Come on Beacon Hill, you have at least pretended to ask
Even before the pandemic, many of our mom-and-pop retailers were struggling to compete with online shopping and big box retailers. Then came the shut-down, capacity limitations, and an understandable reluctance by many to leave the house.
At least when we didn’t feel like cooking, we ordered take-out locally.
But if we didn’t feel safe shopping, we went to Amazon.
So it was infuriating this week when top Democrats instantly dismissed Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposed two-month tax holiday without even pausing to ask shop owners how they felt about the idea.
Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues and Economic Development Committee Chair Eric Lesser both called the tax holiday a "political gimmick."
Senate President Karen Spilka said the one weekend sales tax holiday “is sufficient for now."
Literally ten minutes after Baker unveiled his idea, Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat, tweeted “there is no evidence that we need to incentivize purchasing. Consumer demand is high.”
Evidence? Based on how quickly they rejected the idea it doesn’t feel like our lawmakers looked for evidence.
Nor did they pause to deliberate how cutting the state’s most regressive tax for two months might benefit those who suffered the most during the pandemic.
ļ»æInstead, it appears the tax break will, as House Minority Leader Brad Jones told State House News, "die a death of inaction."
Perhaps -- as some legislators and others have suggested -- there are better uses for the lost revenue.
But it’s insulting to our small business owners, who’ve put their livelihoods -- and safety -- on the line for more than a year, to not at least pause and ask if they felt an extended tax holiday was a "political gimmick," or something that would actually help them.
What Baker proposed and how it would be paid for
Baker's bill would extend the annual sales tax holiday, currently scheduled for Aug. 14-15, to all of August and September.
He estimated the two-month cut of the 6.25% sales tax would cost the state $900 million.
But he argued that the state could afford the hit, given that the state ended May with $3.9 billion more in sales taxes than it had projected to collect over the first 11 months of the fiscal year.
And midway through June, the Department of Revenue said it had already collected 80 percent of what it expected for the full month, reports Matt Murphy at State House News.
Baker added that the unexpected strength of tax collections, including capital gains taxes, has pushed the state's reserved balance to more than $4.3 billion
And of course, the Commonwealth is also getting $5.1 billion in federal pandemic aid.
"I think we owe some of this to the people of Massachusetts and to some of the small businesses. They had a terrible year," Baker said yesterday on GBH's Boston Public Radio.
On-demand transit system on hold
The same labor shortage that’s impacting so many of our businesses, will also result in the delay of Newton’s new on-demand ride service, NewMo 2.0.
“We had hoped to pilot NewMo 2.0 next week. But, the driver shortage we’re seeing across the ride share industry (including at Uber and Lyft) are affecting our transportation partner, Via,” Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced last night.
“We’ll let you know the start date which hopefully will be in the next few weeks.”
The on-demand micro transit system will operate weekdays from 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., providing transportation between:
- Newton Center Langley lot/Newton Centre Green Line
- Newtonville Commuter Rail Station
- Chestnut Hill Green Line Station
- Newton Highlands Green Line Station
- Needham Street
- Wells Avenue area (includes the Wells Avenue Office Park, UMass Mt Ida, JCC, Nahanton Woods Condominiums)
- Needham Heights Commuter Rail Station
Any resident, employee or other visitor to the city will be able to book a ride for $2.
Employers and building managers can also sign up for a corporate membership so their workers, customers or tenants can ride at no cost, or a reduced rate. For details contact Nicole Freedman.
Newton to resume charging for parking
Fuller also announced that starting Monday, July 12, the city will return to "giving out parking tickets at expired meters."
Needham, Wellesley and Watertown have already resumed requiring charging at meters.
Needham looking for your input on Highland Ave corridor
The Town of Needham is looking to make long-needed improvements to the southern section of the Highland Avenue corridor (from the fire station at Webster Street to Great Plain Ave), which is a vital arterial for businesses, residents and the region.
As the first step in the process to receive state and/or federal funds for this multi-modal project, please take time to complete this survey.
Arsenal Yards to hold job fair Tuesday
Arsenal Yards in Watertown will host a job fair from 9 to 11 a.m. June 29 at The River Green near Shake Shack. Prospective applicants who register in advance will get a free swag bag and have an opportunity to get a free professional headshot. Rain date is June 30.
Are ‘happy collisions’ overrated?
One of the oft-cited arguments for bringing workers back to the office is that bumping into colleagues at random moments fosters collaboration and innovation.
But some researchers say there is no evidence that working in person is essential for creativity and collaboration, writes Claire Cain Miller at the New York Times.
“Requiring people to be in the office can drive out innovation, some researchers and executives said, because for many people, in-person office jobs were never a great fit,” she writes.
“They include many women, racial minorities and people with caregiving responsibilities or disabilities. Also, people who are shy; who need to live far from the office; who are productive at odd hours; or who were excluded from golf games or happy hours.”
In person interaction matters for some innovation jobs and really help new hires and fostering mentorship.
But the studies suggest that technology — like Zoom, Slack and Google Docs — has made idea generation are often as effective online as in person.
But if you are looking to happily collide...
On the other hand, the Times also has this story chock-full-of cool photos of Google’s major rethink of its Mountain View Calf HQ, compete with privacy robots, private HVAC systems and (something you might also want while working from home when then kids are around this summer) inflatable balloon walls!
That’s today’s Need to Knows, unless you need to know if giving your lobster a few hits of pot will help them to experience less pain when you toss them into the pot.
Enjoy the weekend. Be back Tuesday.
President, Newton-Needham Regional Chamber
617-244-1688
Your chamber is here when you need us.
