desire was to make state government a partner, not an obstacle to doing business.”

The Senate’s economic package expanded upon the investment initiatives the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed in June targeting emerging technologies such as biotech and life sciences. Senators added several funding proposals and no cost initiatives that will help retain the Commonwealth’s industries and entice others to consider headquartering here.

Aimed at multiple sectors of the economy, the bill leverages Massachusetts’ strengths - research and technology expertise, an educated workforce and streamlines existing regulations to encourage job growth and new development.

The Senate Economic Stimulus recognizes the importance of a predictable tax base, offers rewards for creating jobs and economizing, provides workforce training grants and reforms and initiatives that address recruitment difficulties such as affordable housing and rising health care costs. Highlights include:

Job growth and workforce training—$6 million for worker training programs plus reforms to make the training fund more flexible as incentives for business; making permanent the Investment Tax Credit.
Emerging technology and health care—legislation that affirms stem cell research and encourages private investors in this growing field, zero-interest loans for hospitals and doctors to purchase technological devices that save lives and money.
Consumers and tourism—two sales tax holidays for consumers and retailers, $2 million to promote international tourism and eliminating the ban on Sunday alcohol sales.
Housing—a first-in-the-nation program to encourage private investment in affordable housing, including preservation of historic buildings.
Development—streamlined regulation for expedited permitting, as well as funding for brownfields development projects that promote “smart growth.”

Senator Berry added, “We need fresh and innovative solutions for growing our economy so that Massachusetts can remain competitive in the global marketplace. These proposals target the major engines we hope to prime, so the Commonwealth will be in lock-step with the nation’s economic recovery.”