Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. A wide-ranging economic development bill with a price tag of nearly $3 billion is set for a vote Thursday in the Massachusetts Senate. The bill is a priority for Gov. Maura Healey, who wants to see big investments to make the state a leader in climate, technology and biotech. Lawmakers have also tacked several new policy pieces into the package, from consumer protections and event ticketing to a step towards a new stadium for the New England Revolution. Joining us to discuss all of this is GBH, a statehouse reporter, Katie Lannan. Hey, Katie, how are you?

Katie Lannan: Good morning.

Alston: Good morning. So this bill proposes investing less money overall than Governor Healey originally suggested. But senators are also bulking it up with some new policies. What all have they added at this stage?

Lannan: Yeah, there’s really a lot of things in there. This is a big bill and it grows in each step of the process. When it comes to the dollar sign, the bill’s main author, Senator Barry Finegold, says the senators feel a bit more cautious than we’ve seen from the governor and the House. It’s important to note this is a bond bill, so it doesn’t commit the state to spending that exact amount of money, but it authorizes the governor to borrow up to that much money, as much as she and her team think it’s necessary and prudent. But this still all comes at a time when the state’s on kind of uncertain financial footing. And there’s been a lot of talk from the state House about fiscal responsibility. But this bill still happens. And one area where the Senate is going smaller, in particular, is funding for the Massachusetts Life Science Center for grants and loans to help grow the life sciences. The Senate’s proposing about half of the $500 million backed by Healey and the House. So that’s a big difference. But lawmakers along the way have also added in a new field that would benefit from that funding, something Healey didn’t envision, and that’s what lawmakers call the alternative protein industry, so if you’re thinking plant-based or lab grown meats.

Alston: Oh, okay.

Lannan: And Senator Finegold said —

Alston: Impossible Burger too?

Lannan: Yeah, things like that. And Senator Finegold says that, you know, he sees this as a space where Massachusetts can really go all in at a time when we see Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a law banning lab-grown meat in his state. Finegold sees this as an opportunity for Massachusetts to run towards it for economic, health and climate reasons.

Alston: Very interesting. So another new piece of the bill from the Senate aims to clear the way for a new professional soccer stadium in Everett for our very own New England Revolution. But it’s a little complicated. What’s the story here?

Lannan: Yeah, this has been batting around Beacon Hill for a while. It’s something the House in the Senate have been unable to get on the same page on. They’ve both backed it at various points, but never at the same time. So here we are with another attempt. The Senate bill proposes a zoning change, really, for a blighted piece of land on the Mystic River in Everett, so that it could be eventually converted into a pro soccer stadium and a waterfront park. That land is now designated as a port area. It’s home to a defunct power plant, but the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Revolution, is eyeing it as a new home for the team that currently plays in Foxboro. So questions have been raised and will probably continue to be raised about the environmental impacts of that move and what an Everett Stadium would mean for Boston traffic when there’s not much public transit in that area.

Alston: Yeah, it seems like we’re going in the opposite direction and on that case. Now, Katie, speaking of folks going to large-scale events, there are some new pieces of the bill that the House and Senate are both on board with, such as measures to make sure fans aren’t hammered with fees when buying event tickets. Sounds like it was inspired by a certain pop superstar. What would the bill do there?

Lannan: That’s absolutely right, Paris. The talk around this issue really started last summer, when we saw both the Eras Tour and the Renaissance Tour, and all the ticketing snafu was there. So both the House and the Senate want to require ticket sellers to clearly disclose the total price of the tickets before you get to the checkout point, so that the fees would be shown prior to that point. They’d each also require refunds for canceled events and in some other circumstances. Beyond that, there’s really some differences between how the House and the Senate want to approach modernizing ticket sales. They each have different, other provisions. Senator Finegold says they’re they’re working through the best way to go about it, the shared goal. I also talked to Representative Tackey Chan. He filed a bill a while ago that the acronym of the bill title actually spells out T SWIFT.

Alston: Of course.

Lannan: So that gives you an idea where this might have started. He’s been pushing for ticket reforms in the House, and he says it’s a hot topic on Beacon Hill.

