The Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus was founded in 2008 by Representative Cabral and State Senator Stephen J. Buoniconti. As House and Senate co-chairs of the Caucus, they were joined by 58 other representatives and 20 other senators who represent Gateway Cities. Rep. Cabral currently co-chairs the Gateway Cities Caucus with Senator John Cronin (D-Fitchburg).

Gateway Cities are midsize urban centers that anchor regional economies around the state. For generations, these communities were home to industry that offered residents good jobs and a “gateway” to the American Dream. Over the past several decades, manufacturing jobs slowly disappeared. Lacking resources and capacity to rebuild and reposition, Gateway Cities have been slow to draw new economy investment.

While Gateway Cities face stubborn social and economic challenges as a result, they retain many assets with unrealized potential. These include existing infrastructure and strong connections to transportation networks, museums, hospitals, universities and other major institutions, disproportionately young and underutilized workers, and perhaps above all, authentic urban fabric.

Changing social and economic forces open up new opportunities for Gateway Cities to leverage these untapped assets. Demand for walkable neighborhoods is rising and the small entrepreneurial businesses that fuel job creation in today’s economy are increasingly seeking out urban innovative environments. These trends position Gateway Cities to once again serve as engines driving growth in regional economies across the Commonwealth (MassInc).

193RD GENERAL COURT PRIORITIES

  • An Act Relative to the Housing Development Incentive Program (HD.3644/SD.2249): This bill increases the HDIP cap to $30 million annually. HDIP has been the number one priority for Gateway City leaders for several years running. Increasing the cap has become especially urgent, with thousands of units that could help ease the housing crisis in the queue and rising interest rates increasingly threatening the viability of these projects. Gateway City leaders are still holding out hope that this long-overdue increase will occur early in the legislative session.
  • An Act to Promote Downtown Vitality (HD.3803/SD.2322): This bill would set aside 5 percent of online sales tax collections to provide matching funds for business improvement districts, cultural districts, and other entities helping to cultivate energy in downtown and main street commercial districts. A provision in last session’s inclusive entrepreneurship bill (which advanced through committee but did not make it to the finish line), it has been offered as a standalone policy proposal this session. Our hope is that this innovative concept will draw support from a cross-section of groups interested in building strong gathering places, coming out of the pandemic.
  • An Act Relative to Public Procurement and Inclusive Entrepreneurship (HD. 3891/SD. 2270): This bill redoubles our efforts to spur regional economic growth by closing large racial and ethnic gaps in business ownership. The centerpiece is changes to state procurement law that would give Massachusetts municipalities the ability to implement supplier diversity practices that cities throughout the country have successfully employed.
  • An Act Relative to Neighborhood Stabilization and Economic Development (HD.3728/SD.2270): With MassHousing’s Neighborhood Hub and Neighborhood Stabilization Program, efforts to help Gateway Cities acquire and rehab vacant homes are progressing. But cities still struggle with properties caught up in legal proceedings. Legal fees consume precious dollars that could go to making abandoned homes livable once again. This legislation would modernize state laws, borrowing from effective approaches to vacant property that other states have employed.
  • An Act to Build Future-Forward Parking Structures to Promote EV Equity and Walkable Downtowns (HD.3910/SD.2239): Redeveloping Gateway City downtowns as mixed-use areas with a plentiful supply of both housing and office space will require thoughtful attention to parking. Surface lots must be replaced with structured parking facilities, and all of the parking in these areas must equitably anticipate the arrival of droves of electric vehicles. This new bond-funding program will provide matching funds to help Gateway Cities thoughtfully plan and build this critical infrastructure of the future. 

FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET WINS

Rep. Cabral and the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus (GCLC) focused their budget priorities on education support programs and community development initiatives that meet the specific needs of Gateway Cities, such as New Bedford. “This is one of the most successful budgets for the GCLC’s priorities in history,” said Rep. Cabral. “It speaks to the strength of the caucus and our ability to voice our unique needs to leadership.” The GCLC secured:

  • $9,000,000 for Dual Enrollment grants, which enables high school students to earn college credit
  • $1,000,000 for the English Language Learners Gateway Cities Program
  • $1,050,000 for neighborhood stabilization efforts within the Transformative Development Fund to support community-led revitalization efforts
  • $10 million for Early College programs, with priority given to programs that serve students who are currently underrepresented in college
  • $60 million for Adult Basic Education/ESOL

neighborhood stabilization

When a neighborhood has a number of vacant and abandoned properties, it places a burden on the rest of the community. Serving as founder and House Chairman of the bi-partisan, bi-cameral Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus, Tony filed a bill for the 2019-2020 session to combat blight in New Bedford and other communities facing similar housing issues. In 2019, the bill was branded as the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative (NSI). The comprehensive bill was informed by research conducted by MassINC and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC). The bill incorporates five provisions to tackle an array of different housing and neighborhood stabilization issues urban and rural communities are currently facing.

In the midst of the on-going pandemic, Tony and other economic development leaders were thrilled to see the current Administration prioritize the concept of neighborhood stabilization. Pulling directly from Tony’s Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative bill, the Administration asked the Legislature to approve an authorization for $80 million in grants and loans to be distributed to high-need communities for the purpose of rehabilitating blighted and abandoned properties throughout the state. These authorizations were incorporated into that year’s Economic Development Recovery Bond Bill.

The NSI bill also prominently features a “spot blight” provision to better streamline how non-profits can acquire and rehabilitate small-scale residential properties in high-need neighborhoods. The legislation also aims to develop a better process for property owners renovate their buildings without triggering other mandated, and typically significant, improvements that may be financially unfeasible. This effort involves revising the building code. Currently, if a landlord wants to make a $60,000 improvement to one unit (30% of the property’s value) in their triple-decker property that is worth $200,000, the investment will then trigger the requirement that the entire property be ADA compliant. In other communities, where properties have higher value, a $60,000 improvement to a rental property worth $800,000 would not set off the trigger. This is an issue of regional equity that we aim to address through a commission that will bring all of the stakeholders together to modify the Architectural Access Board’s standards.

Overall, this bill has started a real, meaningful conversation about how we can best invest in our residential neighborhoods and our downtowns.