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End-of-Session Legislation:
How MAPC’s Priorities Fared

On Tuesday night, the 191st General Court concluded its legislative session. While the legislature took a long break from advancing significant legislation, the past several days saw a flurry of activity, moving climate legislation, a transportation bond bill, and an economic development bond bill in the final days of the session. During this unprecedented session we are grateful for these important pieces of legislation.

MAPC appreciates the hard work done by the Legislature, and in particular the leadership of Senate President Spilka, House Speaker Mariano, former Speaker Deleo, Senate Ways & Means Chair Rodrigues, and House Ways & Means Chair Michlewitz in advancing meaningful and impactful policies that will advance the Commonwealth.

As Massachusetts’ legislative session drew to a close in the early Wednesday morning hours, many of MAPC’s legislative priorities were advanced by the legislature.

We respectfully ask the Governor to quickly sign all of these bills and advance so many of the priorities we have been working on this session.

While several of our important priorities were not included in the final bills, we look forward to working with the 192nd General Court to promote and facilitate an equitable economic recovery for our Commonwealth.

Click Here to Urge Gov. Baker to Sign These Bills

Climate Roadmap Bill

(S.2995)

The legislature’s Climate Policy Roadmap legislation sets the Commonwealth on a strategic and tactical path toward carbon neutrality by 2050. We are grateful for the leadership of Senate President Spilka, Speaker Ron Mariano and the conferees, Representatives Thomas Golden, Patricia Haddad and Brad Jones and Senators Michael Barrett, Cynthia Stone Creem, and Patrick O’Connor for bringing the bill forward.

The bill not only provides new tools for municipalities and agencies, but also ensures that environmental justice and greenhouse gas emissions reductions are centered in the work of the Commonwealth, from pipeline safety and construction to energy supply and workforce development.

Some of the important provisions in the bill include:

Amends the historic Global Warming Solutions Act to align with science that says we need to achieve net zero by 2050 and includes interim targets for 2030 and 2040, building on the draft Clean Energy and Climate Plan the Baker Administration released in December. For the first time the legislation also requires municipal light plans to set similar targets.
Codifies environmental justice into MA law, providing new tools and protections for affected neighborhoods.
Increases our renewable energy supply, by ensuring that at least 40% of the state’s electric power will be renewable by 2030, increasing our renewable energy portfolio standard, doubling down on offshore wind, requiring an additional 2,400 MW of generation, and removing roadblocks for solar for low0income populations and businesses.
Gives municipalities the option to adopt a net zero building code that can begin to address the intractable emissions from our buildings and adds energy experts to the board of building regulations and standards that approves the measure.
Establishes the Clean Energy Equity Workforce and Market Development program at MassCEC to open doors to energy efficiency, clean energy, and cooling technologies to promote a just transition to a net zero economy.
Requires the Department of Public Utilities to give equal consideration to greenhouse gas reductions and system safety in their decisions.
Refocuses the MassSave energy efficiency program on greenhouse gas reductions.
Adopts appliance efficiency standards that aligns with California precedents, which will put Massachusetts back on track to retain our first-in-the-nation energy efficiency mantle.

Transportation Bond Bill

(H.5248)

The five-year $16.5B transportation bond bill authorizes significant funding that will expand mobility options and improve transit accessibility across the Commonwealth. There are also a number of policy items that will help build a more equitable transportation system. While the bill does not lay significant new revenue for transportation as we had hoped at the start of the session, it lays important groundwork for continued action to raise broad-based revenue.

Some of MAPC's priorities included in the bill include:

$50M for the Complete Streets program, with at least 33% of funds going to municipalities with a median household income less than the average of the Commonwealth.
An increase in TNC fees and a revenue allocation system to support transit throughout the Commonwealth:
- - $0.40/shared ride and $1.20/solo ride
  - $1.00 luxury fee
  - $0.20 fee for trips that start and end in the 14 municipalities in the core MBTA service area
New TNC data sharing provisions, which strengthen the ability of RPAs and other planning organizations to understand the impacts of TNCs.
The MBTA must develop a low-income fare program, which will provide free or discounted rides across all modes, and fare evasion on the MBTA is decriminalized.
Creates a new roadway and congestion pricing commission to develop recommendations for equitable roadway pricing and congestion pricing mechanisms.
Creates new local grant programs for public realm improvements ($20M), bus rapid transit ($25M), and transit access ($25M). Preference must be given to communities, if they have transit stations, that promote TOD and multifamily housing production near transit.

Two of MAPC’s priorities around Regional Ballot Initiatives and micro-mobility provisions were not included in the final bill. We will continue to work with the Legislature next session to ensure transportation investments are a core component of an equitable economic recovery.

Economic Development Bond Bill

(H.5250)

This five-year $626M bill authorizes significant funding for business development and assistance, economic development planning funds, support, and meaningful housing

MAPC applauds the Legislature for including the Housing Choices language, proposed by the Governor, in this bond bill. Housing Choices has been a top priority of the Agency for the past three years. This language eliminates barriers to building new housing by reducing the voting threshold on specific zoning practices from 2/3 supermajority to a simple majority. MAPC believes that these modifications in state law, coupled with Governor Baker’s dedication of planning resources, technical assistance, and capital dollars, will help up us to address our regional housing challenges. The bill includes language requiring multi-family zoning around MBTA stations. Unfortunately, the final bill did not include inclusionary zoning as part of the new Housing Choices changes.

We are also glad that these changes will be in effect before upcoming Town Meetings, where many important housing and zoning proposals are usually taken up. This is a meaningful reform to Massachusetts’s outdated zoning.

Some of the important funding authorizations also included in the bill:

Municipal & Regional Planning Grants: $10M.
MA Growth Capital Corporation: Total of $90M. These funds will provide matching grants to CDFIs, grants for business capital and equipment needs, and loans to small businesses affected by the pandemic, with a focus on serving low- and moderate-income business entrepreneurs, minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned and immigrant-owned businesses.
TOD Funding: $50M.
Climate Resilient Affordable Multifamily Housing: $10M.
Neighborhood Revitalization: $50M.
MA Cultural Council: Total of $32M, which includes funding for school cultural programming, funding for non-profit organizations to improve capital improvements and equipment purchases as a result of COVID, and a grant program to promote artists and local museums.
Rural & Small Town Development Fund: $20M

Some of the important policy items also included in this bill:

The bill includes significant tenant protections, allowing for court records of no-fault evictions to be sealed upon request and prohibits minors from being listed on eviction records. While the bill does not include a tenant right to counsel, it includes $15M for mediation and creates a tenants’ right of first refusal to purchase property that is being sold.
The bill includes $20M to provide financial and capital assistance to restaurants that have been impacted by the pandemic. The grants can be used to purchase items to keep staff and visitors safe, or to assist restaurants with payroll, mortgage assistance, or other debt obligations.
The legislation caps fees on delivery services like UberEats, GrubHub and DoorDash and requires them to charge no more than 15% of the purchase total.
The language creates several important commissions, including a commission to study the recovery of the cultural and creative sector, and another on the future of work. These commissions are required to make recommendations for action.

We recognize the challenges in crafting this economic development bond bill, given the unique circumstances stemming from the COVID pandemic. This bond is a critical step in providing assistance to small businesses and laying the foundation to retrain workers and bring them back into the workforce. These funds and programming will help set up the next iteration of relief and recovery.

Click Here to Quickly Contact Gov. Baker

End-of-Session Legislation: How MAPC’s Priorities Fared

Climate Roadmap Bill

Transportation Bond Bill

Economic Development Bond Bill

End-of-Session Legislation:
How MAPC’s Priorities Fared