Representative Tackey Chan: Well, for better or for worse, everyone at the State House seems to have utilized a third party third ticket reseller at some point. So there was no shortage of folks talking about it to us.

Alston: So real quick here, Katie, what comes next for this bill?

Lannan: Like so much else, it’s going to come down to closed-door negotiations between the House and the Senate at a time when they’re working their way through several major, other pieces of legislation.

Alston: Well, that is GBH statehouse reporter Katie Lannan. Thank you so much.

Lannan: Thank you.

Alston: You’re listening to GBH News.

 

A wide-ranging economic development bill with a price tag of nearly $3 billion is set for a vote Thursday in the Massachusetts Senate.

The bill is a priority for Gov. Maura Healey, who wants to see big investments to make the state a leader in climate technology and biotech. Lawmakers have also tacked several new policy pieces into the package, from consumer protections in event ticketing to a step toward a new stadium for the New England Revolution.

So what’s in the bill? GBH’s State House reporter Katie Lannan broke it down.

How does a bond bill work?

The bill comes with a hefty sticker price — but it doesn’t necessarily mean the state will end up spending that amount.

“It authorizes the governor to borrow up to that much money, as much as she and her team think is necessary and prudent,” Lannan told GBH’s Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston on Wednesday.

There’s some hesitancy around high spending on Beacon Hill, Lannan said. Massachusetts has been on uncertain financial footing, with state government seeing lower-than-expected revenue and attempting to lower personnel costs in recent months.

One area where Senate lawmakers are trying to trim: grants and loans for life sciences through the Massachusetts Life Science Center.

“The Senate is proposing about half of the $500 million backed by Healey and the House. So that’s a big difference,” Lannan said.

Why are lawmakers talking about lab-grown meat?

Massachusetts lawmakers don’t quite have beef with Florida and its governor, Ron DeSantis. But since DeSantis signed a ban on lab-grown meat, elected officials in the Bay State see an opportunity.

Sen. Barry Finegold said he sees it as a competitive space. The bill includes initiatives to support the alternative protein industry as it develops plant-based and lab-grown meats.

“Finegold sees this as an opportunity for Massachusetts to run towards it for economic, health and climate reasons,” Lannan said.

Will Everett get funding for a professional soccer stadium?

The Senate bill also aims to clear the way for a new professional soccer stadium in Everett for the New England Revolution.

But it’s a little complicated.

“It’s something the House in the Senate have been unable to get on the same page on,” Lannan said. “They’ve both backed it at various points, but never at the same time.”

This Senate bill proposes a zoning change for a piece of land along the Mystic River, now designated as a port area and home to a defunct power plant, with hopes of letting the Kraft Group, owners of the Revolution and the New England Patriots, turn it into a soccer stadium and a waterfront park.

“Questions have been raised and will probably continue to be raised about the environmental impacts of that move, and what an Everett Stadium would mean for Boston traffic when there’s not much public transit in that area,” Lannan said.

What are lawmakers doing to deal with event ticket pricing?

One thing the House and Senate are both on board with: being in their transparent ticket pricing era.

A bill filed by Rep. Tackey Chan in the House would not eliminate fees that ticket sellers can charge, but it would require third-party sellers to disclose the amount they’ll charge before people get to the checkout page.

It’s called An Act To Secure While Improving Fans’ Tickets — or TSWIFT. Some language from that measure appears in the House’s version of the economic development bill.

“The talk around this issue really started last summer, when we saw both [Taylor Swift’s] Eras Tour and [Beyoncé’s] Renaissance Tour, and all the ticketing snafus there,” Lannan said. “Both the House and the Senate want to require ticket sellers to clearly disclose the total price of the tickets before you get to the checkout point, so that the fees would be shown prior to that point.”

There are some differences between the language included in the House and Senate bills, Lannan said. Legislators will head into negotiations to sort it out.

What comes next for this bill?

“Like so much else, it’s going to come down to closed-door negotiations between the House and the Senate at a time when they’re working their way through several major, other pieces of legislation,” Lannan said.