Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Conston's new radio.
Speaker 2: All Right, moving into the nine o'clock hour here on
Speaker 2: a Monday night. It is March tenth. Beautiful day in
Speaker 2: New England today, certainly in my part of New England,
Speaker 2: and I hope when you're part of New England as well,
Speaker 2: and we are going to talk about making it a
Speaker 2: beautiful day for the Massachusetts economy. There's a new alliance group,
Speaker 2: a new group called the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance of involving
Speaker 2: frankly business leaders here in Massachusetts and with us as
Speaker 2: the president of the MOA, the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance, Chris Anderson.
Speaker 2: Chris Anderson, welcome back to night said, how are you sir?
Speaker 3: Hey Dan, thanks so much for having me. Appreciate being
Speaker 3: back with you, and just the correct I'm one of
Speaker 3: the founders of mass Opportunity Alliance in my role as
Speaker 3: president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council.
Speaker 2: Okay, fine, okay, that's fine. I appreciate that correction because
Speaker 2: you don't like to be accurate and sometimes I know
Speaker 2: has written there. So anyway, no problem. Founder, okay, one
Speaker 2: of the founders. So tell us first of all, how
Speaker 2: the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance came to be and also describe
Speaker 2: to us what its goal is, what are we trying
Speaker 2: to do here?
Speaker 3: So Massachusetts has historically had a ton of economic and
Speaker 3: quality of life advantages, including high media and income. We've
Speaker 3: got great research institutions, academic institutions, and a thriving and
Speaker 3: multi sector innovation economy, most notably in the tech and
Speaker 3: biotech areas. And that would include also terrific investment capabilities
Speaker 3: here that correlates to what's become. We've all become accustomed
Speaker 3: to a really top notch quality of life, great healthcare,
Speaker 3: top rated edgecation system, rich cultural and other activities, including
Speaker 3: the natural beauty of just being in New England, and
Speaker 3: a low climb rate a crime rate. But over the
Speaker 3: last few years, as pendulums do swing and economics and
Speaker 3: political environments shift, we've seen that those are the very
Speaker 3: benefits and attributes that are currently at risk as other
Speaker 3: states are increasingly going after with great success the types
Speaker 3: of jobs, residents, and industry that we have here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: So organizations like the High Tech Council and others got
Speaker 3: together to create the mass Opportunity Alliance, a cross organizational
Speaker 3: effort to address these changes, strengthen and defend the business
Speaker 3: climate and its correlation on the quality of life here
Speaker 3: in the state for everybody before the horses out of.
Speaker 2: The barn, Well, I think everybody knows that we have
Speaker 2: what's called then out migration problem in Massachusetts. That there
Speaker 2: are more people leaving Massachusetts than staying. And the people
Speaker 2: who are leaving are often cases either young people who
Speaker 2: are having trouble, you know, maybe finding housing close to
Speaker 2: where they work, or they're being wooed away by other states,
Speaker 2: or people who have retired and say, look, I can
Speaker 2: go to New Hampshire, I can go to Florida, I
Speaker 2: go to Tennessee. That's all tax driven for the most part.
Speaker 2: So how do we address that what the Mass Opportunity
Speaker 2: Alliance suggests can be done.
Speaker 3: Well, we certainly know, as you've just stated and COVID
Speaker 3: proved that the barriers to exiting high cost states like
Speaker 3: Massachusetts that are seeing a decline in the business climate
Speaker 3: are lower than ever. And so it is workers, working age,
Speaker 3: people with families, in addition to high wealth retirees that
Speaker 3: are taking advantage of the opportunity to move. And so
Speaker 3: what happens as that trend accelerates, which it has in
Speaker 3: the last two years, the state loses access to those
Speaker 3: dollars that go to other states turn into philanthropy and
Speaker 3: tax revenue in other states. So what we're going to
Speaker 3: focus on is engaging greater public awareness around the trends
Speaker 3: and the consequences of those trends, and then the actions
Speaker 3: that people who listen to your show, who live in
Speaker 3: work in Massachusetts can become engaged in in turning this
Speaker 3: sort of multi year trend that we're sitting around and
Speaker 3: return to a stronger, more robust economy in the years ahead.
Speaker 3: So there'll be a direct role for people if they
Speaker 3: are better armed with information. And that's what the Mass
Speaker 3: Opportunity Alliance is delivering, a narrative communications apparatus that helps
Speaker 3: raise awareness among people that they might not think about
Speaker 3: issues in ways that affect them. We think they will
Speaker 3: when they look at the information on our website and
Speaker 3: listen to the data that we're putting out in ways
Speaker 3: that they will relate to.
