IN THE NEWS: DOWNTOWN VITALITY ACT TOWN HALL
NEW BEDFORD (11/10/23) - On Thursday, November 9, 2023, the MASSCreative Action Network hosted a town hall with Representative Tony Cabral, House Chair of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus, at the Co-Creative Center New Bedford on H.228/S.130, An Act to promote downtown vitality, known as the Downtown Vitality Act.
The town hall preceded New Bedford’s monthly AHA! night and featured a variety of speakers who spoke to the importance of the bill for downtowns, including Representative Tony Cabral, House Chair of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, Andre Leroux, Director of the Gateway Hubs Project at MassINC, Elissa Paquette of Downtown New Bedford, Inc. and owner of Calico, Ashley Occhino, Executive Director of Fall River Arts & Culture Coalition, and Jennifer Zanolli, Director of Museum Experience and Community Engagement at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The Town Hall was moderated by MASSCreative’s Executive Director, Emily Ruddock.
Co-filed with the Senate Chair of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus, Sen. John Cronin, the Downtown Vitality Act would reinvest 5% of online retailer tax revenues back into our main streets and downtowns to support staffing and operations of cultural districts, business improvement districts, main street associations, and parking benefit districts in Gateway Cities and other low-income communities.
The Downtown Vitality Act is endorsed by more than 80 individuals and cultural organizations throughout Massachusetts, including the Mass Cultural Council, MassINC, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford Art Museum, Springfield Cultural Partnership, Fall River Arts and Culture Coalition, and Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District. Both House and Senate bills are currently before the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses and had a public hearing at the State House on Monday, October 30, 2023.
Gateway Cities like New Bedford are rich in history, arts, and culture, which play a significant role in their community and economic development, and the funding provided by the Downtown Vitality Act would move their downtowns from surviving to thriving.
Visit our 2023-2024 Creative Sector Legislative Agenda page for additional information about the Downtown Vitality Act and the MASSCreative Action Network’s policy priorities.
Sign up your organization to endorse the bill and read about other ways to advocate by visiting our How You Can Support the Downtown Vitality Act page.
MEDIA HITS:
Here’s one practical way to help retailers battered by online competition (The Boston Globe)
Proposed Downtown Vitality Act focuses on strengthening low-income communities (SouthCoast Today)
Online sales $$$ eyed to shore up Mass. downtowns (WWLP)
Lawmakers are pushing to revitalize cultural districts across Mass. (Boston Business Journal)
Online Sales $$$ Eyed To Shore Up Mass. Downtowns (State House News Service)