Over the past three months, the Roundtable’s policy work has been guided by our Talent Agenda, framed by three pillars: Talent Recruitment and Retention; Talent Development; and Talent Diversity. We have engaged on issues around tax relief, in-state tuition for immigrants, early childhood education, pay equity, apprenticeship, MCAS, and more. Below is a short summary of our activities this quarter:

Talent Recruitment and Retention

  • FY24 Budget: In June, the Roundtable submitted testimony to the House and Senate Conference Committee charged with reaching a compromise on the Commonwealth’s FY24 budget. In our testimony, the Roundtable highlighted to the Committee that there is: “enormous potential for Massachusetts to build on its greatest strength—a talented workforce and labor market. The investments this Committee includes in the final FY24 budget will be critical to achieving that goal.” In addition, the Roundtable indicated its support for the Senate’s budget proposal to provide in-state tuition to immigrants without legal status who have attended a Massachusetts high school for at least three years and graduated or obtained their GED here. You can read the Conference Committee testimony here.
  • Tax Relief: The Roundtable was part of a broad business community advocacy effort on the tax relief legislation. This included submitting testimony to the Tax Conference Committee in June and August, noting that the Roundtable “support[s] the tax proposals included in the House and Senate bills that will best position the Commonwealth, its residents, and employers, to be competitive in an increasingly global economy.” You can read the Roundtable’s testimony here.
  • Early Education: In September, JD Chesloff, President & CEO of the Roundtable and Tom Weber, Executive Director of the MA Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education testified before Senator Lewis and Representative Garlick, Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, at an invitation only informational hearing at the State House. In their testimonies, JD and Tom acknowledged the role the business community can play in early education and offered their support in identifying and promoting employer best practices and incentives for employers to support additional early education and care benefits for their employees. As noted in the Roundtable’s testimony, “high-quality, affordable and accessible childcare enables people, primarily women and caregivers, to participate in the workforce, while helping to address the dire challenge facing employers that have been unable to find workers to fill open jobs.” You can read the Roundtable’s testimony here and that of the MA Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education here.
  • Pay Equity: In October, the Roundtable joined the efforts of other business groups to support H.4109, An Act relative to salary range transparency. In our statement in support of the legislation that passed the House, the Roundtable noted “the bill passed by the House strikes the right balance between the workers it seeks to protect and the employers who will have to implement it. It is also consistent with the Roundtable’s three guiding principles of Opportunity, Equity, and Competitiveness.”

Talent Development

  • MCAS: In October, the Roundtable submitted testimony in opposition to H.495/S.246, An Act empowering students and schools to thrive. This bill would eliminate the MCAS as a graduation requirement. The Roundtable’s testimony expressed concern that lowering the high school graduation standard will worsen the existing workforce challenges that threaten the state’s economic competitiveness. You can read the Roundtable’s testimony here.
  • Workforce Meetings: The Roundtable hosted meetings with Lauren Jones, Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development regarding supporting unpaid caregivers in the workplace and strategies to improve and scale youth employment as part of the Secretary’s effort to develop a comprehensive workforce agenda and strategy for the Healey-Driscoll Administration.

Talent Diversity

  • Apprenticeship: In July, the Roundtable submitted testimony in support of H.1857, An Act relative to apprenticeship standards. In our testimony, the Roundtable highlighted how “meeting the workforce challenges of today and tomorrow will take creative solutions, like expanding apprenticeship, and a collective will to ensure that Massachusetts continues to have the diverse talent pipeline that employers throughout the Commonwealth need to grow and thrive.” You can read our testimony here.
  • Report Release: In October, the Roundtable released a report in partnership with the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University that highlights the challenges faced by foreign-educated college graduates, an untapped talent pool in the Commonwealth, and offers solutions for how this key population can fully participate in the state’s labor market. You can read the report here.

Citing and Permitting Commission

In addition to the work above, Roundtable President & CEO JD Chesloff was sworn in by Governor Healey as a member of a newly created Commission on Energy Siting and Permitting. Per the Executive Order, the Commission will “review and assess existing statutes, regulations, and administrative processes and make recommendations to the Governor concerning the reform of state and local permitting and siting processes for energy related infrastructure, including, for example, options to accelerate the deployment of clean energy generation and electric distribution and transmission infrastructure while ensuring that communities have adequate input into the siting and permitting processes.” Recommendations will be included in a final report which is due by March 31, 2024. The Roundtable looks forward to working with fellow commissioners, the Healey-Driscoll Administration, and the legislature to make Massachusetts a world leader in clean energy.

There are many key issues we anticipate engaging in this fall. The Roundtable looks forward to working with members and partners to advance issues like housing, the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Economic Development Plan, and more!