With the elections behind us, it’s back to work for the Beacon Hill leaders who are negotiating a dozen major bills.
And few constituencies are more anxious about the result of these closed-door talks than those in the state’s vaunted “eds-and-meds” sector.
That’s because up to $200 million of state aid for research grants is at stake, at a time when federal support for science remains precarious — even with the blue wave that’s giving Democrats control of Congress.
Consider the damage already done at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, an important biomedical research epicenter.
Chancellor David McManus likes to say he has an all-star team of researchers. But some of those stars are joining other teams: Alnylam cofounder Phillip Zamore is taking his RNA research to McGill University in Montreal, for example, while Nobel Prize winner Craig Mello will move his RNA research program to Brown University. UMass president Marty Meehan said Mello is returning to his alma mater but specifically expressed his frustration with the DRIVE inaction.
Governor Maura Healey initially proposed the grants as part of her DRIVE bill in mid-2025: $200 million for UMass and other public universities and another $200 million for private ones. The governor hoped to address the chaos caused by the Trump administration’s disruption of federal research funds.
State lawmakers, wary of lean times ahead, trimmed that back. The House of Representatives included only $200 million of DRIVE research money in its version of an economic development bill: $175 million for public universities — most would inevitably go to UMass Chan — and the rest for privates. The Senate, meanwhile, put forward half of that total, just $100 million, all of it for public institutions.
Now we wait. The House and Senate differ not just on how much money to spend, but also where it should come from. The House would rely on interest on the state’s $8 billion-plus rainy-day fund, while the Senate wants to use money from the millionaires tax.
But that’s not the only thing holding up the eco-dev bill, not by a long shot. Negotiators, led by Aaron Michlewitz in the House and Barry Finegold in the Senate, need an accord on a wide array of disparate issues, from expanded gambling to artificial intelligence rules. They have until the two-year session ends, less than two months away, to figure it all out.
Michlewitz and Finegold couldn’t say much, given the status of the talks. They both sound hopeful about reaching an agreement in time; Michlewitz says his side’s version of DRIVE is more in keeping with Healey’s original intent, by providing for some private-sector grants.
The business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation prefers money going to private institutions as well as the public ones. President Doug Howgate said Massachusetts is known around the world for its scientific research, a reputation that’s worth protecting.
If DRIVE doesn’t get passed until January, UMass Chan’s McManus says more talent will likely leave. Plus, the Healey administration still needs to set up a system for doling out the money. In other words: This is urgent.
The whole UMass system, under Meehan’s watch, has the fourth-largest research portfolio in New England, and it’s struggling. Its current budget reflects $510 million in federal grants, a 6.5 percent decline from the previous year, and a nearly 10 percent fall from a peak of $568 million two years ago. At UMass Chan, these cuts have led to some furloughs and layoffs — reducing staff by 200 people last year and pausing new faculty recruitments — not to mention halving the number of PhD students accepted (40 this fall, down from 80 two years ago).
Among those feeling the pinch: Microbiology chair Beth McCormick saw three grants dry up last year, totaling $6 million, prompting her to furlough or lay off six people, and setting back her research. She worries an entire generation of scientists-in-training could be affected.
The private institutions are also anxious. Rob McCarron, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, is lobbying in favor of the House bill. State funding can’t fill all the gaps, McCarron wrote in a letter to the negotiators, but it can help preserve critical research and keep some scientists here.
The fear of losing out to other states is real — not to mention other countries. California voters just approved billions in state funding for biomedical research, and the sector is seeing support in New York and Texas. Meanwhile, institutes in Europe, Canada, and China are taking advantage of the disruption.
McManus says DRIVE will provide important financial support for a sector that employs hundreds of thousands of people.
The legislation, he added, also sends a message to scientists that their work is important and valued here.
What that exact message will be, though, hinges on the Legislature and the outcome of its end-of-session negotiations.
What do you think Beacon Hill should do? Respond to our poll, or share your thoughts at powerplay@globe.com.
