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H2302 • 2025

An Act to expand designation of priority development sites

An Act to expand designation of priority development sites

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The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Kristin E. Kassner
Last action
2026-03-05
Official status
Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to expand designation of priority development sites

An Act to expand designation of priority development sites By Representative Kassner of Hamilton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act to expand designation of priority development sites By Representative Kassner of Hamilton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 2302) of Kristin E.
  • Kassner for legislation to expand designation of priority development sites.
  • Municipalities and Regional Government.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-05 House

    Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means

  2. 2026-01-07 House

    Reporting date extended to Monday, March 2, 2026

  3. 2025-10-09 Joint

    Hearing rescheduled to 10/09/2025 from 01:00 PM-02:15 PM in A-1 and Virtual Hearing updated to New End Time

  4. 2025-09-17 Joint

    Hearing rescheduled to 10/09/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1 and Virtual Hearing location changed

  5. 2025-09-10 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 09/23/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in B-1

  6. 2025-07-10 Senate

    Senate concurred

  7. 2025-07-07 House

    Discharged to the committee on Community Development and Small Businesses

  8. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government

  9. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act to expand designation of priority development sites
By Representative Kassner of Hamilton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2302) of Kristin E. Kassner for legislation to expand designation of priority development sites. Municipalities and Regional Government.
Status:
Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.2302

SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 43D of the General Laws, as amended by section 176 of chapter 238 of the acts of 2024, is hereby further amended by inserting before the definition of “Governing body” the following definition:-

"Community development plan", a comprehensive, strategic plan for the future of a city or town, which shall include, but not be limited to, a plan for: (i) new housing opportunities; (ii) any new commercial or industrial economic development; (iii) existing infrastructure that needs to serve new uses, including, but not limited to uses for water, transportation, housing or electricity; (iv) transportation infrastructure; (v) climate change and resiliency; or (vi) open space.

SECTION 2. Section 3 of said chapter 43D, as appearing in section 177 of said chapter 238, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(a) In order for a property to receive a designation as a priority development site, the site or infrastructure need shall: (i) be approved by a town meeting in a town; (ii) be identified in a local comprehensive master plan, housing needs assessment, economic development plan, district or corridor plan or community development plan; (iii) be identified in a local capital improvement plan or a plan developed by a regional planning agency; or (iv) be part of a project approved by the planning board or special permit granting authority. The governing body shall file a formal proposal with the interagency permitting board. The proposal shall include: (A) a detailed description of the property; (B) attestation of the governing body’s good faith commitment to comply with this chapter; (C) written authorization of the property or utility owner as applicable; and (D) at the discretion of the governing body, a request for a technical assistance grant.

SECTION 3. Said chapter 43D is hereby further amended by inserting after section 13 the following section:-

Section 13A. (a) Technical assistance funding is intended to be a one-time grant to municipality, if the municipality has adopted expedited permitting as provided in sections 3 to 11, inclusive.

(b) A municipality shall be eligible for technical assistance funding, which may be less than the previous amounts awarded, for a second time if it has identified and successfully permitted 1 priority development site.

(c) The secretaries of the executive office of housing and livable communities, the executive office of economic development and the executive office of energy and environmental affairs, collectively, shall develop and implement a 2-year program to provide technical assistance and resources to cities and towns for the purpose of creating community development plans. Such assistance may include the provision of in-kind services or discretionary funds where appropriate.

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