Lawmakers say they’re ‘prepared’ to call a special formal session

Among them were a sweeping economic development package that included billions of dollars in proposed borrowing and a slew of policy proposals, including one measure that could have allowed the Kraft Group to build a 25,000-seat soccer stadium in Everett for the New England Revolution.

Notably, the bill also proposed to dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars to the states’ life sciences and climate technology sectors, a top priority for Healey. But the House and Senate differed widely on how much: Senate lawmakers proposed to borrow $225 million over five years for the life sciences sector — less than half of the $500 million over a decade that Healey and House lawmakers sought.

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

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

Under a rule lawmakers first established nearly 30 years ago, the Legislature is required to complete “formal business” at certain points in the two-year legislative session, including by July 31 in an election year.

While they have consistently bent that rule to meet past midnight on the final day, they’ve historically been reluctant to completely break it and call lawmakers back in. Legislators did vote in 2020 to extend their formal session amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but officials said at the time that legislators 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 a recession period.

After talks on several bills failed Thursday, legislative leaders said they would try to move a number of bills that hadn’t passed through upcoming informal sessions, lightly attended gatherings where a single individual lawmaker can stop a bill from passing. But to pass a bill that authorizes borrowing, such as the economic development bill, lawmakers are constitutionally required to take a roll-call vote, which occurs in formal sessions.

Spilka first said she is open to calling lawmakers back to vote, though exactly when remains to be seen.

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

Mariano quickly followed with his own statement, saying he, too, is “prepared to return for a special session when such an agreement is reached.”

“The House remains committed to continuing to negotiate an economic development bill, one that fully invests in the life sciences sector and that makes the additional, critical investments. . . “we have consistently pursued,” the Quincy Democrat said.

Whether lawmakers can bridge divides in the bill is unclear. Spilka and Mariano publicly sniped at each other over other legislation in the days ahead of the bill’s collapse, underscoring the tension between the Democrats. Lawmakers also pointed fingers at each other over other legislation not passing, namely a sweeping clean energy bill on which one House leader accused the Senate of having “gone back on its word.”

The last time lawmakers suspended their rules in 2020 to extend the session, it required a vote in both chambers. That occurred, however, in a formal session, meaning an effort to do it now would likely have to happen in an informal session, where Democrats, despite enjoying a super majority in the chamber, have struggled to pass bills in the face of Republican opposition .

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

“There is no demonstration to me that they’re going to reach an agreement” on the economic development bill, said Jones, a North Reading Republican. But if they do, Jones said, he suggested lawmakers should file 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 have conversations with people beforehand,” he said.

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

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

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