Speaker 2: Well. For example, you've done some polling. Now again I'm
Speaker 2: assuming you're going out and you're getting accurate information with
Speaker 2: your polling companies or else. The information isn't worth much
Speaker 2: you find your polling suggest that eighty two percent of
Speaker 2: residents believe their taxes are too high. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of people at massages who don't pay any taxes, and
Speaker 2: I would suspect.
Speaker 3: But the ones that do, the ones that do, dan
Speaker 3: believe that they're paying way too much.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, And seventy one percent say the state income
Speaker 2: taxes their main concern. There's nothing that we can do
Speaker 2: about the federal income tax, because whether you live in Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Missouri,
Speaker 2: or whatever, any of the state that doesn't give the
Speaker 2: letter m you're paying the same federal income tax. And uh,
Speaker 2: but state state taxes in Massachusetts, as I say to
Speaker 2: my friends, Massachusetts tax is the only thing the government taxes.
Speaker 2: Here are two things. Everything that moves, anything that doesn't move.
Speaker 2: It just seems that we've got candy tax. We got
Speaker 2: more taxes coming at us. We've had the millionaires tax
Speaker 2: for those who are lucky to be millionaires, which by
Speaker 2: the way, includes a lot of professional athletes, and that
Speaker 2: that might make our sports teams a little less competitive,
Speaker 2: but we we'll see it will save that. What else
Speaker 2: are your surveys showing and when you get eighty two
Speaker 2: percent of people thinking that taxes, that's that's pretty big number.
Speaker 3: What else do you know one of them? Yeah. One
Speaker 3: of the values of this effort is that we do
Speaker 3: get to do polling and focus group testing on a
Speaker 3: regular basis to find out what the pulse of the
Speaker 3: people really are on the issues and how that pulse
Speaker 3: changes when they become more aware about what states like
Speaker 3: Florida and New Hampshire are doing and benefiting from what's
Speaker 3: going on here. The tax pole, Yeah, seventy one percent
Speaker 3: believe that their income taxes are too high, the local
Speaker 3: property tax fifty five percent, and then sales tax things
Speaker 3: start dropping off. But you know, we did another poll
Speaker 3: about why what's pushing people to leave Massachusetts to here
Speaker 3: out migration question, and the housing costs are up there
Speaker 3: at nearly eighty percent. General costs of living concerns which
Speaker 3: would include energy which we've just been hearing about seventy
Speaker 3: six percent, and high taxes then come in as part
Speaker 3: of that mix at sixty five five percent. Those are
Speaker 3: the top three drivers about migration, and those are the
Speaker 3: things that Massachusetts can do something about and should be
Speaker 3: doing something about as opposed to proposing a whole slate
Speaker 3: of new taxes in the current year budget. You mentioned
Speaker 3: a few of them, but there are others. So we
Speaker 3: think people are going to be responding to air their views,
Speaker 3: and hopefully the folks in the legislature, and there are
Speaker 3: some in the legislature that are sensitive to these issues,
Speaker 3: will be able to benefit from a crescendo of their
Speaker 3: constituents and a majority of other voters who are expressing
Speaker 3: their views on these things before they take action.
Speaker 2: My guest is Christopher Anderson, Chris Anderson. He's a founder
Speaker 2: of a newly organized group. It's only been around since,
Speaker 2: I guess last September. The Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance is a
Speaker 2: coalition of several business leaders and we're going to open
Speaker 2: up phone lines. If you'd like to ask Chris a
Speaker 2: question or challenge him, we can have a polite conversation
Speaker 2: here at nightside. We do that every night of the
Speaker 2: week six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six
Speaker 2: one seven, nine, three, one ten thirty. We'll get you
Speaker 2: in queue and get some phone calls and get some
Speaker 2: conversation going. If you think that taxes are just perfect
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts and you want to try to persuade Chris
Speaker 2: to your point of view, You're more than welcome on
Speaker 2: to do that as well. Uh, there's some other issues
Speaker 2: we want to talk about, one of which is I
Speaker 2: was surprised today Chris mentioned to me that sixty four
Speaker 2: percent of the voters in Massachusetts are now neither neither
Speaker 2: Republican nor Democrat. They make up the largest group of
Speaker 2: voters in Massachusetts. Technically they're called unenrolled. I guess you
Speaker 2: could call them independent as well. We'll get to some
Speaker 2: of those questions in your phone call six one seven
Speaker 2: tw ten thirty six point seven nine three one ten thirty.
Speaker 2: Coming back on Nightside with Chris Anderson of the Massachusetts
Speaker 2: Opportunity Alliance right after this quick commercial break.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio with me.
