Issue Position: Sustainability

Issue Position

Economy

Just as strong state support for decentralized, local decision-making can be a more democratic and effective way of addressing issues, support for decentralized, strong local economies can also be a more democratic and effective way to meet the needs of a community. In many ways, as economic institutions and corporations have grown bigger and more impersonal, our very democracy has suffered. So too has our economy suffered, if you believe it should also serve all our people. Large corporations that dot the landscape with big box stores have largely eroded our notion of a social compact, a Commonwealth, and with it, our sense of community and belonging. It sometimes can seem that this is all just the natural course of things, that the trend has long been set in motion and cannot now be stopped; yet when one looks carefully at how our economy and society have developed, he or she can see how our laws and regulations have shaped our current situation. That need not be disheartening; conditions that are created merely by a response to a complex set of rules can be changed by untangling the old rules or replacing them with a new set. Here are a few to consider:

An Economy For People and Places

Often politicians talk of trying to attract companies to their communities or states by creating a more business-friendly climate. However, in their friendliness to corporations, they can sometimes forget that the jobs those businesses provide are meant to serve the needs of people and raise the quality of their lives. Where public money is spent or where it is foregone in the form of tax incentives, the state can ensure that benefits to corporations and businesses result in real benefits to workers and their communities, by tying the two directly together. Massachusetts should also go further, and lead the nation in establishing a more livable minimum wage, under which no worker would fall.

While large corporations can come and go, depending upon how much they may extract from a community, larger retail chain stores can be more devastating in destroying a community's sense of place and identity. Beyond the studies that have shown that these enterprises can lead to lower wages and fewer overall jobs, there is also evidence which directly links these to the decline of downtown and neighborhood business districts and village centers, which in turn severs the relationship of people to a place and to each other, leading to further declines in signs of civic life. Some states and local communities, like Greenfield, MA, have passed laws that establish an Economic (or Community) Impact Review which is triggered by big box retail store proposals above a certain size, or that generate more than a certain number of vehicle trips. Conducting an economic impact review process would go beyond the promise of jobs and cheap goods to consider how a large retail project would affect local businesses, municipal services and revenue, the environment and wider community. It asks the right questions--not simply whether a chain store will lead to "growth," but to what kind of growth.

Main Streets Fairness Initiative

A vibrant downtown or town center--or neighborhood commercial districts and squares--is important for the health and happiness of any community. A walkable public realm with strong local businesses and active civic life is what makes Massachusetts and other New England cities and towns unique places to live and visit. The design and success of these spaces are threatened not only by the lure of cheap goods at big box stores, but also through online retailers that in most cases are not required to collect the Massachusetts sales tax. Hundreds of millions of dollars are estimated to be lost as traditional brick and mortar stores unfairly suffer, and from the failure to collect the substantial revenue owed to the state by law. Some states have passed laws which allow them to require online businesses to collect the sales tax, if their sales cross a determined threshold, indicating a significant--even if not physical--presence in the state. While the issue also needs a federal solution, a statewide Main Streets Fairness proposal could level the playing field between online and physical stores, return local jobs to the cities and towns of Massachusetts, and raise revenue already owed to be reinvested into the further revitalization of the hearts of our communities.

Smart Growth Approach

Reforms to sources of revenue would ideally both incentivize and support stronger local economies. The current administration has been a leader on smart growth strategies to maximize the returns on public and private investment in places identified for future increases in development, and protect other critical areas from unwanted development. The Governor has proposed in the past a nineteen-cent gas tax increase to pay for an ambitious transportation package that would transform the state. While there should be more debate about the details of such a plan, which failed to be fully adopted by the legislature, there is no question that the state's aging transit system will stall economic activity if left largely unchanged. Because it is applied according to the amount an individual consumes and because there are often other options that are not burdened with it, the gas tax is one way to pay for improvements that is fair and progressive, particularly if the revenue it produces is equitably directed as much toward public transit, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, as it is to highways. If there is not yet an appetite to adopt a state strategy of simultaneously addressing economic, environmental, public health and safety issues through a gas tax, perhaps local cities and towns can be given the local option to adopt a more modest increase to reinvest in the kind of pedestrian-friendly streets that support vibrant local economies.

