39 
development authorities.“ In other words, the idea of municipal 
industrial finance commission was extended to encompass all the cities 
and towns in a given regional planning area. (See map 2 in ch. 2 for 
outline of regional planning areas in Massachusetts.) The proposed 
legislation failed to receive the necessary support and ultimately 
it failed to pass. However, in 1969 one regional planning agency, the 
Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Planning Agency, did succeed 
in getting special legislation passed which empowered them to assume 
the responsibilities and powers of an economic and industrial develop- 
ment authority. Such an economic development authority is author- 
ized to assume the duties, obligations, and responsibilities of a title IV 
redevelopment area designated pursuant to the Public Works and 
Economic Development Act of 1965. 
If enabling legislation such as that proposed by the Department of 
Commerce and Development could be passed, most of the State would 
be subsumed under one or another regional, economic development 
authority. New community development proposed within an agency’s 
jurisdiction would be planned and coordinated by the regional planning 
and economic development authority. (Sample legislation is provided 
in app. D.) 
Political feasibility 
Past experience seems to indicate that there is not much support for 
the establishment of regional planning and economic development 
authorities. However, the experience of the Southeastern Mass- 
achusetts Regional Planning Agency indicates that giving such powers 
to regional planning agencies is politically feasible. The passage of 
enabling legislation (as opposed to the special legislation which was 
passed in the case of southeastern Massachusetts) would be possible 
if an effort was made to educate the public. The department of com- 
merce and development has no explanation of why the proposed 
enabling legislation failed to receive the wide-spread support in the 
past. 
Financial feasibility 
Regional planning agencies are currently functioning in Massa- 
chusetts (see app. Ei for a discussion of the legal basis for regional 
planning in Massachusetts). They are funded by per capita assess- 
ments on each member locality. Legislation which would alter existing 
regional planning agencies and bestow upon them the powers of a 
regional development authority would not empower these agencies to 
issue bonds. At present the State does not offer tax incentives to 
industry, in the usual sense of the term, nor does it authorize local 
governmental units to do so. Local governments are not authorized to 
issue either revenue or general obligation bonds for industrial develop- 
ment purposes in Massachusetts.” It is not proposed as part of this 
strategy to empower regional planning and development authorities to 
issue bonds. Thus, this strategy would cost no more and accomplish 
slightly more than the present approach to regional planning. 
Public benefits 
New community development under the control of regional planning 
and development authorities would at least be coordinated to a greater 
24 House bill No. 48, 1967, General Court of Massachusetts. 
% “Review of Regional Economic Research and Planning on New England,” (U.S. Department of Com- 
merce, Economic Development Administration), prepared by the New England Economic Research 
Foundation, 1968, p. K-50. 
