Read the documents behind Massachusetts officials’ pursuit of Aetna’s headquarters

Aug. 22--A "dynamic research core" in Cambridge, Mass. A sector focused on digital health. A top recipient of funding from the National Institutes of Health, behind only California.

Those are some of the highlights from a presentation, put together by Massachusetts officials and sent to top people at Aetna when the insurance company was deciding where to relocate.

The presentation surfaced after MassLive made a public records request for documents detailing the state's pursuit of Aetna.

Massachusetts in June lost out to New York.

But the presentation and other emails offer a look at how Massachusetts economic development court a company. MassLive made a similar request last year for documents laying out the state's successful attempt to draw in General Electric.

The public records request also turned up an additional presentation pointing to 10 breweries and seven distilleries; museums in Boston, Worcester and North Adams; and Logan Airport having 75 non-stop destinations in the US, with 60-minute flights to New York City and 90-minute flights to Washington, D.C.

That presentation repeatedly mentioned that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker hasn't raised taxes while working with a cabinet and Legislature that includes Democrats.

"Under state law, income tax rates automatically decline based on revenue growth targets," the presentation notes.

"Taxation: Stable and Business-Friendly," the title of one slide said.

In 2015, Aetna had expressed unhappiness with Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy seeking a corporate tax increase, and the Baker administration, in its early months, took note.

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito sent an email to fellow administration officials that said, "There's an article in Hartford Courant about raising taxes- and response from AETNA Travellers and GE. Would be nice to welcome more insurers to MA!"

The presentations and offers to Aetna from Gov. Baker and his chief of economic development, Jay Ash, are available below.

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