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3 bills to watch as the clock winds down on Beacon Hill
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's politics newsletter, Mass. Politics. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
If you’ve seen even one “Mission Impossible” movie, you know there’s nothing more suspenseful than a clock ticking down to zero. You can feel that tension in the hallways of the State House, as the Massachusetts Legislature’s own zero hour approaches.
Lawmakers have until July 31 to finish all the business they’ve let pile up over the past two years. And while they recently brokered deals on the budget and a major gun control bill, there’s a lot left on the to-do list. Here’s a rundown:
- Housing: Last month, the House and Senate passed differing versions of Gov. Maura Healey’s signature housing bond bill. The House proposal has a bigger price tag, primarily because it would approve up to $1 billion for the expansion of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to the South Shore. (Water infrastructure is a major bottleneck to housing production and House leaders believe that extending it could trigger more development.) The Senate version left that out, but includes other policies, like making it easier for municipalities to adopt inclusionary zoning, requiring landlords to cover the cost of most brokers’ fees and sealing certain eviction records. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has a good breakdown of all the differences negotiators need to work out before sending a compromise to the governor.
- Economic Development: The House and Senate both passed economic development packages, primarily meant to spur investment in life sciences and climate tech. But there are some major differences. For one, senators approved about half of what the House wanted in incentives for the life sciences industry. They also packed the proposal full of outside policies, like raising the age young people can be tried as juveniles in court to 18, changing the zoning on a parcel of land in Everett to allow for construction of a soccer stadium for the New England Revolution, and allowing local cities and towns to bring back discounted drinks at happy hour.
- Climate and Energy: Both chambers waited until the final weeks of the session to introduce major climate and energy proposals. The bills would streamline the permitting process for clean energy projects like electric substations and solar farms — aiming to speed up the process in order to hit the state’s emission reduction goals . However, the Senate’s bill is more expansive. It would limit replacing or expanding gas pipelines and ban controversial third-party utility companies — known as competitive electric suppliers — from signing up new residential consumers. The House passed a bill mirroring the Senate’s permitting language, and requiring the state to procure a lot more clean energy, but leaving out most of the rest.
Negotiations on these three packages remain behind closed doors. In the days ahead, we’ll be watching for what makes it out into the sunlight — and to the governor’s desk.
