Lawmakers say they are ‘ready’ to call special formal session

Among them was a sweeping economic development package that included billions of dollars in proposed loans and a range of policy proposals, including one that could allow Kraft Group to build a 25,000-seat soccer stadium in Everett for the New England Revolution.

Interestingly, the bill also proposed allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to the life sciences and climate technology sectors in the states, a top priority for Healey. But the House and Senate differed sharply on the amount: Senate lawmakers proposed borrowing $225 million over five years for the life sciences sector—less than half the $500 million over a decade that Healey and House lawmakers had sought.

On Friday afternoon, Healey’s office issued a statement publicly calling on lawmakers to “return as soon as possible” to pass the bill, calling the bond money “absolutely essential for economic growth and development, supporting key sectors of the economy, and protecting our economy and businesses in the face of increasing competition from other states.”

“The people of Massachusetts deserve it, and they are counting on us,” Healey said.

Under a rule established by lawmakers nearly 30 years ago, legislatures are required to complete “legal business” at certain times during the two-year legislative session, including by July 31 during an election year.

While they have consistently bent that rule to meet after midnight on the final day, they have historically been reluctant to break it and call lawmakers back. Lawmakers voted in 2020 to extend their formal session amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but officials said at the time that lawmakers had suspended their rules at least three times in the past, including in 2005, to allow members of the House and Senate to meet during recess.

After talks on several bills failed Thursday, legislative leaders said they would try to push a number of bills that failed through upcoming informal sessions, meetings with a small number of participants where a single lawmaker can stop a bill from passing. But to pass legislation that authorizes borrowing, such as an economic development bill, lawmakers are constitutionally required to take roll-call votes, which take place during formal sessions.

Spilka said first that she was open to calling on lawmakers to vote again, though it was not yet clear when exactly that would happen.

“The Senate is ready to get back to work and pass this crucial economic development bond authorization — and we are prepared to call a special formal session to do so,” the Ashland Democrat said in a statement.

Mariano quickly issued his own statement, saying he, too, was “ready to return to the special session when such an agreement is reached.”

“The House remains committed to continuing negotiations on an economic development bill, one that fully invests in the life sciences sector and includes the additional critical investments … that we have consistently advocated for,” the Quincy Democrat said.

It’s unclear whether lawmakers will be able to bridge the divide on the bill. Spilka and Mariano publicly criticized each other over other bills in the days before the bill died, underscoring the tensions between Democrats. Lawmakers also pointed fingers at each other over other bills that failed to pass, namely a sweeping clean energy bill on which one House leader accused the Senate of “breaking its word.”

The last time lawmakers suspended their legislation in 2020 to extend a session, it required a vote in both chambers. But that happened in a formal session, meaning trying to do it now would likely have to happen in an informal session, where Democrats, despite having a supermajority in the chamber, have struggled to pass legislation in the face of Republican opposition.

House Minority Leader Brad Jones said Friday that neither the governor, the House speaker nor the Senate president have spoken to him about the status of the economic development bill or the possibility of a formal special session.

“There’s no evidence to me that they’re going to reach an agreement” on the economic development bill, said Jones, a Republican from North Reading. But if they do, Jones said, he suggested that lawmakers table the agreement and “let us all see what’s in it” before calling a special formal session to pass it.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say you should talk to people beforehand,” he said.

Perhaps complicating matters, the House was set to begin work on its chambers to install a new roll-call machine and microphones. The $1.4 million project was expected to be completed in October, Mariano’s office previously told the State House News Service, and House leaders scheduled their next informal session for Monday, to be held in a first-floor conference room elsewhere in the State House.

Mariano’s office said Friday that officials will work out the “logistics and process” for passing the economic development bill if lawmakers reach an agreement on the legislation.

Matt Stout can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @mattpstout.