Another more progressive local tax option could provide communities, particularly in urban areas, the ability to weight property tax rates more heavily on land rather than buildings. Normally these two components are valued together and taxed at either one rate or a split rate between commercial and residential property classifications. This tax would split land and building values, and gradually shift more of the tax burden toward land. This would encourage a more efficient use of our land resources by incentivizing both commercial and mixed-use development to areas prioritized by the community, generally denser districts where public infrastructure investments can be more efficiently made. Why is this fairer? Under a land-weighted system, a property owner is not taxed as much for making improvements with his or her own labor or capital, but when those improvements spur others around him or her to also make private improvements or when public investments like transit or well-designed streetscapes or utilities are made through no personal effort of the owner at all, that added value is more fairly captured for the benefit of the entire community. Gateway and other cities could therefore adopt the reformed tax structure to achieve a number of different aims: more commercial activity in development of vacant lots and redevelopment of older structures; higher quality and more affordable housing as property owners no longer see a disincentive to fix up properties and the cost of scarce land is not as subject to speculation; and greater self-reliance in municipal finances as revenue is more naturally captured by increasing values, whether through private improvements on the land, or solid public investments around it. Although Pennsylvania is the only real model in America that allows this kind of tax system, Massachusetts could learn from its example and find a solution that fits our cities and jumpstarts smarter growth across the state. The basic point of state legislation would be to enable cities to have more local options, and in doing so, to make potentially better decisions about what policies would work best for them. Those communities that are satisfied with their current systems would similarly have the option not to adopt.

Through all of these policies, taxation or the absence of taxation can be realigned to better meet the needs of people. They can protect open space and small businesses in a rural town, reinvigorate the village center of a suburb as a hub of activity, and rebuild aging mill cities as great places to live, work, play, learn and raise a family. Yet all of these policies also depend on an inclusive community vision, on the ability of cities and towns to plan what they want their futures to look like and to use that comprehensive planning to guide their zoning codes, annual budgets and capital improvement plans. Some elements of pending legislation at the State House would help support cities and towns--often without the resources in their local budget for a comprehensive planning effort--to rewrite zoning codes in a manner that provides more predictability for private investment, protects open space and encourages more progress on affordable housing. As a best practice, regular comprehensive planning should also be encouraged regionally and in all communities so that residents are truly shaping how their city or town grows sustainably.

Economic Gardening Institute

We have learned how the state can be burnt by trying to attract companies to locate in Massachusetts on the promise of millions of dollars in tax credits. Certainly more transparency, stricter criteria--perhaps preferencing worker-owned enterprises rather than more mobile ones, and Benefit Corporations rather than strictly profit-driven ones--and the ability to claw back tax breaks or subsidies if those criteria are not continually met, can help to prevent the kinds of ineffective agreements we have seen in the past. Companies that come here strictly for tax or bottom line reasons can easily leave for the same. But we can turn from this model of "economic hunting" and look to a completely different model of development that recognizes the value of supporting local small businesses over national chains or multinational corporations. The idea of economic gardening is to identify and then nurture--through technical support, market data analysis and other resources too expensive for any one business to afford--those small businesses which have already been started and show potential, so that they may grow more local jobs. A handful of states have developed programs to focus on these second-stage companies through their public higher education institutions. The University of Massachusetts system, which is already engaged in various business development initiatives, would be well positioned to support their surrounding regional economies and the small business poised for growth within them. Conversely, those businesses whose seed was planted with publically-funded research ought to be encouraged to locate their start-ups in the region or state so that the "crop yield" of intellectual property is not transplanted across the country. This might be achieved through a full or partial waiver of royalties owed to the university of origin, if an enterprise decides to sink its roots into the region. A formal Economic Gardening Institute through the UMass system could be sustained through the royalties that are paid when start-ups choose to relocate, and from a shift in less effective economic development tax expenditures.

Buy Local, Invest Local

Luckily we do not need to wait to put our money where our mouth is. One of the more immediate measures that can strengthen small businesses and local economies is to deepen the impact of state funds by depositing more in local banks as Treasurer Grossman has done, and encourage cities and towns to wisely invest in its local banks. A more long-term proposal would look at North Dakota's model of a publicly-owned bank, which has helped the state fair far better than others through the Great Recession, by partnering with private banks and directing state deposits toward economic development priorities. Like many of the policies proposed here, a Massachusetts Bank could help to make our public finances and local economies more resilient. Similarly, we should explore a comprehensive purchasing policy that preferences locally and sustainably-made products. Some states have added as much as a 10% preference in bid applications, largely in recognition of research which has shown a far higher multiplier effect on the state economy of purchases from in-state suppliers. The purchasing policy could begin with the example of the next administration itself, and then extend to municipalities and publicly-funded institutions like local school districts, universities, correctional institutions or public hospitals.

