The Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus, chaired by Rep. Antonio Cabral (New Bedford) and Sen. John Cronin (Fitchburg/Leominster), led a busy bill filing season. To help identify policy priorities in advance of the January 17th bill filing deadline, MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute surveyed local municipal officials and hosted several discussions with local economic development leaders last fall. MassINC Policy Center research and recommendations also informed the proposed legislation. Below we summarize key Gateway Cities bills that we will be following for the 2025 – 2026 legislative session. You can find more information about the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus and its priorities this session on its new web page, which the Gateway Cities Innovation Institute will be hosting as a public information service.
Priority Bills for Gateway Cities: 2025-2026 Legislative Session
Please note that the House and Senate docket numbers will be replaced with new bill numbers once the legislation is assigned to committee.
- An Act to promote school centered neighborhood development (Cabral/Payano)
- Seeks to integrate housing and community development with improvement efforts.
- Establishes a state interagency council to support local partnerships to develop school-centered neighborhood plans Establishes the Fund for Stronger Neighborhoods and Schools, to administer any funds apportioned by the Governor or Legislature, and overseen by EOHLC
- An Act to promote commuter rail ridership (Cabral/Cronin)
- Requires the MBTA to analyze the ridership impacts of a range of fare strategies, including a $10 weekday fare, monthly passes for hybrid workers, and reducing the number of commuter rail zones
- MBTA recommendations within 12 months and pilot implementation within 24 months
- An Act relative to the Housing Development Incentive Program (Cabral/Cronin)
- Increases annual tax credit cap to $100M
- Doubles the project award cap from $2.5M to $5M (never increased since 2014)
- Allows projects to have up to 25% income restricted units (currently 20%)
- Would require EOHLC to approve local tax exemption agreements within 90 days
- An Act to establish a downtown vitality fund to strengthen downtowns and main streets (Cabral/Cronin)
- Dedicates 0.75% of regular sales tax revenues to a fund for reinvesting in local business districts
- The fund would release grants to create and sustain district management entities, support MassDevelopment’s TDI program and expand it beyond Gateway Cities, and implement place-based plans like the pandemic-era Rapid Response Plans
- Establishes an advisory committee to provide support and guidance to EOED
- An Act relative to neighborhood stabilization and economic development (Cabral/Cronin)
- Builds on previous neighborhood stabilization successes, such as MassHousing’s Neighborhood Hub and Neighborhood Stabilization Program
- Modernizes state laws including to help cities acquire and rehab blighted properties.
- An Act to build future-forward parking structures to promote EV equity and walkable downtowns (Cabral/Cronin)
- A new funding program to reimburse municipalities 30-80% for the cost of public structured parking garages in downtowns and other walkable areas to reduce surface parking and improve walkability and access to EV infrastructure. Gateway Cities would have priority
- An Act to improve management of business improvement districts (Cabral/Cronin)
- Allows BIDs to renew at intervals up to 10 years
- Aligns BID audit requirements with public reporting standards for Massachusetts nonprofit organizations
You can support this legislative agenda by asking state legislators to co-sponsor these bills. Please feel free to share with others in your network who may be interested.
For questions or feedback, please contact Andre Leroux at aleroux@massinc.org, Svetlana Yefimenko at svetlana.yefimenko@mahouse.gov, or Dana Mascari at dana.mascari@masenate.gov.
In Other News
Housing and Economic Development
- In New Bedford, Trump targets offshore wind, but stopping projects wont be easy.
- The Brockton City Council overrides mayor’s veto to pass ban on public camping.
- A 24-7 homeless shelter opens in Brockton. Will it solve the crisis?
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute students collaborate with the City of Worcester on a new Day Resource Center to support the homeless population.
- A Springfield City Councilor proposes an ordinance to set minimum apartment sizes.
- Fitchburg’s decades-long downtown revitalization enters its next phase.
- Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe officially opens Welcome Center in Taunton.
- MassDevelopment awards creative catalyst grants to 10 Gateway Cities. They also report on TDI Equity Grants to 34 commercial buildings in Gateway Cities.
- MassHousing provides a $10 million Commonwealth Builder award to create 28 new homeownership units in Chelsea.
Education
- School administrators across the Gateway Cities reassure students that ICE raids are generally not allowed in schools.
- Over 70 percent of Pittsfield students are in poverty.
- Westfield weighs whether to submit plans for a new high school to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
- The Board of Education is getting closer to vocational school admissions reforms.
- The Rennie Center releases its annual Condition of Education report.
Communities & People
- Holyoke to decide whether to appoint or continue to elect its Treasurer.
- Pittsfield’s Hot Plate Brewing Co., the only Latina-owned brewery in Massachusetts, has been named USA Today award finalist.