The following is an excerpt from an Endpoints News story that ran on Friday, August 2, 2024:
Healey’s proposal would have continued to fund many of those programs, including workforce development and tax incentives, which she said have “proven successful in incentivizing the creation of jobs in the industry.” The House and Senate passed different versions of the economic development bill, but lawmakers could not reach an agreement before the legislative session ended on Wednesday.
“Massachusetts needs to stay on top of our game,” Ed Coppinger, head of government affairs at the nonprofit MassBio, told Endpoints News on Friday. “There are so many other states that are trying to duplicate what we have here in Massachusetts for the life science industry.”
When the Life Sciences Initiative was first passed in 2008, the biopharma industry employed fewer than 55,00 people in Massachusetts. That number has since grown to nearly 117,000, MassBio said when it testified in support of the bill in May. More than 44.5 million square feet of lab and manufacturing space has been built since 2008, MassBio added.
“The book should not be closed on this bill. It is too important,” Healey said in a statement to Endpoints. She noted that her administration will “continue to work with Legislative leaders” on the matter.