Featured
The chair of the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee sat down with local business leaders to provide an update on legislative efforts.
Touting his Northeastern credentials, a Massachusetts state lawmaker was on the university’s Boston campus Wednesday to talk about a range of economic issues facing the state.
State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz sat down with local business leaders at Northeastern’s EXP research complex to provide an update on legislative efforts to shore up housing, support the state’s workforce and small businesses, tackle inequality and ensure continued investments in transportation.
First elected in 2009, Michlewitz became chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the legislative body that deals with the state’s finances, in 2019.
The fireside chat was conducted in collaboration with the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the largest business trade association in Massachusetts.
Former House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Northeastern Fellow for Public Life, introduced Michlewitz. Both attended Northeastern as undergraduates, Michlewitz graduating in 2001.
“If you take a look at the multiple budgets that he’s produced, in terms of being examples for other states, whether social issues or economic issues, he has been one of the leaders, I’d say not only in Massachusetts, but across the country,” said DeLeo, who also served as chair of Ways and Means Committee before his speakership.
Born and raised in Boston’s North End, Michlewitz’s district (Third Suffolk) stretches from the waterfront and Beacon Hill to the Back Bay.
“In today’s rapidly changing world, collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential,” Michlewitz said. “As we look to expand the Massachusetts economy, it is clear that we simply can’t rely on what has worked in the past.”
He continued: “We must innovate, evolve and embrace new approaches. That requires constant dialogue between legislators and business leaders, which is why today’s event is so important.”
The first topic was the state’s housing shortage, an issue that’s tipped over into a crisis. Massachusetts is short some 200,000 homes to meet state housing demand by 2030, as housing costs continue to rise.
Michlewitz helped to usher a $5 billion housing bond bill through the legislature. It’s intended to jump-start housing production, while also offering a tax incentive for developers to help convert commercial properties into multi-unit residential or mixed-use properties.
Gov. Maura Healey, a graduate of the Northeastern University School of Law, signed the bill into law over the summer.
“Our focus must continue to be looking at housing production over protections,” Michlewitz said. “These record investments will be a catalyst to spur the production of more housing units all across the commonwealth.”
Asked if he is thinking about additional housing measures during the next session, Michlewitz said: “We want to see the implementation of the housing bond bill play itself out a little bit to see what kinds of effects it has before going deeper into the spending.”
“I will say, and I can speak for my colleagues, it [housing] is the number one thing we hear from our districts,” Michlewitz said. “I think Boston has done a pretty good job in building the housing that is needed to deal with our population expansion in the 2010s, but we probably could have done a better job on the affordability side of it.”
Michlewitz stressed that he and his colleagues are committed to “reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, improving access to capital for small businesses and making Massachusetts an even more attractive place for entrepreneurs.”
As the state grows, he added, it’s important to address economic inequality.
“We must make sure that prosperity is shared across all communities — not just a select few,” he said.
To combat inequality, Michlewitz said he and his colleagues have pursued “targeted investments in underserved communities, expanding access to quality education and job training.”
As part of a broader program targeting economic growth, Michlewitz worked on a $2.8 billion economic development bond bill that passed in June. The bill authorized investments on a range of initiatives, from infrastructure to climate to rural development.
“Despite the many challenges we face, the commonwealth continues to be a leader in many fields,” Michlewitz said. “Whether it’s education or health care or human rights, Massachusetts still has a dynamic economy and offers its residents a high quality of life.”
“With Aaron at the helm, I think the economy of the state has been in good hands,” DeLeo said.