Speaker 2: It's Chris Anderson. He's one of the founders of the
Speaker 2: Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance. Sixty four percent of Massachusetts registered voters
Speaker 2: choose neither to have a D or an R after
Speaker 2: their name. They preferred to be unenrolled or what used
Speaker 2: to be called independent. What what does that number? That's
Speaker 2: a number that that's not a poll number, that's that's
Speaker 2: a number that you present to me as a fact number.
Speaker 2: What does that say about the voters in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Well, it underscores the independent decision making that voters have
Speaker 3: in Massachusetts, and given their given an opportunity, it's our
Speaker 3: best chance at addressing some of the issues that we
Speaker 3: see as challenging to our quality life and our economy.
Speaker 3: If a voter realizes that housing costs are high or
Speaker 3: that they can't downsize because the cost of downsize is
Speaker 3: basically a lateral we'll probably get their attention. And with
Speaker 3: greater awareness and armed with information and the proliferation of
Speaker 3: balot questions that seem to be coming down the pike
Speaker 3: every two years for voter approval via direct democracy, we
Speaker 3: can begin getting their engagement in turning things around here.
Speaker 3: So if they think taxes are too high, or the
Speaker 3: cost of business is too high, or that the outmigration
Speaker 3: is causing more pressure to tax them, we may be
Speaker 3: able to frame some of these issues a little differently
Speaker 3: and get some better outcomes. So sixty four percent of
Speaker 3: registered voters here are really a great target for us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's two thirds, So I'm assuming your focus of
Speaker 2: this group, Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance is focused on the economy.
Speaker 2: The social issues are not issues that you folks are
Speaker 2: going to deal with, whether it be whether we should
Speaker 2: bring that capital punishment or what's the deal on abortion
Speaker 2: or whatever, or crime and punishment, all of those issues
Speaker 2: which might contribute to the quality of life, particularly crime
Speaker 2: and punishment and things like that. You're not going to
Speaker 2: even go there. You want to deal with the cold
Speaker 2: hard numbers of why people are leaving and what should
Speaker 2: our tax structure be that makes this the opportunities in
Speaker 2: Massachusetts more readily available to everyone across the board.
Speaker 3: Yeah, at the end of the day, regardless of what
Speaker 3: you think a quality of life priority is for you,
Speaker 3: and it may be social, if we're not generating state
Speaker 3: tax revenue in Massachusetts to fund government the way we
Speaker 3: are to do and to invest in things that people have
Speaker 3: shared priorities around, then those other things really don't matter.
Speaker 3: People are going to be heading out the doors faster
Speaker 3: than they are today. We believe we have a terrific
Speaker 3: asset mix to regenerate a robust economy that for the
Speaker 3: last ten years was generating billion dollar state budget surpluses
Speaker 3: in Massachusetts. Without raising taxes, and then what happened in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, a series of tax proposals, the big
Speaker 3: one on the ballot that put a tax in the
Speaker 3: state constitution like no other state has began to tip
Speaker 3: that scale in the opposite direction. And mass Opportunity is
Speaker 3: in part a response to what should be a more
Speaker 3: coordinated and unified effort among business leaders and residents who
Speaker 3: still want to call Massachusetts to work collaboratively to make
Speaker 3: sure that we don't see Massachusetts go the way of
Speaker 3: Connecticut ten or fifteen years ago, or the way of
Speaker 3: Illinois California where New York are going today. We're we're
Speaker 3: on the tip of that road, but we believe we
Speaker 3: have an opportunity with the resource mix we have in
Speaker 3: terms of economic research and highly skilled workers and an
Speaker 3: independent stay resident mix that will be actively helpful in
Speaker 3: this effort.
Speaker 2: All right, let's I don't want to short change any
Speaker 2: of the callers at this point. We have several calls waiting,
Speaker 2: so I'm going to ask Steve, Jack and John to
Speaker 2: hold on through the newscast at the bottom of the hour,
Speaker 2: so I don't short change any of you. We got
Speaker 2: one line open at six one seven, two, five, four,
Speaker 2: ten thirty and one line at six one, seven, nine,
Speaker 2: three ten thirty. Let me just ask you, Chris, a
Speaker 2: final question for me, and hopefully the rest of the
Speaker 2: questions will come from the callers. U. Is there a
Speaker 2: specific task that you believe is first and foremost to
Speaker 2: be done here to sort of lay the foundation or
Speaker 2: do you feel the foundation for your work is already
Speaker 2: laid by just creating this organization the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance.
