The Chamber and the other major business groups are working collectively to defeat Question 1 – a binding ballot initiative to repeal the state income tax that will appear on ballots statewide this Election Day. The income tax yields $12 billion per year, which is 40% of the Massachusetts state government budget and more than the total of all wages and salaries paid to state government workers.

To support these efforts, the Chamber has joined with Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation to commission a study by Global Insight, the nationally-known economic consulting firm based in Lexington. This study will analyze the economic consequences of repealing the income tax, including the effects of reduced support for public education, lower public infrastructure spending, cuts in basic government services, and the potential for diminished private investment that could follow such cuts. An October release is planned.

The Chamber continues to work for a regulatory climate that encourages collaborative research and product marketability within the life sciences. In August, Governor Patrick signed into law a health care cost containment bill that contained stringent marketing and public reporting requirements for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries.

The Chamber remains concerned that parts of these new regulations could hinder medical research, clinical trials, and product commercialization in Massachusetts. As such, the Chamber will continue working with state elected and appointed leaders throughout the implementation process to help ensure that the forthcoming marketing and disclosure regulations complement our collectively held goal of growing Greater Boston’s life sciences cluster.

Since the Massachusetts health care reform law was adopted in 2006, the Chamber has worked to ensure that implementation of it is done in a manner that helps employers' ability to grow and create jobs.  The law to this point has been a success, extending health insurance coverage to 439,000 previously uninsured residents - with nearly half enrolling in employer-sponsored plans.

This week, the state's health care reform law received significant additional funding from the federal government with the announcement of a Medicaid waiver agreement that will grant the state $10.6 billion over the next three years.  The Chamber applauds Governor Patrick and Dr. Judy Ann Bigby, secretary of health & human services, for their extraordinary efforts to secure this critical federal funding.

The Chamber has also been working with the Patrick Administration and Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority to address proposed changes that could negatively impact employers. After extensive meetings between the Chamber, other business groups, and the Patrick Administration, new Fair Share regulations are set to be finalized that will allow companies with 50 or fewer employees to continue under the previous regulations governing the $295 per employee Fair Share assessment.  The new regulations will require companies with 51 or more full-time employees to meet both the 25 percent full-time employee take-up rate and the 33 percent premium assistance tests to avoid the assessment, unless 75% of their employees take advantage of employer-sponsored health insurance. Employers with 50 or fewer employees would remain under the current rules, requiring companies to meet just one of those two tests to avoid the assessment.

This change is significantly less onerous for small businesses than the original proposal, and reflects the continued commitment of the employer community to ensuring proper implementation of health care reform.

The Chamber has also had productive discussions with the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority on proposed changes to the state’s Minimum Creditable Coverage (MCC) standard.  The reform law’s individual mandate provision requires consumers to purchase MCC-compliant plans or face financial penalties. The Connector is considering placing restrictions on High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) – currently utilized by thousands of Massachusetts residents – which would render them non-compliant with MCC. To avoid this, the Chamber urges the Connector to classify these plans in a manner that is the equivalent to the Connector’s Bronze Level insurance plans. This would prevent micro-regulation of health insurance plans and encourage innovation in the development of health insurance products.

The Chamber will continue to work on these issues in the weeks ahead with leaders in business, health care, and state government, to ensure proper implementation of the law.