Another voting season underway without a finished economic development bill

It was a different election, and a different languishing economic development bill, when House Speaker Ron Mariano said he hoped a deal could be reached before polls open. 

That was back in 2024, and the speaker's hopes didn't come to fruition. Lawmakers shipped the nearly $4 billion finished product to Gov. Maura Healey nine days post-election. That same day, the House and Senate also took their final votes on a compromise clean energy bill.

Here in 2026, Mariano has been more circumspect — or maybe just more patient — when it comes to the unresolved energy affordability or economic development bills and other significant legislation still up in the air. 

More than a straight jobs bill, this year’s $500-plus million economic development package is loaded with policy riders proposing AI regulations, zoning changes meant to spur housing production, a pilot program for psychedelic substance use, and more,

Mariano said last month there's "no timeframe" on conference committee talks that involve trading proposals by trial-and-error

"We'd like to get it done before the election, but you can't force them," the Quincy Democrat said. "I can't say to the Senate, 'You have to accept this because it's almost Election Day.' That's not a negotiation." 

The same September day, Senate President Karen Spilka said she wanted to get the dozen bills still in conference committee wrapped up "as soon as possible," particularly energy and economic development.

More than a month later, all 12 are still locked up in conference negotiations, and it's looking more and more like this year could be a repeat of 2024, with no indication of major votes planned between now and Tuesday. 

Or maybe it'll be a repeat of 2020, when the energy and economic development bills weren't done until the following January, in the very last days before the new Legislature got sworn in. 

Beacon Hill is following what has become a familiar pattern. The last time lawmakers finalized an economic development bill before the start of early voting was in 2018. 

This year, the wait isn't because of any unanticipated curveballs. Rather than a deadline-day breakdown in negotiations (2024), a surprise $3 billion in tax rebates (2022), or the chaos of a pandemic (2020), this is more or less how lawmakers drew it up when they adopted a new rule giving them months of extra runway to reach deals. 

Mariano last week swatted aside the idea that the pace of legislative dealmaking is tracking behind last session's, pointing to the House and Senate’s July 31, 2024 all-nighter. 

"I didn't have to do that this year," he quipped. "So everything's much better."

And while the press corps will, well, press legislative leaders about leaving major bills until the other side of Election Day, it doesn’t seem that constituents show up at the ballot box en masse animated by frustration over a long wait for an economic development bill, even with all its grant money and major law changes. 

In each of the last three election cycles, no more than four incumbent lawmakers were voted out. 

What’s your bet on when the economic development and energy bills land? Or any of the others still knotted up? Tell me what you’re hearing at [email protected].

9:00 | Senate candidate John Deaton gets breakfast and meets diners at South Street Diner | 178 Kneeland St, Boston

9:30 | Massport and Delta Air Lines mark the first barge delivery of sustainable aviation fuel to Boston's Logan International Airport. A June law created a tax credit for the fuel | Delta Air Lines Hangar, Boston Logan International Airport, 94 Service Road, East Boston | RSVP to [email protected]

10:00 | Gov. Healey cuts ribbon on the new Veterans Home at Holyoke. Once fully operational, it will offer 234 long-term care beds, a specialized memory care unit, and the potential for a 40-person adult day health program | Veterans Home at Holyoke, 110 Cherry St., Holyoke

10:30 | Fiscal Alliance Foundation holds a virtual press conference to unveil a new study on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the changes facing the RGGI program in coming years. Study author Lisa Linowes joins foundation executive director Paul Craney and Vermont state director Elizabeth Brown | Media RSVP to [email protected] for link

10:30 | Senate President Spilka welcomes Matthew Lyons, the new director of the Council of State Governments East, to the State House to meet with senators | Room 428

11:00 | Senate meets in informal session | Senate Chamber

11:00 | House meets in informal session | House Chamber

11:00 | Gaming Commission holds public hearing to obtain input on Plainville Gaming and Redevelopment's application for a license to hold horse races in Plainville in 2027 | Plainville Town Hall, 190 South St., Plainville

12:00 | Mass. Cultural Council, the governing council of Massachusetts' state arts agency, holds an in-person business meeting to 2027 Social Prescription Arts & Health grants and discuss a proposed new initiative the agency will be conducting a feasibility study on, the Creative Wealth Fund | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord

12:00 | Massachusetts Citizens for Life holds a “Truth About Choice”advocacy event | Great Hall

1:00 | Sen. DiDomenico, Reps. Gordon and Cataldo, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education senior associate commissioner Erin Hashimoto-Martell, and Rennie Center executive cirector Chad d'Entremont speak at legislative briefing on implementing the state's new early literacy law | Room 428 | Register

2:00 | Lt. Gov. Driscoll, U.S. Rep. Neal, interim Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Eng, MassDOT rail and traansit administrator Meredith Slesinger and others hold a groundbreaking of rail infrastructure improvements in Pittsfield that will support permanent seasonal Berkshire Flyer service | 1355 East St., Pittsfield

