SALEM, Mass. — Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll touted the Healey administration’s efforts to to boost housing production, spur economic development and improve the state’s affordability in a speech to business leaders on Friday.
Speaking to members of the Massachusetts Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives at the Hawthorne Hotel in downtown Salem, Driscoll ticked off a list of steps she and Gov. Maura Healey have taken over the past year to improve the business climate, from “historic” tax cuts law to increased child care funding.
“We want to make sure Massachusetts remains the best place in the world to live, to work, to go to school and raise a family,” she said in remarks. “We started off with some key priorities, one of which was making sure we became more competitive when it comes to our tax structure and more affordable when it comes to how we support families.”
Driscoll, Salem’s former mayor, told business leaders that a key plank of the administration’s agenda is to build more homes to fill a critical shortage of market-rate and affordable housing that is hurting the state’s economy and driving younger families away.
“The fact of the matter is we don’t have enough housing, and the housing we do have is too expensive for average families,” she said. “We have to dig in and find solutions to addressing this challenge.”
She called on business leaders to lobby lawmakers to approve a $4.1 billion borrowing bill pending before the state Legislature that the Healey administration argues would spur the construction of thousands of homes and generate tens of billions of dollars in economic activity.
The Affordable Homes Act plan, filed by Gov. Maura Healey in October, includes a range of tax breaks, changes to state laws and borrowing to help spur construction of new housing.
The plan, which requires legislative approval, would create tax credits to help fund the development of homes for low- and moderate-income residents over the next five years. It also calls for a statewide law giving single-family homeowners the right to build so-called “accessory dwelling units” of less than 900 square feet on their lots.
Driscoll said Housing Secretary Ed Augustus — who was tapped last year to serve as the state’s first housing secretary in decades — is reviewing existing state and local housing regulations as part of broader efforts to “reduce barriers” to housing production.
“When it comes to competitiveness, there are other states where it’s easier to build housing,” she said. “They don’t have the same processes locally, they don’t have the same processes on a state level and they don’t have the same environmental regulations.”
Driscoll said the administration is also committed to efforts to boost the state’s workforce, spur the development of the state’s life sciences and manufacturing sectors, do more to market and promote the state as a tourist destination and reduce costs for small businesses.
But Driscoll’s comments come amid anxiety among the state’s business leaders about the impact of rising labor and health care costs, persistent worker shortages and legislative proposals that could add to their overhead costs.
Following her remarks, Chris Carlozzi, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Nation al Federation of Independent Businesses, told chamber of commerce executives that state lawmakers are considering a number of proposals that would hurt employers, including a proposal for a $20 per hour minimum wage.
He said there are also several statewide referenda inching toward the November ballot that could impact employers’ bottom lines, including a proposal to pay tipped workers the state’s current $15-per-hour minimum wage.
“There is a disconnect on the problems small businesses are facing right now, and some of the policies that are advancing at the Statehouse,” he said. “We want the state to be competitive, but we don’t them driving up to New Hampshire and other states to open businesses.”
“If we want to keep them here in Massachusetts, we can’t be passing these kinds of policies,” Carlozzi added.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com