Speaker 3: Well, creating mass Opportunity Alliance is at first and the
Speaker 3: commonwealth success story, and we've seen terrific impact already with
Speaker 3: our ability to respond quickly with fact checking when misleading
Speaker 3: information is provided by advocates that we don't believe are
Speaker 3: helping the state business climate. We also are growing the
Speaker 3: ability to reach people through those who sign up at
Speaker 3: our website Massopportunity dot org, where they can find all
Speaker 3: kinds of data and communications videos on what's going on
Speaker 3: in the state and why they should be engaged. And
Speaker 3: then the process of really looks down the road over
Speaker 3: the next two to say how can MA drive proactive
Speaker 3: policy changes rather than playing defense, which a lot of
Speaker 3: business groups have done in the last few years. But
Speaker 3: let's be proactive in advancing programs and policies that we
Speaker 3: hope the legislature and the governor will be supportive of.
Speaker 3: But if they're not, we know we would expect that
Speaker 3: a majority of voters may be down the road at
Speaker 3: some point. And so that's really the phase that we're
Speaker 3: in is continuing to build our communications infrastructure, raise awareness
Speaker 3: among people that care about their state and their job
Speaker 3: and their families and quality life, and will present a
Speaker 3: proactive agenda for them to get engaged in.
Speaker 2: Okay, I assume as a dad or you're a five
Speaker 2: oh one C three, which means you're not going to
Speaker 2: be in the business of endorsing candidates. You're going to
Speaker 2: deal with issues as opposed to candidates.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're a five oh one C six, which is close,
Speaker 3: but still we're not going to be where so we
Speaker 3: can lobby, we can, but we we will not be
Speaker 3: supporting endorsing candidates, either by endorsement or financially. So this
Speaker 3: is really all about a core mission focused on business climate.
Speaker 3: We're politically agnostic. We will work with any and all
Speaker 3: partners who want to strength in Massachusetts and provide the
Speaker 3: best future possible for people that live in work in Massachusetts,
Speaker 3: and especially those that we're creating economic and social mobility
Speaker 3: options for. If we have a strong economy people in
Speaker 3: the inner cities through a strength and education pipeline that's
Speaker 3: better aligned toward our skill requirements in this economy, we'll
Speaker 3: have a path meaningful long term employment. And I think that's,
Speaker 3: you know, one of the one of the core benefits
Speaker 3: of this collaborated effort.
Speaker 2: I know the difference between the five and one C
Speaker 2: three and is five O one C four?
Speaker 4: What is?
Speaker 2: What? What makes five or one C six? AM unfamiliar
Speaker 2: with exactly what how that is? It's three or four?
Speaker 3: UH. Three is a charitable organization and is limited in
Speaker 3: what it can raise and spend money for. A C
Speaker 3: six is a business organization, just like many chambers of
Speaker 3: commerce or business groups like the mass Site Tech Council.
Speaker 2: Okay, uh, And and a four does give some flexibility
Speaker 2: for for groups to form.
Speaker 3: Political Yeah, it's it's similar to a C six.
Speaker 2: Okay, we'll take a quick break. My guest is Chris Anderson,
Speaker 2: founder of the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance. UH. Their website is
Speaker 2: mass Opportunity dot org. We'll get to as many callers
Speaker 2: as we can. First up, we got we got Steven Cambridge,
Speaker 2: Jack and Winter John uh Is on the line as well,
Speaker 2: and then we'll we'll take some more callers. The only
Speaker 2: line that's open right now is six one, seven, nine thirty.
Speaker 2: Back on Night Side right after.
Speaker 1: This, It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: We're talking with Chris Anderson, a founder of the Massachusetts
Speaker 2: Opportunity Alliance, an organization that has only been around for
Speaker 2: a few months. Basically, they are concerned about improving the
Speaker 2: business climate here in Massachusetts because, from their point of view,
Speaker 2: an improved business climate, a more friendly business climate, we'll
Speaker 2: keep people in Massachusetts, particularly businesses in Massachusetts, and lead
Speaker 2: to a better quality of life for everyone residing in
Speaker 2: the Bay State. Let's go to the call is going
Speaker 2: to go first to Steve and Cambridge. Steve, I'll warn you, Chris,
Speaker 2: one of my best callers, Steven Cambridge, never do.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Chris, good evening.
Speaker 3: Dan.
Speaker 5: I don't mean to be too political, but do you
Speaker 5: you see reducing the state bureaucracy, reducing or making the
Speaker 5: regulatory climate a little bit more friendly for business? And
Speaker 5: when I say the state bureaucracy, particularly in the mass
Speaker 5: University of Massachusetts, the number of administrators, et cetera. So
Speaker 5: are these areas you're going to go after.
