Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s controversial plan to provide tax relief to homeowners by raising commercial tax rates stalled, and died for now, in the Massachusetts Senate, leaving the mayor disappointed and the bill’s critics taking a victory lap. 

Originally Published: August 1, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.

The new law also protects a worker’s right to ask their employer for the salary range when applying for a job or seeking a promotion.

“This new law is an important next step toward closing wage gaps, especially for People of Color and women,” Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, said in a written statement after signing the bill. “It will also strengthen the ability of Massachusetts employers to build diverse, talented teams.”

Healey’s signature makes Massachusetts the 11th state to mandate pay transparency by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges, supporters said, citing data from the National Women’s Law Center.

Backers said the new law builds on a 2016 state statute that prohibited wage discrimination based on gender.

“Massachusetts is now one step closer to ensuring equal pay for equal work,” Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano said after lawmakers sent the bill to Healey last week. “Pay transparency will not only make our workplaces more equitable, it will also make Massachusetts more competitive with other states.”

Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka said last week that it’s too common for women and people of color to be paid less than their co-workers nationwide, and Massachusetts is not immune.

The head of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which bills itself as the state’s largest business association, credited lawmakers with working with advocacy and business groups to hammer out a final compromise version of the bill.

“AIM believes these important policy changes strike the right balance by promoting open and honest communication about wages while not overburdening our employers with cumbersome and time-consuming reporting requirements,” AIM President Brooke Thomson said after the final bill was released.

The law also requires businesses with more than 100 employees to share their federal wage and workforce data reports with the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The agency is responsible for compiling and publishing aggregated wage and workforce data to help identify gender and racial wage gaps by industry.

The Attorney General’s Office will also be given the authority to impose fines or civil citations for violations of the law, and employees will receive protections against retaliation for asking for salary ranges when applying for a job or promotion.

The attorney general will conduct a public awareness campaign on the new rules.

In Greater Boston, the 2023 gender wage gap was 21 cents, according to the Boston Women’s Workforce Council. Black women faced a 54-cent wage gap, while Hispanic and Latina women faced a 52-cent wage gap, and Asian women faced a 19-cent wage gap, according to the group.

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A new report analyzed the impact the migrant crisis will have on Massachusetts residents with the state projecting to spend $1.8 billion over the next two years, making it a potential “fiscal time bomb.” 

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a report on July 24, which predicted The Bay State will struggle to manage the growing number of migrants coming to the state. 

“The cost to Massachusetts taxpayers of temporary housing and shelters is enormous, but it pales in comparison to the costs that will accumulate in the future if those in the temporary shelters today remain in the Commonwealth for the long term,” CIS director of policy studies Jessica Vaughan wrote. 

In addition to housing, some other costs taxpayers will have to cover include schooling, social services, medical care, and public safety.

MASSACHUSETTS CLOSES COMMUNITY CENTER TO PUBLIC TO SHELTER MIGRANTS, PROMPTING BACKLASH

These migrants are eligible for certain welfare programs in Massachusetts like food stamps provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and other public services. Migrants can access these programs even while the federal government prohibits access to such programs.

The report said the state has already spent more than $1 billion on the Emergency Assistance (EA) sheltering program that houses migrants.

According to the report, some of the migrants housed by the Emergency Assistance program “arrived under one of the Biden administration’s controversial parole programs.” 

“And some who State budget officials expect they will have to spend another $1.8 billion in the next two years,” the report added. 

In order to manage the growing number of migrants, Gov. Maura Healey, D., had to place restrictions on shelter programs to prioritize state residents.

MIGRANTS CONTINUE TO STREAM INTO BOSTON AIRPORT AS MORE THAN 100 SLEEP ON THE FLOOR

The report estimates that the number of “illegal and inadmissible” migrants living in Massachusetts is about 355,000 with 50,000 new arrivals since 2021. It also reported that 10,000 migrants were minors with 8,500 being unaccompanied. 

While migrants tend to have high labor force participation rates, the new arrivals face a language barrier. The report states that new arrivals “lack the education or skills needed for an individual or family to be self-sufficient in Massachusetts.”

A separate report by MassInc and UMass Donahue found that over 450,000 Massachusetts residents have limited English-language proficiency. This makes up approximately 10% of the state’s workforce. The data could be an undercount, considering that it stems from 2022 Census estimates.

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Healey announced last month that she had sent members of her administration to the Texas border, citing “record” numbers of migrants coming to Boston. 

Officials will make connections with federal agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and migrant families “to educate them about the lack of shelter availability in Massachusetts.”

Healey’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the CIS study.