Fresh Food Financing Initiative

Chief among the goods and services that public institutions purchase and provide is food. Yet not enough attention is paid to where it comes from or its quality, and most fundamentally, who has access to it. This is a moral issue. There are far too many children and families in this Commonwealth that face hunger on a daily basis, and lack adequate access to healthy food. There is far too much opportunity lost in human costs, and in economic activity. With changes to regulations in the procurement of food, the Farm to School program can be made much more robust, and expanded to institutions--particularly health--which receive public funding. As a former USDA administrator and as your next Lieutenant Governor, I will not rest until every child in our elementary schools has access to a nutritious breakfast. This can vastly improve a child's education, meet the needs of kids who would otherwise go hungry, develop healthy habits and contain long-term health care costs, and stimulate more demand to support our fishermen and farmers and local economies. In Pennsylvania, the innovative public-private Fresh Food Financing Initiative has supported the development of all kinds of corner and grocery stores, co-ops and farmer's market in traditionally underserved areas. The program has shown remarkable results with thousands of jobs created, good wages, higher property values, improved municipal finances, greater economic activity and healthier neighborhoods. So while this is listed as an economic issue, food policy is naturally--like many of the other issues raised here--a public health issue, an environmental, educational and even a long-term fiscal issue. Although the state has launched some promising programs to increase our food security, like grants for urban agriculture, a more comprehensive evaluation of our food systems can yield better results. We can shape policies that solve multiple problems so that we are not left with losses on the ledger, but instead create win-win-wins. Most of all, these policy changes and the people most affected by them need a champion. As your Lieutenant Governor, my voice and energy will be all but exhausted in this cause.

Environment

From the shores of the Cape and islands up the coast to the rocky port of Gloucester and across miles of woodlands and lakes to the serene peaks of the Berkshires, Massachusetts is blessed with beautiful natural places. While they give citizens and visitors alike pleasure, they also give us life and the natural resources to sustain our livelihoods. Therefore, in fairness to ourselves and each other and to the generations to come, we need to look at ways of living and working that are not simply less degrading to our environment, but in fact regenerative. Surely our system of education can give us the skills to develop new technologies, but also the old wisdom that held human development and nature in balance for so long. Strengthening our local economies, living closer to where we work, or eating what we or our fellow citizens grow can all help to reverse the disastrous course the human species has taken for the last few generations, but we must do more. Here are several ideas our state can lead on:

Harvesting Our Energy

Massachusetts has been a national leader in energy efficiency efforts through the Green Communities and other programs, recognizing that the cleanest energy is energy unused. The state should follow through on current efforts to reform our Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) legislation, which could more realistically help residents and businesses hurdle over upfront costs to energy retrofits and renewable energy systems, and in the process, create many new jobs. If we invest in more renewable energy, in many forms, we may also continue to build more resilient communities and restore our natural environment. Some policies can be changed to encourage more private investment--not simply for large-scale projects like CapeWind, but for more human-scale and district- or community-scale projects which allow residents, groups of residents and small businesses equitable participation in renewable energy markets. For example, more favorable net-metering, feed-in tariff and interconnection rules can remove barriers to distributed energy generation. Homeowners and neighborhood groups could benefit from a more decentralized system that keeps energy in local and micro-grids results in less loss of energy due to inefficient transmission or isolated damaging events, and keeps more dollars in the local economy.

Purchasing Policy

Regulations ought to be changed to remove barriers to the creation of local public utilities (electric and broadband), if so desired by communities, in order to keep service and prices at reasonable levels in an increasingly monopolistic market. On average, public utilities (which were generally established before changes to the law) have weathered major storm events better and kept prices lower than their private counterparts. One avenue that cities and towns in Massachusetts may pursue, though currently underutilized, is to adopt a local option for the municipality to become an energy aggregator, whereby the local government purchases power on behalf of its residents. The city of Lowell recently exercised this option and will realize between 8-10% savings on its utility bills, while purchasing 100% locally produced renewable energy. Much like the previously-discussed Buy Local policy, state government and state-funded institutions can use their purchasing power to support and guide the development of products and services which strengthen our local economies and environments.

Waste Not, Want Not

Massachusetts has set important goals for our state in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. It now needs to do the same for its solid waste and water use reduction. More than setting goals for reduction, Massachusetts ought to adopt a completely new approach--a zero-waste strategy--that eliminates toxins and material unable to be reused or recycle at the point of production, and diverts material that can be reused or recycled from the waste stream and landfills. Diverting organic waste for composting and more material for recycling will not only reduce our impact on the environment, but create a positive impact, enriching our soils, saving our local budgets money, and encouraging new local jobs. A locally-focused and environmentally-friendly purchasing policy could help to boost to demand favor products that have been made with a high content of recycled material or that can largely be recycled and used as feedstock for such products. Moreover, we can further encourage better product design and ensure the reuse or recycling of products through pending legislation that holds producers of electronic waste financially responsible for its disposal; or provides support to businesses to remove toxic chemicals in favor of healthier alternatives; or through an updated bottle bill, places a deposit on plastic, glass, and aluminum beverage containers, no matter what beverage they hold.

