Healey Pitches $305 Million Economic Bill to Skeptical and Supportive Lawmakers

BOSTON -- May 19, 2026, Massachusetts lawmakers hear marathon testimony on Healey's $305 million Mass WINS Act. The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies held a public hearing Monday on H5386, the governor's flagship economic development bill, which contains roughly $305 million in new bond authorizations targeting applied AI, quantum computing, defense innovation, and downtown revitalization. Governor Healey, Secretary of Economic Development Eric Paley, and Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorkowitz testified in support, with Paley arguing a new Global Mass initiative could unlock up to $1 billion in outside capital through a modest anchor investment by the state pension fund MassPRIM. House Chair Carole A. Fiola and Senate Chair Barry R. Finegold presided over hours of panels spanning non-compete law, nurse licensing, autonomous vehicles, prevailing wage, housing on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, where the median single-family home hit $3.7 million in 2024, and creative workspace preservation. HubSpot co-founder Brian Halligan backed the bill's non-compete loophole closure, saying California's permissive rules helped Anthropic spin out of OpenAI to a valuation of roughly $1 trillion, while the Associated Industries of Massachusetts asked lawmakers to leave the current statute intact.