Governor floats plan to keep college grads in state
Image | Courtesy of Sam Doran / State House News Service
Gov. Maura Healey delivers the State of the Commonwealth address on Jan. 17.
With graduation season in full swing across the commonwealth, Gov. Maura Healey framed her sweeping economic development bill Tuesday as an essential tool to keep tens of thousands of young adults here, while also spurring a trend of "in-migration" to Massachusetts.
Dubbed the Mass Leads Act, Healey's roughly $3.5 billion proposal invests heavily in workforce development, including a $10 million-per-year pilot program to launch a statewide internship tax credit that would benefit companies recruiting from Massachusetts-based colleges.
During a committee hearing, Healey acknowledged that driving down housing prices and improving the state's transportation systems are also crucial as companies struggle to retain talent, especially among the young adult demographic -- ages 26 to 34 -- leaving Massachusetts at an alarming rate due to soaring costs of living.
"We've got those half a million undergraduate and graduate students are graduating from schools across this great state this month and next month," Healey told the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. "We want them to stay here."
The University of Massachusetts Lowell is about to graduate 4,500 students, with about half studying in STEM fields, Chancellor Julie Chen said. Across the UMass system, there will be 20,000 graduates this spring, she told lawmakers.
"How do we keep more of those students here in the commonwealth? I'll give you an example," Chen said. "About a month ago, the governor, lieutenant governor, members of the Lowell delegation and the city of Lowell announced the Lowell Innovation Network Corridor. The idea there: Bringing companies together with our talent and creating housing for recent graduates."
The corridor is anchored by Draper Laboratory, which Chen said chose to stay and grow in Massachusetts even as it attracted interest from other states.
"This Mass Leads Act is what keeps that draw for companies and therefore keeps the draw for our new graduates who want to stay here in Massachusetts," the chancellor said.
Hallmark proposals in Healey's bill call for reauthorizing the life sciences initiative at $1 billion for another decade, as well as making a parallel major investment in climate technology that includes a new tax incentive program worth up to $30 million annually.
Healey also recommends funding an Applied AI Hub at $100 million and a Massachusetts TechHub at $75 million, in addition to injecting $400 million into the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, $100 million into the Rural Development Fund, $100 million into the Seaport Economic Council and $99 million for advanced manufacturing, among other big-dollar commitment.
The Legislature is expected to pass some version of Healey's legislation by the end of formal sessions this July, and Tuesday's hearing comes during an increasingly busy stretch on Beacon Hill.
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