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House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) has appointed State Representative Michael J. Soter (R-Bellingham), who also represents one of Medway's precincts, to serve on a six-member conference committee that will work to reconcile the differences between two comprehensive economic development proposals recently passed by the House and the Senate.
House Bill 5576 was engrossed by the House of Representatives on a vote of 148-2 on July 8, while the Senate passed its version of the bill, Senate Bill 3228, on a voice vote on July 24. The House bill allocates $561 million in spending authorizations, which is less than the Senate’s total authorization of $575.4 million, but some of the biggest differences between the two bills relate to major policy issues.
The Senate, for example, redrafted the 1986 voter-approved tax rebate law known as Chapter 62F, which requires the state to return excess tax revenues to taxpayers when certain conditions are met and was last triggered in Fiscal Year 2022. While the House chose to leave the current law intact to uphold the will of the voters, the Senate opted to revise the existing formula to cap excess state revenues at 7.5% of total state personal income, which would make future tax rebates much harder to trigger.
The Senate bill also contains provisions giving cities and towns the option to reinstate “happy hour” discounted alcohol sales, which have been banned in Massachusetts since 1984 due to concerns about binge drinking and drunk driving. The Senate bill would allow municipalities to regulate happy hours through local ordinances and would also authorize communities to designate specific districts for outdoor public alcohol consumption. The House bill does not include either proposal.
“As the Ranking Minority Member of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, Mike has been a longtime advocate for supporting local businesses and implementing statewide policies to promote job creation and help make Massachusetts more competitive,” said Representative Jones. “I am confident that he will use his position on the conference committee to help further these goals and to deliver a final economic development package that will positively impact the entire Commonwealth.”
Joining Representative Soter on the conference committee are Representatives Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston) and Carole Fiola (D-Fall River) and Senators Barry Finegold (D-Andover), Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) and Peter Durant (R-Spencer).
In addition to serving as the Ranking Minority Member of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and the Joint Committee on Higher Education, Representative Soter is also a member of the House Committee on Human Resources and Employee Engagement and the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy. He represents the 8th Worcester District, which is comprised of his hometown of Bellingham, along with the towns of Blackstone and Millville, Precinct 1 in Medway and Precincts 1A, 2, 3, and 4 in Uxbridge.