Speaker 3: Well. State administration and state costs in general are certainly
Speaker 3: a big topic generally and in a number of states
Speaker 3: these days, and I think most voters would agree that
Speaker 3: there is. It's worth taking a look at how Massachusetts
Speaker 3: spends its money in a more transparent way and how
Speaker 3: it sets its budget and why. For example, we have
Speaker 3: nearly fifty percent of the state budget or forty to
Speaker 3: forty five percent of the state budget dedicated to mandatory
Speaker 3: spending in three areas unfunded pension liability, debt service, and
Speaker 3: state healthcare costs. The University of Massachusetts system has some
Speaker 3: terrific contributions that it makes directly to our economy, but
Speaker 3: I'm not going to pretend that it, like any other
Speaker 3: part of state government, doesn't have areas where that could
Speaker 3: be run more efficiently. So you know, what we're planning
Speaker 3: on doing at the Mass Opportunity Alliance, Steve is assess
Speaker 3: where we can help move a majority of the voters
Speaker 3: who are interested in different policy topics that will help
Speaker 3: reduce the pressure to tax them, and in the current budget.
Speaker 3: There was a budget that's been proposed today this week
Speaker 3: last week, the state proposing spending another seven percent more
Speaker 3: than last year on a revenue growth rate of four percent.
Speaker 3: You can't do that in a sustain way so indefinitely,
Speaker 3: because you'll run out of you'll run into additional gaps
Speaker 3: and have to raise raise taxes somewhere. So I think
Speaker 3: there's an efficiency taxpayer bill of rights, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: limit on state government spending that if it were done properly,
Speaker 3: would require a re evaluation of how many agencies are
Speaker 3: spending funds and where the efficiencies could be had. I
Speaker 3: wouldn't single out the UMass system over or above any
Speaker 3: other part of state government.
Speaker 2: And this is in a state where we're obligated. We
Speaker 2: cannot run a debt, we cannot run a definite. We're
Speaker 2: obligated to balance the pushet. With that obligation, the spending continues.
Speaker 4: But this is.
Speaker 5: A lot of attention is in terms of housing. Uh,
Speaker 5: there's been a lot of talk about how regulation has
Speaker 5: over regulation, let's say, has added to the cost of housing.
Speaker 5: Is that something that you will look at.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So reducing the cost of housing has two sides.
Speaker 3: You can either increase supply, which would reduce the cost.
Speaker 3: We have demand for it. I don't think we're going
Speaker 3: to reduce demand unless we out migrate a ton of people.
Speaker 3: So there are two ways to approach that topic. One
Speaker 3: is you mandate that cities and towns in certain MBTA districts,
Speaker 3: let's say, make them required change as well. You know,
Speaker 3: we have home rule and not everybody wants to be
Speaker 3: told what to do in Massachusetts by the state. The
Speaker 3: other thing you could do, Steve, is you could incentivize
Speaker 3: homeowners and reward them exempt them from capital gain on
Speaker 3: the sale of their home if they own the home
Speaker 3: for more than ten years. You could do the same
Speaker 3: thing with the essay tax. So there are ways to
Speaker 3: reduce the cost of housing. Maybe not to get in,
Speaker 3: but certainly overall it would minimize the squeeze on homeowners
Speaker 3: that we seem to be seeing on a regular basis
Speaker 3: here and Paul as the top reason why people would
Speaker 3: think about leaving the state.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much gentlemen this organization.
Speaker 2: Thanks date, appreciate your call. Tochi's a good call. Let
Speaker 2: me go next to Jack and Winthrop. Jackie're next on
Speaker 2: nice with Chris Anderson founded the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, Jack, Hey, thanks Dan, and hey Chris, just
Speaker 4: a few quick questions too, kind of twofold. You mentioned
Speaker 4: states like Connecticut, New York, Illinois. I'm curious what Massachusetts
Speaker 4: can learn from other states that have successfully retained businesses
Speaker 4: and workers despite high costs. And then I have a quote,
Speaker 4: but sure, sure, thanks Jack.
Speaker 3: The Actually, Florida and New Hampshire are the two states
Speaker 3: that are the recipients of most of the people that
Speaker 3: are leaving Massachusetts, taking their jobs or their retirement income
Speaker 3: and leaving the Bay State behind. Those states have no
Speaker 3: personal income tax, no short term capital gains tax, and
Speaker 3: no estate tax. Those are three key areas that align
Speaker 3: with the tax challenge that we have here in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: And they also have from a business climate perspective, their
Speaker 3: state government is a partner with helping businesses set up, expand,
Speaker 3: and rapidly be prepared to accommodate employee growth in their state.
