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I believe this qualifies as real money

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I believe this qualifies as real money

You know that old quip attributed to the late Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois: “A billion here, a billion there; pretty soon you’re talking about real money.”
 
Dirksen was discussing the federal budget.
 
But right now, it applies to Massachusetts.
 
Tax revenues last month exceeded top predictions by more than $2 billion. The April haul leaves the state $3.5 billion ahead of expectations and there's still two months still left in the fiscal year, according to State House News.
 
This is after the state ended last fiscal year with about $5 billion more than expected and a $1.5 billion surplus. (CommonWealth explains it all here).
 
And yet, lawmakers have been sitting on a proposal made by Gov. Charlie Baker on Jan. 26 to return a mere $700 million of that in through a series of tax breaks.
 
“The cost of just about everything is going up,” Baker told reporters back on that chilly January day. “The last two years have been pretty tough on a lot of the populations we’re looking to help here, and I’d love to see the Legislature take them seriously.”
 
Here's what's happened since:
 
First, lawmakers set a deadline of March 2 to consider the plan.
 
Later, they pushed their deadline to May 4 (yesterday).
 
Yesterday, they announced they’ll get back to us by July 31, the very last day allowed under legislative rules, at which time they also need to decide about 100 other pending bills.
 
"You could easily pay, more than one time, for all the tax proposals we made with just a piece of the overage in April," Baker told the News Service yesterday.
 
The governor also said Massachusetts has "never been more protected against a downturn than we are right now," with a "rainy day" fund that could potentially top $6 billion by the end of this fiscal year, with more expected to be deposited into reserves through the fiscal year 2023 budget under consideration.
 
Meanwhile, this week Connecticut passed the largest tax cut in its history.
 
There’s a new boss at TripAdvisor
 
TripAdvisor has tapped a veteran media tech exec to be its next CEO.
 
Matt Goldberg Tripadvisor
Matt Goldberg was most recently executive VP North America and global operations at online-advertising tech company The Trade Desk. He has also worked at News Corp, Liberty Interactive, Lonely Planet and Dow Jones.
 
“I could not be more enthusiastic about joining TripAdvisor, a company I have long admired, whose leadership and teams have built an amazing, globally recognized consumer brand with a unique spot in travel and digital media," Goldberg said in a statement.
 
Goldberg will join the TripAdvisor team in Needham on July 1. He'll be the 22-year-old company’s second CEO, replacing founder Steve Kaufer who announced plans to step down in November.
 
The chamber honored Kaufer at the chamber’s annual Needham Night celebration last week. The Newton resident told us he believes he has “one more professional adventure left in me” likely at a small high-tech startup.  (Kaufer interview here.)
 
The world is 'back out traveling'
 
Kaufer also said “the world is back out again traveling.”
 
“If you haven’t made your summer travel plans, now you’re a bit behind the curve,” he added.
 
Sure enough, the Wall Street Journal says “American consumers are shopping, traveling and working out like It’s 2019”
 
“The resiliency of the American consumer has been a hallmark of modern history. After events such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans or the attacks of 9/11, people have shown they will snap back to doing many of their favorite things, given time,” write reporters Rachel Wolfe and Sharon Terlep.
 
Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, says concert ticket sales are up 45% as of February compared with the same period in 2019. Memberships at gym chain Planet Fitness have surpassed pre-pandemic levels too.
 
Candy Krush on credit?
 
Fenway Park has gone cashless.
 
But greenbacks are your only option when visiting our favorite marijuana dispensaries.
 
Finally, the federal law which limits marijuana dispensaries nationwide to only accept cash could be changing.
 
The U.S. House has passed supported changes six times. Now the Hill is reporting that Senators on both sides of the aisle are throwing support behind a proposal to tuck key marijuana banking legislation into a larger package aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness.
 
Speaking of credit cards
 
The Hill also reports that the U.S. Senate is looking into the rising swipe fees Visa and Mastercard are charging many merchants.
 
Last month, the two credit card giants raised the interchange fees which are tacked onto every credit card transaction. The changes amount to a $475 million annual fee hike for businesses.  
 
Have a say in Watertown’s future
 
Watertown is starting to update its comprehensive plan. And it's critical that our businesses, property owners and nonprofits contribute to this 18-month process to help shape the city’s future.
 
The planning process will focus on land use, economic development, transportation and open space and recreation. A baseline assessment report is due at the end of June. The final plan is expected in March 2023. 
 
It all kicks off May 19, 2022 at 7 p.m. at the Hosmer School with a visioning forum. You can -- and should -- participate in-person or by Zoom.
 
For more visit the Watertown Comprehensive Plan website.
 
Other need to knows
 
  • Great to see the Globe editorial this morning, urging the Baker administration to ignore the ‘wailing’ and move full speed ahead enacting the MBTA Communities Law. “It’s hardly surprising that suburbs would resist new housing; after all, it’s the last century of restrictive zoning in the suburbs that has created the housing shortage in Massachusetts in the first place,” the editorial states.
?
  • Anyone 18-years-or-older who is experiencing mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms can now participate in a new free telehealth program with a healthcare professional to determine if they are eligible for Paxlovid, a treatment pill taken orally that can reduce the risk for severe symptoms and hospitalization by nearly 90 percent. Details
 
  • Baristas at Starbucks stores on Mount Auburn Street in Watertown and at Cleveland Circle (just over the Newton line) voted to formally unionize this week. (Boston Globe)
 
  • The Needham Council for Arts and Culture is looking for professional muralists to paint the side of the CareWell Urgent Care building in Needham Heights, next to Trader Joes. The NCAC will grant $20,000 toward the completion of two murals to artists that have been economically impacted by the pandemic. Details.
 
Half of all working women planning job change
 
Nearly half of all working women say they plan to leave their employer within the next two years. Only 10% said they plan to stay with their current employer for more than five years, according to report by Deloitte.
 
Those who are contemplating a change, cite burnout as the top factor driving women away from their employers, with 53% of women surveyed saying their stress levels are higher now than they were a year ago, notes Bizwomen.
 
A separate report suggesting the issues aren’t limited to the private sector. That study found that 59% of women working in the federal government struggling with workplace burnout.
 
A curtain call for Paulette Harwood
 
Paulette Harwood devoted nearly 60 years to teaching dancers at Paulette's Ballet Studio in Newton and, before that, Needham.
 
She touched the lives of generations and was also a successful and fully engaged member of our business community, a chamber member, a pioneer for women business owners and a friend.
 
We lost Harwood in 2019 at the age of 91.
 
But now there's a wonderful12-minute documentary that captures the woman, her work ethic, and what she meant to so many.
 
Paulette (Short Documentary)
 
 
That's Need to Knows for today -- Cinco De Mayo -- unless you need to know about the Massachusetts family that had a scary realization that the puppy they thought they were taking home was a coyote.
 
Be back tomorrow.
 
Greg Reibman (he, him)
President
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688
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