The following is an excerpt of an article published in the Boston Business Journal on July 10, 2024:
The trade group MassBio says the Massachusetts Senate’s cuts to Gov. Maura Healey’s so-called Life Sciences 3.0 initiative will hurt the state’s ability to attract and retain companies just as other states are kicking up their efforts.
The Massachusetts Senate’s version of the economic development bill, released on Tuesday, cuts funding for the initiative by more than half, and reduces the duration of the funding from 10 years to five years.
Ed Coppinger, head of government affairs at MassBio, said that the House already approved Healey’s original level of funding for the center which supports the life sciences industry, and that the cuts make the Senate “look like an outlier here.”
“(The Healey admin) put a lot of time and effort talking to industry folks, specifically in the life science initiative, seeing what would be beneficial to companies to not only stay in Massachusetts, but grow in Massachusetts. And then thirdly, what could incentivize them to come to Massachusetts,” Coppinger said. “Then the House approved the same numbers.”
In February, Healey put forward a plan to reauthorize the Life Sciences Initiative with a new $1 billion, 10-year strategy. Healey’s plan included $500 million to fund the quasi-public Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, plus $350 million to extend the tax incentive program to 2033 and another $150 million for workforce training and other strategic initiatives.
The House’s version of the economic development bill allocated these same amounts over the same period.
Coppinger said MassBio was “pretty disappointed” to see that the Senate has now come out with lower numbers.