NORTHAMPTON — A $4 million research and education regional simulation laboratory for nursing students and $30 million to support the development of a regional food hub, both to be located on the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst, are priority projects placed in the recently adopted Senate economic development bill by Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton.

With a focus on enhancing health care in western Massachusetts, preserving farmland and helping out area farmers, Comerford said on July 24 that she appreciates that the $2.86 billion in bond authorizations included in “the act relative to strengthening Massachusetts’ economic leadership” will benefit the region’s economy.

“I do think this bill has a significant amount of regional equity baked into it,” Comerford said. “It’s nuanced, it’s sophisticated and it’s very fine-tuned.”

The bill, adopted unanimously by the Senate earlier in July, includes $100 million for a new Rural Development Fund and creating a rural development program in the Executive Office of Economic Development, $400 million for MassWorks public infrastructure program that communities will be able to tap into, and $100 million for local economic grants for cities and towns.

Comerford said the $4 million bond authorization for the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at UMass will pay off long-term by strengthening the nursing workforce in the area.

Following a Healthcare Workforce Summit held at UMass last fall, Comerford sought to focus on how western Massachusetts trains and educates the next generation of nurses and creates a pipeline of nurses for hospitals, doctor’s offices and primary care locations.

“This is saying to the Health and Human Services secretary and the governor’s office that there is economic good from the well-being of hospitals,” Comerford said.

Nurses, she said, need classroom and practical training at the highest levels, but also the simulation spaces where they can work with the best technology. “There is a need for more training space for nurses so they can scale up the number of nurses they are turning out,” Comerford said.

To preserve farmland and diversify revenue streams and farm ownership in the state, the economic development bill has provisions endorsed by Comerford, such as allowing the state’s Department of Agricultural Resources to buy and hold farmland while a farm buyer is identified, and specifying that land used to create products from horticultural crops, such as a kitchen to turn strawberries into strawberry jam and the land from which this strawberry jam is sold, should be assessed and taxed as horticultural land, rather than as developable property.

Comerford said the significant farm policy in the bill is particularly good for western Massachusetts, aligned with the $100 million Rural Development Fund that will bolster small businesses, farms and food systems in the region. Helping farmers is critical, she said, as they average earnings of 95 cents for every $1 they spend, causing some to get out of farming and sell their land.

The $30 million for the regional food hub will expand the university’s role in the agricultural, food science and food system, where climate innovations may be developed.

Comerford observes it’s appropriate for UMass to have this role since it’s already the top food science program in the country.

“This would help spur the kind of growth that UMass wants to do in its food science department to meet economic development,” Comerford said.

Other bond authorizations Comerford added to the bill include $4 million for water system needs in Northfield, $1 million for replacing the King Street Bridge in Royalston and $1 million for repairs and renovations to Academy of Music in Northampton.

The money for the performance venue has been included in previous bond bills but has never been appropriated. This marks a renewal of the commitment. Comerford said the academy is a cornerstone of Northampton and the region’s, cultural economy.

As part of drafting the legislation and adding amendments, Comerford worked with other legislators from the region, including State Reps. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, and Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, to ensure that smaller towns will benefit.