Speaker 3: As you might have heard me just say a minute ago,
Speaker 3: Massachusetts has home rules, so three hundred and fifty one
Speaker 3: cities and towns get to set their own regulatory zoning
Speaker 3: and other requirements, which makes it a challenge for companies
Speaker 3: to expand or grow or do something a little different
Speaker 3: with their operation than some of these other states. In fact,
Speaker 3: New Hampshire during the last Scubernator election, Kelly Ayott was
Speaker 3: seizing on the Massachusetts environment, basically saying, come on up here,
Speaker 3: we'll take care of you. But in the election, don't
Speaker 3: mass up New Hampshire. So you know, we ought to
Speaker 3: be paying attention to what other governors are saying about
Speaker 3: us and improve our business climate because, as I said earlier,
Speaker 3: that will generate a resource capacity that supports great quality
Speaker 3: life for people who live and work here.
Speaker 4: I got it, Thank you. I had one other quick question.
Speaker 2: Go ahead, Jack, I wasn't sure if you were still
Speaker 2: with us.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, Yeah, I just had one one quick one.
Speaker 4: I was just curious what every day residence of Massachusetts
Speaker 4: kind of like myself. I'm a thirty year old independent.
Speaker 4: I know you mentioned the independent vote, but I'm a
Speaker 4: thirty year old Independent and I'm curious what everyday residents
Speaker 4: can do to help make sure Massachusetts can remain a
Speaker 4: place where we can build our careers, we can raise families.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, hopefully what we can do, Jack, is we
Speaker 3: can help you help us. And what I mean by
Speaker 3: that is you and you and your friends, your neighbors
Speaker 3: who are looking or concerned about any of these issues
Speaker 3: should be better armed with information that now people get
Speaker 3: from all sorts of social media, and not everything is
Speaker 3: accurate that you pick up on TikTok or Instagram, for example.
Speaker 3: If you go to our website, Massopportunity dot org will
Speaker 3: be a constantly replenished resource of information about what these
Speaker 3: trends that we're seeing are and how they relate to you.
Speaker 3: And we're doing it in ways that you, as a
Speaker 3: thirty year old thirty year old will find appealing and understandable.
Speaker 3: So we're talking to different sectors of our commonwealth, different
Speaker 3: economic sectors, different age sectors, different demographic sectors in different ways,
Speaker 3: and we think when it comes time for you to
Speaker 3: step up and be part of a decision making process,
Speaker 3: whether that's at the ballot box electing your state representator
Speaker 3: or governor, or participating in direct democracy, which is voting
Speaker 3: yes or no on any proposed ballot question, that you'll
Speaker 3: be better informed and make an informed choice, hopefully with
Speaker 3: the majority of folks that help set Massachusetts on a
Speaker 3: solid track to return to the robust economy that we've
Speaker 3: had for the past fifteen years or so. Good question.
Speaker 2: The other thing, Jack that I think folks of your vintage,
Speaker 2: your young age, get involved in politics. Whatever side of
Speaker 2: the equation you're on. There are a lot of folks
Speaker 2: who are in positions. Again, is a thirty year old
Speaker 2: young lawyer right out of law school or a twenty
Speaker 2: five year old young lawyer out of law school. One
Speaker 2: of the best ways to get your name out there.
Speaker 2: You know, if you're going to go to one of
Speaker 2: the major firms and be ensconced there for you know,
Speaker 2: thirty or forty or fifty years, good luck to you.
Speaker 2: You know, if you were number one out of Harvard
Speaker 2: or whatever, out of Harvard law school. But get out
Speaker 2: and run for office and get involved in the political
Speaker 2: process at the lowest level. The most important election that's
Speaker 2: going to affect you, if you're married and have kids,
Speaker 2: it's going to be the school committee in your community.
Speaker 2: And that's not a bad stepping stone to get involved
Speaker 2: in the school committee. I got to tell you that
Speaker 2: you live in a small town or you live in
Speaker 2: a big city, those school committee races, oftentimes people are
Speaker 2: running unopposed get involved in that city council, those you know.
Speaker 2: And just in terms of your vote, I mean you
Speaker 2: vote in a presidential election, I think, wow, I got
Speaker 2: to vote for the President of the United States, which
Speaker 2: is great. Well, you in about one hundred and eighty
Speaker 2: million other Americans that are whatever the number is these days,
Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy million, So that's one over one
Speaker 2: hundred and seventy million. If you're voting in local elections,
Speaker 2: there might be two thousand, three thousand people deciding who
Speaker 2: sits in the school committee, who sits on the Board
Speaker 2: of Selectment, of the Board of Aldermen. Those involvements, of
Speaker 2: those involvements are really important too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, thank you to a good question. Thank you, Chris,
Speaker 4: I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Thanks Jack, great questions. Take quick break. I got a
Speaker 2: couple of lines at six one, seven, two, five, four
Speaker 2: to ten thirty and one at six one, seven, nine, three,
Speaker 2: one ten thirty. I got John coming up, uh and
Speaker 2: Rob in Medford and we got a room for a
Speaker 2: couple more calls. If you want to jump on board.
