The Massachusetts Legislature wrapped up its two-year session near sunrise this morning by passing both a $626 million economic development bill and a $16.5 billion transportation bond measure that, due to aggressive advocacy by AIM and others, did not raise corporate minimum taxes.

The flurry of activity ended the COVID-dominated 2019-2020 session without any broad-based increase in business taxes. But a new session that begins today is expected to initiate an epic battle over the taxation of all types of business in the commonwealth.

The economic development bill includes $50 million in funding for transit-oriented housing, $30 million for a loan program similar to the federal Paycheck Protection Program for businesses hurt by COVID-19, and funding for job training, tourism, technology and advance manufacturing. AIM is pleased that the bill omits an overreaching patent-troll proposal that would have chilled legitimate patent claims from companies and institutions.

A cornerstone of the bill is a proposal from Governor Charlie Baker to increase production of moderately priced housing by lowering the threshold for local boards to approve zoning bylaw changes to a simple majority. The governor has pushed for years for the change as one that is essential to meet his goal of creating 135,000 new units of housing by 2025 to ease the housing crunch, especially around Greater Boston.

The transportation bond bill is intended to help finance projects from paving local roads to the reconstruction of the Massachusetts Turnpike through Allston. Lawmakers responded to pushback from the business community and omitted a proposal developed in the House of Representatives to fund transportation projects by increasing the corporate minimum tax.

Both bills now go to Governor Baker for consideration.

Disappointingly, lawmakers did not act on a proposal from Baker to freeze Unemployment Insurance rates for two years to avoid a projected 60 percent increase brought about by the COVID recession. The state projects that the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, primarily financed by direct and reimbursing employer contributions, will be in the red by $5 billion at the end of 2022 and remain insolvent by about $3 billion as far out as 2024.

“Massachusetts employers are pleased that the Legislature did not increase broad-based business tax at a time when many companies are struggling to survive the cataclysmic events of 2020,” said John Regan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

“At the same time, we remain concerned about comments from public officials about the need to raise taxes during the next session of the Legislature. Those increases, combined with a surge in Unemployment Insurance costs, will push thousands of companies over the edge.”