July 2009

In this Issue:

Greater Boston Chamber Policy News

The Chamber’s 2009 legislative agenda is focused on four goals: strengthening Greater Boston’s workforce, making the region’s business climate more competitive, strengthening critical industries, and fixing Greater Boston’s infrastructure. Issues related to all four goals are currently before state government. The Chamber is working with member companies, government leaders, and other business groups to advance those issues, as outlined below.

Talent Retention: Chamber co-hosts a special internship event with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

In a Boston Globe op-ed on July 29, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston First Vice President & COO Paul Connolly and Chamber President & CEO Paul Guzzi highlighted the importance of ‘Setting Boston up for the future.' The two organizations have been working together to strengthen the region’s workforce by promoting internships in order to increase the supply of highly-educated workers. Read the op-ed here.

Last week, the Chamber and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston hosted more than 300 college students at the Bank to highlight the city as a great place to live and work in an effort to retain young talent. During the event, the interns received advice to help them forge their path in Greater Boston’s business community, and networked with hundreds of their peers from different schools and industries.

Convincing talented workers to come to Boston for school or internships is easy, but keeping them here is a challenge. Research by the Bank and the Chamber has shown that most college graduates in Massachusetts that leave the region after graduation do so because of job opportunities elsewhere. 

The Chamber and the Bank are working to address this issue on several fronts: 

• By convening a spring 2009 summit of employers and colleges & universities to strengthen connections among them and help to ensure that employer needs are properly aligned with student talent;
   

• By working to enhance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, in order to ensure that students’ skills are adequate for a changing local and global economy; and
   

• By planning an online clearinghouse to connect skilled interns and young graduates with job opportunities. 

The Chamber, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, will continue to develop and advance a strategy for retaining the region’s best talent.
 

Corporate Tax Reform: Chamber working to change combined reporting law  

Earlier this month, the Chamber testified in support of HB 2694, An Act Making Technical Corrections to the Combined Reporting Law. The final combined reporting regulation released by the Department of Revenue in May contained rules that will make it more difficult for multistate and multinational companies to invest, hire, and compete in Massachusetts. The Chamber believes corrective legislation is needed to address a number of problematic regulatory provisions including:

• Disallowing legitimate deductions for companies subject to the foreign income inclusion provision;
   

• Limiting the foreign intercompany inclusion provision to the inclusion of income, not losses, from intercompany transactions;
   

• Expanding the water’s edge group by requiring taxable members of a combined group that do not make a worldwide election to take into account both taxable and non-taxable members; and
   

• Restricting the sharing of tax credits and NOL carry-forwards with financial institutions and utility corporations that are part of a combined group.

The Chamber will continue to work with members of the Legislature's Revenue Committee and other state leaders to improve corporate tax policy, to make Massachusetts a more competitive and welcoming place for business.

Health Care Reform: Chamber focuses on cost containment

The Chamber continues to be a leader in the health care reform effort, and is now focused on addressing the issue of cost containment.  Strategies such as expanding the development of electronic medical records and increasing the use of evidence-based medicine provide the opportunity to better control costs and improve the quality of care.  At the same time, it is important to avoid strategies that would prove to be harmful to the system, such as government price controls or government regulation of rates.

The state's Special Commission on the Health Care Payment System - established by last year's health care cost containment bill – recently released its final recommendations for changing the way health care is paid for in Massachusetts. The commission recommended a move toward a global payment system in order to improve the quality of care and help contain rising health care costs. Under a global payment system, health care providers would receive a single payment for a patient's care each year, rather than payments for each medical service or procedure.

While the Chamber supports a move away from fee-for-service and toward a global payment system, many questions remain about how such a system would be designed and implemented. In the months ahead, the Chamber will continue to work on this issue and make certain that the concerns of the employer community are addressed.

Education: Chamber supports increasing the number of charter schools

The Chamber and the employer community have continued to support increasing the number of charter schools in an effort to advance public education and strengthen the state’s workforce. Charter schools are a key component to expanding the talent pipeline that will sustain Greater Boston’s economy. 

Several pieces of legislation have been recently filed which address the need to challenge the status quo in order to greatly improve the state's education system.  On July 16, Governor Deval Patrick filed legislation to raise the cap on charter schools and introduce new readiness schools.  The Chamber issued a statement on the proposal, offering support for efforts to advance public education in the commonwealth (read the statement here). On July 21, the Chamber submitted testimony at a charter school hearing on HD. 4474, An Act to Reform Education in Public Schools through the Creation of In-District Charter Schools with Pay-for-Performance - the proposal put forward by Boston Mayor Tom Menino (read the testimony here).

The Chamber supports legislation that would:

The Chamber will continue to work with administration officials, legislative leaders, and all interested parties to provide more innovation in the public schools and strengthen educational opportunities for children in the Commonwealth.

Energy: Chamber continues working to streamline greenhouse gas reporting regulations

The Chamber continues working with members and DEP officials to streamline implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008.  In recent months, the Chamber has advocated for revisions to Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulation (310 CMR 7.71) in an effort to lower compliance costs, facilitate implementation for both regulated entities and the state, and preserve regulatory and legislative intent.  While these Chamber-supported revisions were partially but not fully addressed in the final reporting regulation released in June, DEP announced it will consider further clarifications and revisions to key reporting provisions based on the Chamber’s recommendations.

Massachusetts energy costs remain among the very highest in the nation – a competitive disadvantage which continues to impact businesses of all size and industry and hinder job growth and expansion in the Commonwealth. This cost structure could be further impacted by the regulatory implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act in the months ahead. As a result, the implementation of this law must be viewed in part through the lens of its impact on the regulatory burden and business costs borne by Massachusetts employers. The Chamber will continue working with the DEP and stakeholders as this important regulatory process moves forward.   

For more information on the Chamber’s policy agenda, contact Jim Klocke, executive vice president, Tim Sweeney, director of public policy, or Sarah Lanning, assistant director of economic development.

Inside the Chamber

On July 23, Jim Hunt, chief of environment and energy for the City of Boston, addressed the Chamber's Development Committee. He discussed sustainability initiatives recently implemented by the City of Boston, particularly in the areas of green building policy and renewable energy and efficiency.  

Upcoming Chamber Policy and Government Affairs Events

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