Speaker 2: My guest Chris Patterson, one of the founders of the
Speaker 2: new group, the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance, that wants to focus
Speaker 2: on economic issues here in Massachusetts and the impact that
Speaker 2: they might have for everyone from a positive PERSPECTI it's
Speaker 2: back on Nightside after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guest Chris Peterson from the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance, joined
Speaker 2: now by John Hurst, who's with the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: John has been a caller on this program before and
Speaker 2: has fought in the trenches here of Massachusetts for better
Speaker 2: economics for retailers who he represents. Hey, John, how are
Speaker 2: you tonight?
Speaker 3: I'm great, Dan, and I just really wanted to call
Speaker 3: and congratulate Chris and do a allowed me too. I
Speaker 3: think what Chris Anderson and others are doing with the
Speaker 3: mass Opportunity Alliance is just a long time coming. It's
Speaker 3: so important because you know, look, Dan, I represent four
Speaker 3: thousand small businesses and I'm frankly a bit concerned about
Speaker 3: them about their futures. There were living under a twin
Speaker 3: towers of frankly being and really the highest cost state
Speaker 3: for our consumers, highest cost of living state, and also
Speaker 3: the highest cost of doing business states. So that's really
Speaker 3: what that ends up doing dan the small businesses that
Speaker 3: primarily exists to serve consumers and our residents. You know,
Speaker 3: they're seeing their residents, our residents are consumers spending bus
Speaker 3: dollars because they're strapped at the end of the month
Speaker 3: because of health insurance and energy and taxes. And then
Speaker 3: the small businesses themselves had the very same cost problems.
Speaker 3: So the small businesses are seeing flat to lower sales
Speaker 3: get much higher cost of operations, and that's what's leading
Speaker 3: to these dark stoffronts on our main streets.
Speaker 2: How many small businesses approximately john are there in Massachusetts?
Speaker 2: Has there ever been a survey done? And again that
Speaker 2: would would involve literally from mom and pop stores to diners.
Speaker 2: I saw today the Twin Donuts, a breakfast diner donus
Speaker 2: place in Allston, which has been there for seventy five years,
Speaker 2: is closing up shop later this month. I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't know what's going to replace it, but certainly that's
Speaker 2: going to have an impact on that community. You got
Speaker 2: any how many people are employed by by small businesses
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're probably talking around seventy thousand locations. You know,
Speaker 3: each each employee, on average about ten people.
Speaker 2: Each If seventy thousand, that's enough to fill Fenway Park twice,
Speaker 2: just to that's right, every one of those businesses in
Speaker 2: the seated Fenway Park twice. That's an amazing number.
Speaker 3: And yeah, and small bills many have am making money today.
Speaker 3: And John Giant represents a group that really is the
Speaker 3: foundation bedrock of our employment tax space. It's huge. And
Speaker 3: the point I wanted to make, in addition to congratulating
Speaker 3: John for his ongoing work with many of us in
Speaker 3: the trenches along with the mass Restaurant Association and the
Speaker 3: National Federation of Independent Business, is that remote work is
Speaker 3: generally not an option for his members, and so we
Speaker 3: have to make sure that Massachusetts has retained this a
Speaker 3: bit capacity to keep our business climate healthy, keep the
Speaker 3: people that rely and use these small businesses retail, restaurant
Speaker 3: in business, because they're the ones that, as John said,
Speaker 3: probably are under the sword of damicles if we can't,
Speaker 3: if we can't keep this economy robust.
Speaker 2: John, thank you for what you do for for you know,
Speaker 2: retailers here in Massachusetts. In any time that that that
Speaker 2: you need to be on this program and talk about
Speaker 2: any problem you know, how you have our number.
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, I'm sure we'll be talking this spring. Thanks again, Dan,
Speaker 3: and thank you Chris John.
Speaker 2: Thank you the Massachusetts Real Tails Association of MESSAG. Let's
Speaker 2: keep rolling. You're going to go to Rob in Medford.
Speaker 2: There's a Robin Medford who answers the phones. This is
Speaker 2: my producer. This is a different Rob in Medford. I Rob,
Speaker 2: how are you?
