Editorial: Legislative Action Focuses On State’s Business Strengths, Shortfalls
When a professional sports franchise prepares for its upcoming season, its goal is to solidify its strengths and find ways to shore up its weaknesses.
Viewing the business climate in Massachusetts through that lens, Massachusetts has some work to do, and we don't have an offseason to make important changes. A recent survey by CNBC found a couple of alarming weaknesses when it ranked the Bay State 28th among the 50 states for business, a dizzying drop from its No. 6 ranking in 2011. Massachusetts' rank for infrastructure and transportation fell to 45th from 29th, and its “business friendliness” ranking dropped to No. 29 from No. 15. As for the strengths, Massachusetts held its top-10 rankings for access to capital, education, as well as technology and innovation.
So, amid last week's 11th-hour flurry of bills that closed out this year's legislative session on Beacon Hill were measures that should address the drops in key categories:
• A transportation bond bill that allocates $750 million for highway repairs and upgrades, $11 million for rail and transit improvements, and $300 million for local projects that can boost business, including $250,000 toward improving the John Fitch Highway in Fitchburg, and $100,000 to boost economic development along Route 140 in Boylston.
• Another sales tax-free weekend Aug. 11 and 12 to boost retail sales, (See Briefing, Page 4) a small — but noteworthy — gesture to make our retailers more competitive with neighboring states and web-based competition.
• $2 million for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to establish an entrepreneur and start-up venture capital mentoring program and to help establish a talent pipeline program that provides paid internships to technology startups and innovation-driven companies.
• $5 million toward a Workforce Competitive Trust Fund that will sharpen job skills of workers with less than a bachelor's degree.
To its credit, the Legislature halted efforts to expand the bottle deposit law by including water and non-carbonated beverages, which would have done businesses more harm than good by tacking on unnecessary costs.
The wild card in the end-of-July countdown was the health care cost control bill, which addresses business friendliness and the cost of doing business (CNBC ranks Massachusetts next-to-last), and quality of life (rank: 11th).
Supporters said the bill will overhaul the payment system, force more patient-centered care systems and save $200 billion over 15 years by keeping cost increases in line with economic growth. Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez told the State House News Service that the cost-growth goals in the bill — cutting price growth in half by 2016 — were “achievable” without hurting the health care industry, one of the most important sectors of Central Massachusetts' economy.
In a statement, the Massachusetts Hospital Association said the bill “sets out difficult challenges that will have to be met if we are to improve the delivery and affordability of health care while continuing to support a recovering economy.” But it also hopes resulting rules will “not unintentionally create barriers that will hinder progress and increase costs.”
Health care touches all business sectors and is key to the Bay State's quality of life. We hope the deployment of this new legislation will strengthen it and make it more competitive, and not cause a further drag on how business gets done here.
We aren't driven to react to all-too-often superficial measures of our state's competitiveness. However, we need common-sense changes to the way we do business. Investments in tired infrastructure, fuel for growth and reforms to out-of-control health care costs all add up to a step forward for Massachusetts. We hope our CNBC scorecard shows marked improvement by 2013.
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