Driscoll’s Third Appearance on NightSide with Dan Rea – Details Issues with Gateway Municipality Funding

APRIL 2, 2026

Senator Bill Driscoll Jr. (D-Milton) joined NightSide with Dan Rea for another segment on Wednesday, April 1st, where he detailed his work uncovering the now over $61 million in Gateway Municipalities-targeted funds that have been allocated to cities and towns that no longer qualify as Gateway Municipalities.

Making this his third appearance on NightSide, he updated Dan Rea on this most recent work, and let him know his next steps.

Listen to the segment starting at 13:04, here.

Find his most recent Press Release on these details, below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Boston – March 31, 2026 – Through further review of the Gateway Municipality initiative, Senator Bill Driscoll Jr. (D-Milton) has identified millions more intended for investment in Gateways that, since 2010, was likely provided to unqualified municipalities.

The total that Senator Driscoll has uncovered has grown from $25 million, as revealed in his January 2026 report, to now total more than $61 million. The ineligible cities and towns identified continue to remain on the official list on Mass.gov and MassINC websites, while others that clearly qualify remain off the published list.

“I have continued to review past allocations and records that have raised questions surrounding the connection between several grants and tax credit programs, and Gateway Municipality status,” says Driscoll. “Since my last report, my team and I have identified an additional $37 million, bringing the total to more than $61 million in preferential or exclusive funding intended for Gateway Municipalities provided to cities or towns that no longer meet the legal criteria to be considered a Gateway Municipality under Massachusetts General Laws (MGL).” 

Several municipalities remain designated as a Gateway Municipality despite not being eligible; conversely, there are several qualifying municipalities that for years have not been given the ability to apply for Gateway Municipality programs. Meaning, there are a number of municipalities across Massachusetts that technically qualify for these certain grant or funding opportunities but have not been able to access them; simultaneously municipalities that do not qualify have been accessing them.   

Additionally, the Senator and his team believe that the designation for a parallel set of Gateway-like municipalities, known as Similarly Situated communities, also needs immediate attention for similar reasons, as it appears to be missing several likely eligible towns. The Similarly Situated communities designation was created through the 2018 Economic Development Bond bill. The currently published list is comprised of seven cities and towns that meet some, but not all of the Gateway criteria; specifically, municipalities which have a population below 35,000, but are within eligibility for the remaining two MGL Gateway qualifiers, relative to income and educational attainment. Presently, there are no regulations or guidance publicly available for the Similarly Situated designation, leaving the category murky and with as many as 16 additional communities appearing they could meet the framework, but are omitted from the standing published list.

“First and foremost, what is important here is that our Gateway Municipality and Similarly Situated Communities laws are updated in a way that, going forward, enables consistent and accurate lists of who is eligible for the various investments and supports,” says Driscoll. “Both Gateway Municipality and Similarly Situated community lists should not be static, yet they are. No one appears to be managing the lists meant to be informed by demographic data that is ever in flux year to year. “ 

Since Senator Driscoll stoked the conversation about the need to change the Gateway MGL during a 2025 speech on the Senate floor, MassINC's subsidiary, CommonWealth Beacon, has reported on the inaccuracies of the published Gateway Municipalities list. All the while MassINC has continued to hold themselves out as an authority on this topic, promoting the Gateway Municipalities initiative on their website with that exact same list that their subsidiary reported as being incorrect. “This issue is well known at this point. Massachusetts deserves greater accountability, and I plan to file an outside section to the budget this spring aimed at revamping the Gateway Municipality statute so that any targeted state funding reaches the intended and eligible communities in the future.” says Driscoll.

The total $61.946 million in funding to municipalities that do not meet the gateway-eligible legal criteria can be broken down into three main categories: MassWorks grants, tax credits, and other grants. The MassWorks Infrastructure Program contributes the largest amount of capital funds to municipalities across the Commonwealth, focusing on public infrastructure projects. Between the program’s inception and Fiscal Year 2025, the program had a goal of awarding 50% of its total funds to projects supporting development in Gateway Municipalities, indicating that Gateway status granted applicants a competitive advantage over their non-Gateway counterparts. In this period, MassWorks has allocated $32.4 million to cities and towns that would no longer meet the legal eligibility criteria of Gateway Municipalities. Further, $15.697 million in tax credits have been awarded under the Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) and Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP), with an additional $13.59 million that has been allocated through other grant programs. 

The data demonstrates that the occurrence of funding being sent to no longer qualifying municipalities has not been due to a one-time lapse, but rather a lack of oversight that has persisted relative to managing Gateway status eligibility year-to-year and Federal census-to-census data every ten years. The situation has compounded and taken place across many years and multiple administrations. 

It is clear that the statutory framework needs to be updated to ensure the accuracy, accountability and fairness that the public deserves. Senator Driscoll will continue to work with his colleagues in the Legislature, specifically through the FY27 budget process where he intends to file amendments to make the necessary revisions to the Gateway Municipalities statute focused on best matching the law to its purpose and maximizing transparency and efficiency of state money for Commonwealth residents. 

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