Massachusetts governor pitches $400M to support research funding

Dive Brief: 

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has announced plans to propose legislation that would devote $400 million to support research across the state amid federal funding uncertainty. 
The money would be split evenly across two funds: a multiyear research funding pool to support projects at universities, hospitals and research institutions, and an additional funding reserve to support research and jobs at the state’s public colleges. 
“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,” Healey said in the Thursday announcement. 

Dive Insight: 

Healey’s proposal comes as the Trump administration freezes and terminates research grants at universities in its crosshairs to pressure them into making policy changes, along with cutting funding more broadly across major scientific agencies. 

In Massachusetts alone, the Trump administration has terminated research grants valued at nearly $583 million, according to a recent analysis from the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. When they were canceled, the grants had $252 million left to be paid out. 

Overall, the Trump administration has terminated research awards valued at roughly $6.9 billion across the U.S., the analysis found. Of that, $3.3 billion of the canceled funding hadn’t yet been disbursed. The analysis did not account for frozen research grants, suggesting the level of hampered research funding across the nation may rise even higher. 

Healey’s announcement pointed to the state’s economic reliance on federal research funding. The state received nearly $8.6 billion in federal research funding in fiscal year 2024, which supported roughly 81,000 jobs and $7.8 billion in household income, recent findings from the University of Massachusetts Amherst found. 

Moreover, Massachusetts accounts for 1 in 10 research and development jobs in the U.S., according to the announcement. 

Half of the $400 million would go toward a one-time funding pool to help pay for projects at universities, hospitals and research institutions. This pool would also support a one-year fellowship program for early-career researchers, the announcement said. 

That pot of money would be housed at MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency, and Massachusetts would use interest from its state stabilization fund to finance it. 

The other half of the $400 million would be housed in a bridge funding reserve for the state’s public colleges. That funding would support research costs, partnerships and jobs, including positions for graduate and postdoctorate students. 

That fund would be paid for from revenue from Massachusetts’ Fair Share, which adds a 4% tax on those with incomes above $1 million. 

Several university leaders in the state praised the proposal. They include the president of the University of Massachusetts, the state’s public university system, as well as leaders of private institutions including Boston University, Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

“Advances that spring from our universities, hospitals and laboratories benefit all Americans; if we see these institutions diminished or compromised, all Americans stand to lose,” MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a statement on Thursday. 

However, Kornbluth noted that “no other source can replace federal funding for sheer scale.”

MIT has seen over $6 million worth of federal grants terminated, according to Center for American Progress data. 

Massachusetts is also home to Harvard University, which the Trump administration has cut off from all future federal research funding. Earlier this month, Harvard officials said the Trump administration’s actions combined with recent congressional moves, such as raising the endowment tax wealthy institutions pay, could cost the university $1 billion a year.