It’s hard to imagine the scandal rocking Jensen Huang and Nvidia not reverberating in Boston. That’s because State Street and Fidelity Investments rank among the biggest institutional holders of the AI chip maker. Fidelity funds – managed by the firm and its spinoff Geode Capital Management – together own about 1.5 billion shares of Nvidia worth about $257 billion, according to the most recent disclosures on Yahoo Finance. Meanwhile, State Street holds one billion shares worth about $166 billion. Huang resigned Thursday, after the world learned about his extramarital affairs – one with a direct report and another with an alleged Chinese spy. The stock has taken a hit, but don’t expect investors to flee en masse, says Karen Firestone, cofounder of Aureus Asset Management in Boston. “Nvidia is not disappearing,” she said. “Fortunes are made when people have the most fear.”
House Speaker Ron Mariano’s campaign committee hasn’t raked in all that much in political donations so far this fall: $12,700 in September and October. But most of that money came from one source: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts executives. Of his five donations in October, three came from executives from the Boston-based nonprofit insurer. Of the 28 he received in September, 22 were from officials at the insurer. The reason? The insurer’s political action committee held a fund-raiser for Mariano in September. The company declined to comment on the donations, which totaled nearly $8,000 over two months, because they were contributions from individuals. But spokesperson Amy McHugh said that it’s important for the insurer to be engaged in the legislative process so that its members, including local businesses and working families, are well represented.
Should the South Boston Waterfront get a library? City Councilor Ed Flynn sure thinks so. And he has a good idea where it should go. He fired off a letter this week to city planning chief Kairos Shen and Boston Public Library president David Leonard, calling on them to put a new BPL branch in the 31-acre redevelopment of the Gillette manufacturing campus. (Also this week: A challenger emerged for Flynn in next year’s council race.) Neighbors in Fort Point and the adjacent South Boston Waterfront (aka the Seaport), Flynn writes, have been calling for a neighborhood library, civic space, and polling location for years. (Southie has one branch, but it’s roughly a mile away on East Broadway). When asked about the letter, P&G executive Kara Buckley says company officials know there’s strong community interest in civic and cultural spaces along with new parkland, and they’re working toward a viable master plan that balances such uses with other priorities.
Boston’s development sector seems to be reacting with a collective shrug to the Wu administration’s new affordable housing concessions aimed at jump-starting Boston’s moribund construction scene. That’s it?
Executives remain frustrated that Mayor Michelle Wu seems unwilling to budge on the city’s affordable housing mandate: essentially 20 percent of units in all significant housing projects.
Housing chief Sheila Dillon announced a few tweaks to the rules on Monday by proposing to temporarily raise the size of projects that are exempt, by a modest amount, and easing the burden for developers that choose to make substitute payments rather than build affordable units on site. But Dillon says city officials opted not to touch the percentage mandate because they want to make sure “Boston is a home for everyone.”
Waltham, Malden, and Chelsea have all lowered their thresholds, and Cambridge is considering it. Not Boston, at least not now.
One prominent CEO described the city’s concessions as “like shooting an elephant with a spitball.”
Coincidentally, Tamara Small at the CREDA Massachusetts trade group also turned to an elephant metaphor, saying the 20-percent requirement is the elephant in the room. “Other cities recognize the harm of such a high inclusionary requirement,” Small said. “It’s unclear who is benefiting from it because it’s only hurting housing production of all kinds.”
Remember this photo? In April 2006, Massachusetts made history when then-Governor Mitt Romney signed the state’s health care law at Faneuil Hall surrounded by Senator Ted Kennedy, Senate President Bob Travaglini, and House Speaker Sal DiMasi. They were all smiles, but GBH’s Ian Coss recounts the battles behind Romneycare and the pressure to preserve federal funding in his eight-part podcast series, “Mitt & Ted: A healthcare story.” Health care insiders will get a kick out of hearing from DiMasi, Travaglini, Vicki Kennedy, Cindy Gillespie, John McDonough, Jon Gruber, and the late Stuart Altman and Jack Connors. Coss – best known for “The Big Dig” series – joined Shirley on the Globe’s “Say More” podcast this week. Find both podcasts wherever you listen.
THANKS FOR READING POWER PLAY.
This newsletter was written by Jon Chesto and Shirley Leung, edited by Aaron Pressman, and produced by Diamond Naga Siu.
Have a question for the team? Email us at powerplay@globe.com.
Delivered Tuesday and Friday.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto. Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at shirley.leung@globe.com.