Speaker 6: I'm well? Thank you for asking, gentlemen. I'm I hope
Speaker 6: this isn't appropriate. Topics that I want to bring is
Speaker 6: that how can I run a business in Massachusetts? Uh,
Speaker 6: with the taxes as they are and politicians refuse to
Speaker 6: even tell Congress where, well, how much is spent and
Speaker 6: on what? I mean? This should be public knowledge. My taxes,
Speaker 6: I pay them, my people pay them. Where does the
Speaker 6: money go? We should this Freedom of Information Act? How
Speaker 6: can MA'AMU stand up there in front of Congress and say,
Speaker 6: I'm not going to tell you how much is spent
Speaker 6: on this. I'm not going to tell you how much
Speaker 6: is spent on that? And I think the money would
Speaker 6: be intera.
Speaker 2: Was I think what she was saying was and I
Speaker 2: could be wrong here, but I think she was saying
Speaker 2: she didn't keep track of that meaning that they were
Speaker 2: not keeping accounts. She was asked, I think by Congress
Speaker 2: what Boston had spent on people who were here illegally,
Speaker 2: and I think that she said, they just didn't track
Speaker 2: that question. They didn't know.
Speaker 6: That's too irresponsible an answer to Congress, Are you kidding me?
Speaker 6: You're telling me that if.
Speaker 2: By what I said, John, rather, excuse me, rub All
Speaker 2: I'm trying to do is just explain to you what
Speaker 2: she said. Now, Governor heally knows what she has spent
Speaker 2: because it's the state which has sheltered folks for a
Speaker 2: couple of years now in Massachusetts in terms of housing
Speaker 2: and food and all of the amenities of life, has
Speaker 2: spent about two billion dollars on the needs of people
Speaker 2: who have come into the state illegally.
Speaker 6: And how much could have been spent on helping these
Speaker 6: small businesses that are going on to trying to make
Speaker 6: a living. This money is all being misspent, and they
Speaker 6: won't even tell us where or how much and on whom.
Speaker 6: It's ridiculous.
Speaker 2: Okay, fair enough. Again, I don't know that Chris has
Speaker 2: much more to add to that, but but I appreciate
Speaker 2: your point of view. Rob Good.
Speaker 6: The freedom of information act push that at all or
Speaker 6: could so? I mean, I would feel about it, don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't think that they keep what I was trying
Speaker 2: to say was in Boston. I can tell you what
Speaker 2: the number is in the state, which I've just told you,
Speaker 2: but they don't keep a track of that in Boston.
Speaker 3: But Rob's point, Rob's point about transparency. Oh, Rob's point
Speaker 3: about transparency is actually a good point, because you know,
Speaker 3: we just had three two and a half years ago,
Speaker 3: the so called tax on incomes over a millionaire went
Speaker 3: into effect, and it's supposed to go to supplement and
Speaker 3: add additively increase spending and transportation and education. We're not
Speaker 3: sure that that's exactly how that money is being spent,
Speaker 3: and so having a transparent and defensible way to audit
Speaker 3: that money, I think is extremely important. That's one example.
Speaker 3: But you across you know a number of state agents.
Speaker 2: I'm not suggesting that Rob's point isn't a good one
Speaker 2: at all. It is a good one. But I just
Speaker 2: want to explain that he was focusing on Mayor Woozy
Speaker 2: this morning last week, Robin Medford, I'm flat out of time,
Speaker 2: so I got to let you on. But I appreciate
Speaker 2: you calling and please continue to listen and call.
Speaker 6: Okay the answer, Thank you sir, You're welcome.
Speaker 2: Thank you Chris again. Mass Opportunity Alliance give us the
Speaker 2: website where people can get more information or join the cause.
Speaker 3: It's mass Opportunity dot org. You can see our mass
Speaker 3: in a minute series. We have a number of Pulse questions,
Speaker 3: we have blogs and Opportunity Report cargo. We measure Massachusetts
Speaker 3: on a number or key areas. We do that and
Speaker 3: update that on a regular basis. So this is the
Speaker 3: front end of a commitment that we're making over the
Speaker 3: long term. Organizations that have been in Massachusetts for forty
Speaker 3: thirty years now working collaboratively together with retailers, restaurants, small
Speaker 3: business chambers, building and trade entities that are jumping in
Speaker 3: and becoming members. We are hoping that we raise awareness
Speaker 3: to the point where an engaged army of citizens participate
Speaker 3: more fully and actively and effectively in shaping our commonwealth's future,
Speaker 3: and one that respond to the very things you've heard
Speaker 3: people call in about tonight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a noble goal and I wish you best
Speaker 2: of luck in Let's keep keeping contact as the days
Speaker 2: come off the calendar. Thank you so much, Chris, I
Speaker 2: appreciate it. Massopportunity dot org. When we get back, we
Speaker 2: will talk about the stock market today, which took a
Speaker 2: big dive. We'll be back right after the ten o'clock
Speaker 2: news on Nightside