THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON 02133-1054

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                CONTACTS:
August 10, 2005                                                           Brendan Chisholm
                                                                                    617.722.2030

Rodrigues, Other Key Lawmakers Unveil $296.5 million
Economic Stimulus Bill

State Representative Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chairman of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, along with other key lawmakers, recently filed a 120-page, $296.5 million bill that will promote job growth and economic development in the state.

The Economic Investment Act of 2005 was the product of an intensive month-long statewide “job growth listening tour” headed by Rodrigues and two of his colleagues— State Representatives Daniel Bosley (D-North Adams) and David Torrisi (D-North Andover).   “We decided that in order to craft the most effective economic development bill we would have to actually visit the different regions of the commonwealth, listen to leaders from public, private and academic sectors and respond to the issues they brought forward,” said Rodrigues.

A need for concentrated workforce development, training and education programs was a major theme reiterated throughout the “listening tour” by business and community leaders.  “The future vitality of our state’s economy will be heavily determined by the ability of our workforce to match up with Massachusetts’ businesses,” remarked Rodrigues.  “The workforce development initiatives will go a long way in helping employers find the employees they need to thrive in the 21st century economy.”

The stimulus bill invests $35.3 million in workforce development programs.  Among other initiatives, the bill specifically directs $11 million for a Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund to strengthen worker skills, increase worker salaries and improve the quality of Massachusetts businesses, $6.5 million for adult basic education and English as a Second Language programs, $2 million for one-stop career centers, and, $4 million to recapitalize the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline fund. The bill also establishes a Performance Standards and Workforce Accountability Task Force to oversee workforce training policies and programs established by the state.

In addition, this bill contains provisions to augment agriculture in Massachusetts.  The bill establishes a preference for locally-grown food in state procurement and changes zoning laws to allow farmers to erect more farm stands throughout the state.  “I am extremely pleased with the agricultural initiatives,” said Rodrigues.  “For the first time in any economic development bill, we have recognized the importance of agriculture by developing programs specifically for the benefit of the farmers themselves.”

The marine science and technology industry will also receive a significant boost from the bill.  Marine science and technology will now be included in the list of qualified “emerging technology industries” for the purpose of receiving grants from the fund.  Moreover, in a move to help smaller marine science technology firms compete, the bill allows the Emerging Technology fund to provide matching grants to leverage Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) awards from the federal government. 

“Putting the marine science and technology industry on equal footing with the biotechnology industry is a great boost to the Southcoast with the SMAST center at Umass Dartmouth and other marine science centers in the region,” commented State Representative John Quinn (D-Dartmouth), a leading advocate for the marine science and technology industry in southeastern Massachusetts.  “This provision will hopefully lead to increased jobs for people in the area.” 

Further initiatives within the bill include:

Rodrigues and his House colleagues are now reviewing feedback, which has been overwhelmingly positive, before the bill is debated this fall.

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