Good morning friends,

Massachusetts’ unemployment insurance system is the third most generous in the nation.

It’s also in financial trouble. And that’s something every employer should be worried about.

Businesses are already paying off a $2.7 billion unemployment insurance debt to cover UI funds paid out during the pandemic. That surcharge lasts through 2028.

On top of that, starting in 2026, the state must start repaying the federal government $2.1 billion over the course of ten years due to a benefits error made during the pandemic that wasn’t discovered until 2023.

All indications are that repayment of most of that $2.1 billion debt will probably fall onto the backs of employers through a UI Trust Fund surcharge too.

Gov. Maura Healey recently promised to pursue measures to reform the UI system and lighten the burden on employers. We’re still waiting on details but the Globe’s Larry Edelman, among others, is skeptical.

Our chamber, along with nine of the state’s largest chambers, sent a letter to Beacon Hill last month expressing our concerns.

Last week, the Mass Opportunity Alliance launched a campaign and released this video, arguing that “businesses shouldn’t pay for the state’s mistake.”

They also created an easy way to share your concerns with state leaders.

Meet (half) the candidates

We invited the two candidates running for Needham Select Board and the two candidates running for Needham Planning Board to join us in separate forums ahead of the April 8 town election.

Only Heidi Frail, vice-chair of the select board, and Eric Greenberg, candidate for the planning board, agreed to participate.

Their respective opponents, Vikram Kaul and Kenneth Buckley, did not respond to multiple invitations over several weeks to participate. We gave them until yesterday to respond.

So we’re going ahead with separate back-to-back conversations with Frail and Greenberg this Thursday (March 20) at noon via Zoom.

Our focus will be on issues related to economic development, housing, workforce and the environment. Questions from the business community in advance are welcome. This event will be recorded and shared later.

I wish the other candidates had agreed to participate.  Register.

Trade wars will hurt here, but hurt worse elsewhere

As foreign governments retaliate against the U.S. imposed tariffs, workers in Massachusetts may be spared the worst of its impacts.

That is because many of the reciprocal tariffs “have been carefully designed to hit” workers in states with the highest concentration of Trump voters, a New York Times analysis found (gift link).

Just under 3% of Massachusetts jobs are projected to be affected by new tariffs, the sixth-lowest rate of any state. It’s even lower, 2%, in both Middlesex and Norfolk Counties, while highest in Franklin County at 8%

The jobs that could be hit by retaliation are especially concentrated in agriculture and manufacturing in the upper Midwest, South and Southeast, including many rural parts of the country, the Times found.

Tuesday grab bag

• Needham astronaut Suni Williams, along with Butch Wilmore and two colleagues, are returning to Earth at approximately 5:57 p.m. today (Tues.) off the coast of Florida. Watch on NASA+ or these other platforms.
  
  
• Thanks to Boston25 News for stopping by chamber HQ the other day to ask about the conversion of office space into residential units.
  
  
• After 41 years in Wellesley, Taylor True Value Rental is relocating to 51Fremont St. in Needham Heights next month, co-owner Nanette Hajj LaRochell announced on Facebook.
  
  
• Watertown has received funding for a curbside EV charging feasibility study through Mass CEC's On-Street Charging Solutions Program. The study will recommend on-street charging technologies and locations as well as estimated timelines and project costs.
  
  
• There’s a special election in Newton today to fill a vacancy on the school committee. Alicia Piedalue is the only candidate. Make a lonesome poll worker’s day and vote.  You have until 8 p.m.
  
  
• UMass Amherst has added a new page on the university’s website for students and employees in response to changes in the federal landscape. The page currently provides information about immigration, LGBTQIA+, equity, inclusion and equal opportunity, and international students and scholars.
  
  
• Welcome to Rosie Cunningham, the new executive director at Life Science Cares Boston. The nonprofit connects the life sciences industry with local nonprofits working to disrupt poverty and inequity.
  
  
• Watertown’s overnight winter parking ban has ended. No clue why, but Newton’s ban doesn’t end until March 31.
  
  
• Wingate Living and WL Development recently broke ground on One Wingate Way East, for for independent seniors in Needham. Seventy-five percent of the units have been leased with an anticipated opening in the Spring of 2026 (Boston RE Times)
  
  
• Bentley University is planning a major renovation of its academic center. (BBJ)
  
  
• They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Still, if you received an email recently from an anonymous entity claiming to be “Chamber News,” please report it as spam.
  
  
• Join Dan Dain, author of “A History of Boston,” as he provides a history of restaurant dining in Boston from the colonial period to the present, Sunday (March 23), 2 p.m. at Needham History Center. It’s free. Details.
  
  
• Speaking of restaurants, Spring Seasonings: A Taste of our Towns is now two weeks and six days away.

Remote government meetings in line for another extension

It appears Beacon Hill lawmakers will, once again, extend temporarily pandemic-era laws allowing remote access for public meetings in Massachusetts, State House News reports.

The policy expires on Monday, March 31. A new bill would extend it to June 30, 2027.

But, really, it’s baffling as to why they don’t just make the darn thing permanent, right?

Hybrid meetings have boosted civic participation and transparency and made it easier for local governments to manage operations. Plus, for example, have you ever spent four hours sitting on those benches in the council chambers at Newton City Hall?

And that’s what you need to know for today (the 35th anniversary of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist) unless — now that prices are down— you need a refresher on how to crack an egg correctly.

Be back Friday.

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

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