The Easthampton City Council and South Hadley Select Board this week unanimously passed resolutions in support of Gov. Maura Healey’s DRIVE Initiative, a proposal that calls for responding to recent federal cuts with a $400 million state investment to grow the commonwealth’s research and innovation economy, support in-state research and create thousands of new jobs.
As part of the Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE) Initiative, Healey’s plan calls for $200 million to be placed in a funding reserve for higher education. The reserve would set aside funding to preserve and hire positions in research and teaching, including graduate, post doctorate and other early career professionals for public institutions.
The other $200 million would include a one-time multiyear research funding pool, housed at MassDevelopment, that will support research projects at hospitals, universities, and independent research institutions, as well as a one-year fellowship program for early career professionals.
“Massachusetts is the global leader in innovative research and the discovery of lifesaving cures,” Healey said in a statement. “Research funding is also foundational to the Massachusetts economy — it’s economic infrastructure here. This bill is about creating jobs across industries from construction and food services to health care and education. And in the face of uncertainty from the federal government, this is about protecting one of the things that makes Massachusetts so special — our global leadership in health care and helping families across the world.”
Launched on July 31, the act is now pending before the Legislature with multiple municipal boards beyond the Valley backing it.
While the act focuses on creating jobs for a wide range of industries, the resolutions passed in Easthampton and South Hadley focus on the public, higher education aspect.
In approving its resolution on Wednesday, several Easthampton councilors commented on the importance of public education in western Massachusetts.
“I just want to acknowledge that we have a number of young people in our community that rely heavily on our local, public universities,” Easthampton City Councilor At-Large Koni Denham said at the meeting. “This is an important item that we need to consider, to make college accessible and at the same time there are a number of people that live in Easthampton who work at our public universities.”
The resolution urges the Legislature to pass the DRIVE Initiative saying it will sustain the commonwealth’s research and innovation economy during a time of “unprecedented assault by the federal government against public higher education.”
It cites the canceling or freezing of billions of dollars in grant funding at universities and goes on to say that public schools have a responsibility to ensure costs to students that do not require them going into debilitating debt. It also says Massachusetts voters approved the Fair Share surtax — passed in 2022 — on income above $1 million to generate revenue specifically for public education and transportation.
Denham sponsored the resolution along with Precinct 5 Councilor Tamara Smith and Precinct 2 Councilor Felicia Jadczak. Denham mentioned public institutions including UMass, Westfield State and Holyoke Community College contribute massively to the economy.
“In full disclosure, we all know I work at a public university,” Smith said at the meeting. “Eighty-five percent of our graduates stay in Massachusetts to stay and work, and they stay in western Massachusetts. We have a real problem with attracting workers and attracting educators to western Massachusetts because the eastern part of the state feels we are very rural.”
Smith emphasized the importance public education has on creating health care workers, especially when older populations are growing. Precinct 3 City Councilor Thomas Peake spoke to the profound impact public education has had on his life, having graduated from Springfield Technical Community College, UMass, and being an employee at UMass while attending a graduate program there.
“I totally support it …,” Peake said about the resolution. “On a personal level, public higher education has completely transformed my life … The scale of the economic impact that these institutions have on our Valley is I think difficult for most people to really wrap their heads around until you actually see the numbers. It’s pretty staggering.”
Besides Easthampton and South Hadley, the city councils in Haverhill, Lowell and Salem have passed the same resolution in support of the act.