Clean Water

The beverage containers that litter our streets and parks are often water bottles, which points to a need not only to update our bottle bill, but also to reduce demand for such bottles. Cities and towns are now struggling to maintain their water and wastewater infrastructure, let alone invest in new infrastructure to meet unfunded federal mandates. More support in the form of state grants and financing to municipalities and rebates to individual residents must be given in order to keep up with these demands. Too much water is lost to aging pipes and inefficient plumbing fixtures to sustainably manager our water. Yet we must also review our regulations and realign incentives to encourage individual and district-scale financing and governance solutions that tap greywater for toilet or irrigation needs. Less expensive methods of dealing with stormwater than traditional engineering--through green infrastructure and low impact development strategies--ought to be fully integrated into state-funded projects, as well as supported on the local level. Working in concert with one another, these new policies can work to clean our water, curb our usage, treatment and associated energy costs, and create healthier, more beautiful communities.

Transportation

If we are to grow and develop sustainably--as much in health and happiness as in GDP--we must truly transform our transportation system. Too much energy and land is wasted, too much human health and lives sacrificed, too many waking or half-awake hours lost to our outdated and wrong-headed approach to moving people and goods around the Commonwealth. A good transportation system would prioritize people over private vehicles, value freedom and a more just public realm over congestion and fewer travel options, support local economies over transnational corporations, prize land use efficiency over Walmart sprawl, and create beautiful public spaces rather than hot-topped parking lots. A reformed transportation system will require significant resources and that the true cost of every mode is made transparent. Yet it can also dramatically improve the quality of our lives and where we live. Here are a few ideas that will help get us where we want to go:

Complete Streets

The last several decades has seen the design of streets decline, as public officials and traffic engineers have sought, sometimes inadvertently, to accommodate automobiles over the needs of pedestrians. This has come at great cost to the success of many downtowns and town centers, traditional commercial squares and villages, because in order to support significant commercial life on "Main Street", streets need to welcome and support pedestrian activity. Poor design has also, as it turns out, come at a great cost to individual health. As roads have widened, so have drivers' belts. The Governor's budget this year proposes to advance the laudable goals of the recent GreenDOT plan and Healthy Transportation Compact to increase active transportation (walking and biking) by creating a "Complete Streets" certification. Local communities would qualify for additional grant money when they proactively design and construct streets and street networks that fairly balance the needs of all users. This is a good starting point, but as your Lieutenant Governor, I would also seek to review state projects to see to it that the goals we set are actually met.

Public Transit

Clearly our current public transit system, the MBTA and regional transit authorities require significant investments to modernize. The more passengers our public transit system can handle, the more efficiently and freely people can move around Massachusetts. The presence of public transit also leads to increased land values, economic development, social and economic justice, higher levels of trust, and a more positive impact upon our natural environment. Ironically, the way to lessen congestion on our roads will be to invest more in the MBTA and regional transit authorities than in widening roads or adding lanes, unless solely dedicated to buses. The better integration of relatively simple and readily available technology into a more comprehensive transit system can further tip real and perceived convenience in favor of public transit. Lastly, we ought to consider further how our policies sustainably develop a culture of transit use with appropriate pricing structures to encourage greater use in emerging and future generations, while promoting equitable use among senior and disabled populations. Transportation demand management policies through the state university and community college system and other state agencies and institutions can certainly begin working toward this goal.

A Fare Share

In recent years, debate about public transit has centered on the question of how we fund it. Some have suggested that the system must pay for itself, and yet the same logic has rarely been applied to the highway and road system which has largely promoted private automobile travel over all other modes. We must therefore shift our thinking about what are now considered "subsidies" to public transit, and understand how heavily subsidized automobile use already is. Working within current total spending on transportation, there can be a better balance among all modes, but there will also need to be an overall increase in revenue to balance the need for greater investment. The revenue from an increase in pollution and gas taxes can realign incentives while clearing the way for cleaner modes of travel. A local option could allow cities and towns to assess an impact fee for development where no access to public transit exists in order to support its expansion. Ideally, the state would link public funding to municipalities that seek to maximize the public investment with corresponding zoning, good street design, and rightly-aligned parking policies. For example, former Secretary of Transportation Fred Salvucci has proposed a solution to partially close the funding deficit for the MBTA (which was given responsibility for some of the debt for the Central Artery Tunnel project) with revenue from MassPort parking fees, because the users of parking disproportionately benefitted from the "Big Dig" construction.

By reordering our transportation priorities and raising sufficient revenue to meet our current and future needs, we can put Massachusetts on a path toward more sustainable development. With better street design for people rather than cars, local cities and towns can begin to see street "improvements" less as a necessary expense which cuts into its annual and capital budgets, and more as a vital investment which will continue to pay dividends in local net "new growth," increased property values, and human health and satisfaction. Because good design with appropriately-scaled lighting, slow speeds, street trees, and ample walking and biking space can better bind people to a place, make people feel safer, comfortable, more at home.

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