Over the past three months, the Roundtable has been working with the Healey-Driscoll Administration, the legislature, and external partners on some of the biggest issues impacting the Commonwealth. Through our Talent Agenda, we have framed conversations around the types of policy priorities and investments that help attract, retain, develop, and diversify our Commonwealth’s talent pool and pipeline to meet the needs of the current and future economy.

As we enter the final four months of the 2023-2024 legislative session, the Roundtable will be engaged on the Housing bond bill, the Economic Development bill, the FY25 state budget process, and other issues impacting the Commonwealth’s competitiveness. See below for a quick recap of what the Roundtable team has been up to so far in 2024.

MSI State House Briefing

In January, the Roundtable co-hosted a briefing at the State House with the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) and the Joint Committee on Higher Education. The briefing highlighted a report the Roundtable released in partnership with MTF in November entitled: Equitably Addressing the Workforce Crisis in MA: How to Capitalize on Minority Serving Institutions. The report provides an overview of what Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are and offers recommendations for how Massachusetts can better use these critical institutions to strengthen workforce diversity as well as meet its current and future labor force needs.

At the briefing, Doug Howgate, President of MTF, provided an overview of the talent challenges impacting Massachusetts; what MSIs are; how the state can better support them; and how to coordinate connections between MSIs and employers. We were also honored to hear from two Presidents of MSIs and Roundtable members, Dr. Aisha Francis of Franklin Cummings Tech and Dr. Marcelo Suárez-Orozco of UMass Boston. This briefing presented a great opportunity to educate legislative staff about the importance of MSIs and how to better support them as the state considers ways to address our ongoing workforce challenges. Thank you to the Chairs of the Higher Education Committee, Senator Comerford and Representative Rogers, for their partnership in hosting this briefing.

Testimony

This quarter, the Roundtable submitted testimony on three member priorities, including housing, early education, and education/MCAS. The testimony summarized below was framed around a competitiveness message, highlighting the strong foundation of the state’s economy but warning of headwinds, including the high costs of living and doing business combined with alarming and persistent outmigration trends.

  • Housing: In January, Roundtable President & CEO JD Chesloff joined Brooke Thomson, President & CEO of AIM and Jay Ash, President & CEO of MACP to testify before the Joint Committee on Housing. As included in the testimony, the Roundtable noted the need to pass significant housing legislation and advised the Committee to give priority to proposals that: (1) increase production statewide; (2) target housing statewide across the income spectrum, with a focus on mixed use/workforce housing; and (3) continue to support and enforce programs and initiatives that are working like the MBTA Communities Act. Over the past year, housing costs and its impact on members’ ability to attract and retain talent has been raised as one of the top issues impacting Roundtable members. Read the Roundtable’s written testimony here.
  • Early Education: In March, JD Chesloff was invited to testify at an invitation-only Ways and Means Budget hearing relating to provisions of the FY25 budget pertaining to education. As included in JD’s remarks and testimony, the Roundtable supports the proposed early childhood budget recommendations as “an economic development issue, a workforce development issue, and a necessary component of the current and future competitiveness of the Commonwealth.” The testimony also voiced support for early college, innovation pathways, leveraging the state’s Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and other strategies for “growing our own talent pipeline through investments in proven education and workforce development initiatives.” Read the Roundtable’s testimony here.

  • Education/MCAS: Also in March, the Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions held a legislative hearing on the MCAS ballot question. The Roundtable joined business groups, employers, and other stakeholders in submitting testimony in opposition to this ballot question. As stated in our testimony, “[t]he proposal to eliminate the MCAS graduation requirement would directly impact our education system and worsen the significant talent challenges currently facing employers across the Commonwealth. As a state economy that relies on a well-educated diverse workforce, we cannot risk upending our education system in ways that would make us a national outlier.” Read the Roundtable’s written testimony here.

OpEds Highlighting Issues Impacting the State’s Competitiveness

In January, JD Chesloff co-authored two Op-Eds, one on untapped talent and one on housing. These OpEds presented yet another avenue to share policy issues of importance to Roundtable members and to continue to let stakeholders know that the business community is ready to collaborate and offer ideas and solutions.

  • OpEd: Getting sidelined talent into the game, by JD Chesloff and Doug Howgate, President of Mass Taxpayers Foundation. As stated in the OpEd, “Yes, Massachusetts has a workforce challenge. It is difficult for employers to find talent to fill open jobs. However, some solutions are here, right in front of us. Graduates of Minority Serving Institutions, foreign-educated immigrants, and parents struggling with the high cost and accessibility of child care all add up to hundreds of thousands of qualified, trained and credentialed workers eager to join the workforce but sidelined due to barriers that are preventing them from being fully employed and contributing to the state’s economy. Overcoming these obstacles will take a coordinated partnership between the public and private sectors, intentionality on the part of employers, and a collective commitment to thinking differently about how we access and hire workers. For Massachusetts to win and maintain its global competitiveness, we must get talent off the sidelines and into the game.” You can read the OpEd in the Boston Business Journal here.
  • OpEd: Business community ready to help on housing crisis, by JD Chesloff and Roundtable Board Chair Lisa Murray of Citizens. As stated in the OpEd, “Massachusetts is facing a housing crisis that is directly impacting our economy and competitiveness. The alarm is being sounded, and there is a shared urgency among public, private, and nonprofit leaders to take bold action to address it. The business community stands as a willing and engaged partner in efforts to ensure that the state actively addresses its housing affordability challenges.” The cost of housing and its impact on employers’ ability to recruit and retain talent has emerged as a top issue for Roundtable members. You can read the OpEd in CommonWealth Beacon here.