4:00 | MBTA's Park Street Station turns into "Bark Street" as the T and Animal Rescue League of Boston mark Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Riders can meet dogs, including some previously adopted through the league, and learn about adoption, fostering, and volunteering | Outside Park Street Station, Boston

4:00 | Special Commission on Cabo Verdean Cultural Center meets. Agenda includes a debrief about a visit to the Toussaint Louverture Cultural Center and subcommittee updates | Agenda and Livestream

7:00 | MassDOT holds a public hearing about proposed accessibility improvements in Chicopee, Holyoke and Westfield. The projects deal with the intersection of Route 116 and Granby Road in Chicopee, the intersection of the I-91 Northbound Exit 15B off-ramp and Route 141 in Holyoke, and on Route 202 in Westfield | Register

Individual and Corporate Giving Manager — NEW, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation

Legislative Director — NEW, Massachusetts AFL-CIO

Litigation Attorney — NEW, Disability Law Center

Director, Regulatory Affairs — NEW, Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers

Director of Public Policy — NEW, Massachusetts Housing & Shelter Alliance

District-Based Communications Professional, US House of Representatives

Job board continues below the fold — post a job

HITTING THE TRAIL: The run-up to Election Day found Gov. Healey in Attleboro and Fall River and Mike Minogue in the North End and Newtonville as both make closing pitches around affordability. | WHDH

PUTTING IT ON ICE: The 12 sheriffs who wrote to Gov. Healey about their concern with the state's new immigration enforcement law are trying to cool down what's now a issue in the gubernatorial race, saying they didn't mean for it to become “politically partisan,” One sheriff, Plymouth County Republican Joseph McDonald, joined Mike Minogue at a Tuesday press conference drawing attention to the letter. | State House News Service (gift link)

BALLOT DEEP DIVE: While voters wade through nine varied and sometimes dense ballot questions, a longread explores the history of big spending, legislative rewrites and the concept of ballot questions as a political Rorschach test that can suggest an unresponsive Legislature or moneyed special interests. | Commonwealth Beacon

FRESH POLLING: A new poll from the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion finds Gov. Healey up over Mike Minogue 57-29, with Sen. Ed Markey ahead of John Deaton 55-26. Pollsters say the closest race they measured is for Question 3, the all-party primary initiative, with 41% in favor and 44% against. The 850-voter survey was conducted Oct. 7-18, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.| UML Center for Public Opinion

DIVESTMENT BROKERS: A split Cambridge City Council voted to call on the city's pension fund to divest from companies "directly contributing to genocide, apartheid, and occupation of Palestinians" and opted against boycotting companies that do business with the Israeli military in the city’s procurement process. | Cambridge Day

DRUGS AND DATA: Five Massachusetts hospitals are suing Eli Lilly and Co., arguing that the drugmaker is forcing them to choose between turning over patient claims data or losing access to savings through the federal 340B program. Eli Lilly says Mass General Brigham and UMass Memorial Health want to profit from drug discounts without being transparent about how they use the program. | Telegram & Gazette

FREE RIDERS: The T's ramped-up fare enforcement efforts confront a challenge: It's not that fare-evading Green Line riders don’t know how to pay, it's that some simply don't want to. | GBH News

JOB LISTING: An ethics complaint filed by the Massachusetts Republican Party charges that Jason Perron, an independent candidate challenging Southwick Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, did not disclose a job he held in 2025 with the Westfield Police Department in required financial statements. A Democrat, Tom Hendrickson, is also running for the seat. | The Republican

‘God wants me to do this.’ Minogue’s faith has shaped his path to gubernatorial race, and at times, the debate itself.

Massachusetts Republicans are bracing for a tough election on Tuesday

Judge allows discovery in civil suit appeal of $2B state contract awarded to political heavyweights

Voters get a special election rematch in 1st Middlesex Senate District race

Former Massachusetts RMV worker accused of running "private concierge title and registration service"

Mass. AG visits Northampton High School promoting bell-to-bell cell phone bans

Winthrop council rebels against its president

Key disability rights case is under threat, local advocates say

Senior Government Relations Specialist, ACLU of Massachusetts

Director of Sustainable Materials Management, City of Newton

Attorney, Prisoners’ Legal Services of MA

Engineering Project Manager, City of Newton

Legal Advocate, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee

Advocacy Director, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee

Director of Workforce Development, St. Francis House

Evaluation and Monitoring Associate, Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation

Administrative and Program Associate, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts

General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Account Director/Senior Account Director, Issues Management Group, Inc.

Director of Resource Development, The Neighborhood Developers

Director of Human Resources, SEIU Local 509

Deputy Sewer Director, Town of Nantucket