On July 31, the state legislative session for 2008 officially came to a close. Due to the fall elections, and under legislative rules, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and State Senate are not scheduled to meet again in formal sessions until January 2009.

Over the past year, the Chamber has been a lead advocate for business on multiple competitiveness issues.

Despite a series of anti-competitive proposals that would hamper job creation during a difficult economy, the Chamber and our partners have been able to a) secure some important wins for employers and b) blunt the impact of some of the most onerous new burdens.

At best, however, this was a very mixed legislative session – and it signifies that even greater efforts must be made to ensure the competitiveness of Massachusetts employers.

The following is an end-of-the-session report on the Chamber’s policy achievements:

·         Achieved unemployment insurance rate relief, saving employers $150 million;

·         Successfully advocated for passage of life science legislation, including Chamber-sponsored net operating loss provision;

·         Secured corporate tax rate relief & mitigated impact of tax policy changes;

·         Helped block overreaching regulation of chemicals used in manufacturing;

·         Effectively lobbied for health care cost containment provisions – including electronic medical records and loan forgiveness for health care professionals;

·         Collaborated to defeat costly nurse staffing bill;

·         Achieved adoption of minute clinic regulations;

·         Defeated burdensome regulations on research labs;

·         Helped prevent adoption of CORI reform legislation that would have negatively impacted employers;

·         Provided a comprehensive & independent analysis of casino gaming;

·         Preserved & streamlined affordable housing production law; and

·         Secured substantial increases in key federal research accounts.

While there were achievements over the past year, the employer community also endured legislative setbacks.

The passage of treble damages legislation, changes to corporate tax policy (which resulted in $300 million in new taxes on employers, coupled with $200 million in future rate relief), adjustments to the health care reform law (which will result in up to $89 million in new employer contributions), and the passage of research reporting requirements that could harm the competitiveness of the region’s biotech industry were opposed by the Chamber and other business groups.

In the months ahead, the Chamber will be working to mitigate the harmful effects of these new provisions, and will continue to advance a number of policy initiatives at the state, local, and federal levels.

These initiatives include:

·         Improving the regulatory climate governing the financial services industry;

·         Working to defeat the income tax repeal ballot question;

·         Advancing policies to increase the availability of skilled workers; and

·         Securing robust FY 2009 funding levels in key federal research accounts.

As the Chamber develops its 2009 legislative agenda, it will focus on measures that make Massachusetts more competitive in the critical areas of costs and worker skills. The Chamber will keep members updated on policy initiatives through regular policy updates.

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