By Brooke Thomson
President and CEO 

The rest of the world may be on summer vacation, but the AIM Government Affairs team is hard at work shepherding important business-related bills as the Massachusetts Legislature heads toward the end of formal sessions on July 31. 

Beacon Hill operates on two-year sessions that end in July of even-numbered years. That means the imminent conclusion of 2023-2024 formal sessions will bring a surge of conference committee deliberations, negotiations and votes on matters ranging from housing to economic development. 

It’s during “crunch time” periods like these that the unique expertise and resources of an organization like AIM make a difference for member employers. Stephanie Swanson, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs at AIM, and her unparallelled team of Sam Larson, Magda Garncarz and Sarah Mills work tirelessly with lawmakers on your behalf to support legislation that stimulates the growth of the Massachusetts economy. 

The 2023-2024 has already produced one major victory for employers. The Legislature last year passed, and Governor Maura Healey signed, the first major tax reduction in more than a decade. The measure provides some $561 million in relief this year through a reduction in the short-term capital gains tax rate from 12 percent to 8.5 percent, exemption of estates worth less than $2 million from the estate tax and transition to single-factor apportionment for all businesses. 

A handful of initiatives with major potential impact on the economy remain on the table. Some of these bills have been passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives and are now in conference committees charged with hammering out final versions. Others have passed one chamber of the Legislature and await action by the other. 

Here is the current list of key issues: 

Affordable Homes Act (Conference Committee) 

AIM members have expressed concern that the soaring cost of housing in Massachusetts is driving our best and brightest employees to pull up stakes for less expensive regions of the country. Both the Senate and House have passed multi-billion housing bond bills that strike a delicate balance by making investments that will help reduce the prohibitive cost of housing in the state without imposing any anti-competitive taxes. AIM successfully persuaded lawmakers to omit from the bill a proposed transfer tax on real estate transactions worth more than $1 million, a policy that would have the opposite effect of increasing housing. 

Economic Development (Conference Committee) 

A $4.1 billion economic-development bill passed by the House and a $2.8 billion package passed last Thursday by the Senate provide different levels of funding for life sciences, climate tech and other industries. The House measure also includes tax credits, while establishing a $10 million-per-year statewide internship tax credit and providing $400 million to the Mass Works Infrastructure Program. 

Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act (Conference Committee) 

AIM led negotiations with wage-equity advocates on a compromise bill that puts Massachusetts in the forefront of paying workers fairly without punitive measures against employers. Both the House and Senate have passed a version of the bill, which is now in conference committee. 

Fiscal Year 2025 State Budget (Conference Committee) 

Lawmakers approved separate versions of a $58 billion state budget for the Fiscal Year that began July 1. Legislative leaders continue to iron out differences while the commonwealth operates on a temporary budget resolution. The budget proposals include 230 policy riders that passed one chamber but not the other. 

Health Care (House has passed, awaiting Senate debate) 

The House and Senate have passed bills addressing separate elements of health-care cost and delivery. The House passed a suite of health measures, including one intended to prevent a crisis like the one now engulfing Steward Health Care and to update measures that provide oversight on health-care costs in the state. The Senate adopted a separate bill to lower the cost of prescription drugs. The Senate is expected to consider an omnibus health-care bill this week that will include elements from both the market review legislation and the prescription-drug legislation. Once the Senate passes its version of the bill it will be conferenced and sent to the governor before July 31. 

Climate (Senate has passed, awaiting House debate) 

The Senate passed a climate bill in June that would accelerate the process for approving new electric infrastructure, limit the expansion of natural gas, speed the installation of chargers for electric vehicles, and ban the ability of third parties to sell electricity to residents. The House is expected to debate its own climate bill this week. 

The Legislature will continue to conduct informal sessions through the end of the year, but important bills generally do not move in these sessions because a single legislator can block passage. Bills not adopted during the two-year session must be re-filed and begin the legislative process again during the next session that begins in January 2025.  

AIM is proud to have led the effort to ensure that the opinions of employers are considered during these debates. Please contact Stephanie at sswanson@aimnet.org if you have comments or questions.