By Brooke Thomson
President & CEO

November for most people means Thanksgiving and the onset of the holiday season. Here at AIM, it signals the time when we assemble our public-policy agenda for the legislative session that will begin in January.

AIM takes seriously its responsibility to represent the interests of its 3,400 member companies during each two-year session on Beacon Hill. That means talking to members about what is most important to them and preparing a list of proposals that represent the priorities of the business community.

The process worked extraordinarily well during the just-completed 2023-2024 session as Massachusetts moved forward with initiatives that will meld competitiveness for the business community with affordability for the residents who work in our companies and live in our communities.

AIM worked closely with Governor Maura Healey and the Legislature to reduce the short-term capital gains tax rate, and to make the commonwealth a leader in wage equity and transparency. Lawmakers also passed a multi-billion housing bond bill, a comprehensive energy siting bill and an economic-development measure that invests $4.96 billion to ensure that Massachusetts builds on its strengths in life sciences and clean technology for the next decade.

The AIM Government Affairs Department under the leadership of Executive Vice President Stephanie Swanson is looking for your opinion about the issues we should pursue beginning in January. Taxes? Energy? Health costs? Transportation? Something that’s affecting your industry about which we currently don’t know?

Watch your email in December when AIM will send a formal issues survey to you and all of our 3,400 members.

People often ask me how issues make it to AIM’s legislative agenda. The answer is simple – someone picks up the phone and makes the case for including them. Behind every issue at AIM is the story of a company with an important concern seeking assistance at the often-confounding intersection of business and government. We’re looking for as much member feedback as possible before the final agenda is approved by the AIM Board of Directors.

I will then outline AIM’s policy priorities in the annual State of Massachusetts Business Address in January.

So, please contact Stephanie (sswanson@aimnet.org) or any member of the AIM staff to discuss our 2025-2026 policy agenda.