As 2010 is a year in which the state legislature by their rules, adjourn formal session on June 30, 2010, it will be a relatively short legislative year with some major challenges to address. In light of this short timeframe the Chamber has focused its agenda on the issues believed to be of the greatest importance.

MASSACHUSETTS STATE BUDGET. This current fiscal year budget, FY 2010 has proved to be the most difficult in recent history. The upcoming 2011 budget, beginning July 1, 2010, may be even more difficult. The current year’s budget was balanced with an increase in the State Sales Tax from 5% to 6.25%, the use of “rainy day funds” and the heavy use of federal stimulus money. Those sources will not be available, or available in much lower amounts to support  the FY ‘11 budget.

For FY ‘11, we are concentrating on reforms and prioritized spending. The Chamber will be working for changes in the following areas:

»                    Capital Gains Revenue – The Chamber has long called for restructuring  how this volatile Capital Gains revenues are used in the budget. While the Governor and legislature seem to agree, and there is a bill addressing this, HB 4142, no reform in this area has been enacted. 2010 is the year to remove dependence on these revenues partially because Capital Gains revenues are at the lowest level in eight years. The Chambers outline for reform is:

• Segregate 100% of capital gains revenues into a separate Capital Gains Account;
• Appropriate out of the account a large majority of these funds to areas such as capital projects and unfunded liabilities (pensions and retiree health care) based upon a percentage formula.

»                    Pension Reform HB4439, HD4825 – The Chamber congratulates the legislators and the administration for tackling pension reforms in 2009, a good first step. The extensive study published by the Pension Reform Commission addresses further opportunities for cost savings. Those recommendations, many contained in the referenced bills must now be enacted. 

»                    Municipalities Heath Care – Lastly, we believe that allowing municipalities to better manage their health care offerings outside of collective bargaining should be enacted. This technique has worked well on the state level without harm to valuable employees and municipalities should be given the same opportunity.

WORKPLACE ISSUES. The cost of doing business in Massachusetts impedes efforts to create jobs and grow our economy which are so important to our state’s fiscal and economic health.

Fair and effective reform is possible. As an example just look at Workers Compensation costs. Twenty years ago workers comp costs were through the roof.  Through the persistent efforts of the Chamber and other business associations, meaningful reforms were made by the legislature without harm to workers and Massachusetts has moved from being one of the three highest cost states for Workers Compensation to the bottom 25%.  

»                    Unemployment Insurance – Reforms such as those that were successfully made to Workers Compensation now need to be made in the Unemployment Insurance (UI) area. The Chamber acknowledges that this account is currently running a deficit due to the extraordinary times and will have to be replenished. At the same time, it is not the present downturn in the economy that makes Massachusetts in the top three states in unemployment cost per employee; rather it is the system itself. The Chamber calls upon the Legislature to make reforms to the system in those areas that make unemployment insurance so uncompetitive, unsustainable and costly in Massachusetts. Some areas to reform, many of which are included in HB1814 are:

• Time spent employed in order to qualify for benefits. Massachusetts currently requires less time than most states;
• Tightening the use of the solvency assessment fund, thereby reducing the solvency assessment to employers. This assessment is often as much, if not more than the UI cost especially to firms not using the fund often;
• Establish a more truly reflective assessment chart.

»                    Cori Law –  Changes to the CORI Law have been pending in the legislature for two years now. The Chamber believes these bills try to address a perceived problem that does not exist. Chamber members’ currently hire people who have criminal histories.  These employers must have CORI information access to make informed hiring decisions. Bills resulting in less information would not be helpful. The Chamber calls upon the legislature to use great care to avoid making it even more difficult for businesses to hire those with criminal histories.

»                    Triple Damages – Passage of HB3883/SB719 which would reverse the legislation that made Massachusetts the only state to award triple damages for all payroll violations is essential.  Senator Knapik is a sponsor and the Governor supported this action last year.

»                    Paid Sick Leave HB1815, HB1816, SB688 – Bills such as these remove elements of discretion from employers: employers who realize what they need to do to attract and retain employees.

HEALTH CARE.  The issues listed below, while health care related, are also serious cost of doing business issues and severely impact a business’ ability to be competitive. The Chamber believes the enacted health care reforms of 2006 continue to be a success, although as in any legislation some changes are required. The Chamber’s outline for those changes are:

»                    Minimal Creditable Coverage HB1073 – Modifications to the minimal creditable coverage section of the law need to be made allowing for more exemptions when employees have coverage through some other source or forgo the offered coverage. The original language allowed one of two tests to be met for an exemption. Legislation should be passed reverting to the original language of the law allowing passage of either of the two tests to permit a business to be exempt.

»                    Healthy Lifestyles – The Chamber will continue emphasizing its call for legislation that allows all business, small, medium, and large to enter into healthy lifestyle programs that reward the employee and employer with lower rates if certain healthy lifestyle benchmarks, such as cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. are consistently met. There are models for this already in place in very large corporations in Massachusetts and nationwide.

»                    Aggregating Business Groups – Aggregating small businesses into larger groups should be allowed.  This would give business another tool in trying to keep health care costs down. It would also help put into practice the healthy life style initiative explained above.

As was noted, the formal legislative session ends on June 30, 2010  There will be other that the Chamber will weigh in on as needed. We will continue to oppose bills that we have in the past that will be harmful to the business environment such as the Nurse to Patient Ratio Bill.

Additionally, the chamber will continue to monitor proposed federal bills.  For instance, the chamber has weighed in on its opposition to the so called Card Check legislation and will continue monitoring that bill and several others.

PROGRAMS. The Chamber will continue to host legislative programs in 2010 that encourage our members to get involved in the legislative process. They are as follows:

• Outlook – This event, held early each year, gives a look at the year ahead on the federal and state level and is the largest such program in Western Massachusetts.
• The Beacon Hill Summit – Chamber members will once again travel to Boston in the spring for a full day of activities at the State House. Hosted by Senator Stephen Buoniconti, this event gives members the unique opportunity to meet one-on-one with top legislators and administrators.
• Washington Symposium – In September Congressman Richard Neal will once again host the Chamber for our Washington Symposium; a full day of conversation with high level elected and administration in our nations capital.

The Chamber has a very ambitious legislative agenda as listed in this brochure Members of the Chamber’s Legislative Steering Committee that actively oversee the agenda are listed in this brochure. Please thank them and join them in their efforts. The Chamber’s staff person overseeing government affairs is:

Jeffrey S. Ciuffreda

Vice President, Government Affairs

Email. Ciuffreda@myonlinechamber.com

Direct telephone number: 413-755-1312