March 28, 2024
HR Professionals: Be Mindful of Antitrust Law
By Chris Deubert Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP Maybe don’t get a drink with your competitor. These are not easy times to…
Read MoreEditor’s note – Raise Up Massachusetts, the coalition of community organizations, religious groups and labor unions behind the so-called “millionaires tax,” sent an open letter to legislators last week maintaining that “the current transportation and education funding crisis” is the responsibility of the business community. AIM President and CEO John Regan responds.
Dear Raise Up Massachusetts,
We are in receipt of your open letter to the Massachusetts Legislature regarding “significant and lasting” investments in education and transportation.
Of interest was the following sentence: “In fact, business groups are actively organizing to avoid paying their fair share.”
Given that we worked together for months to craft a compromise on paid family and medical leave, I believe that your letter represents a serious statement of position and concern, rather than a political stunt. We spent too many hours sitting across the bargaining table from one another for me to question the fact that you believe that businesses do not pay their fair share.
But that assertion does not comport with facts:
Thousands of hard-working Massachusetts employers, from software startups to corner grocery stores, spend every day paying their fair share to the commonwealth by providing economic opportunity and prosperity from Boston to the Berkshires.
These employers understand the need to address intractable issues such as transportation and education, but they also understand that the recent examples provided by”Connecticut and New Jersey prove that you cannot solve these problems by punitively taxing certain businesses or individuals.
I am delighted to engage in serious conversations with Raise Up and any other groups seeking to ensure the economic future of Massachusetts.
Sincerely,
John R. Regan, President & CEO
Associated Industries of Massachusetts