Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 25, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 37 Priorities for the lame duck Congress BY JAMES T. BRETT Special to WBJ A er a long and brutally divisive election season, Congress now returns to Capitol Hill for the final weeks of the 118th Congress, oen referred to as the lame duck session. Aer an historically unproductive two years, the to-do list remains long. A looming Dec. 20 deadline to pass legislation to continue to fund the government presents an opportuni- ty to incorporate a variety of other pieces of legislation. Extending telehealth flexibili- ties – Congress recognized the crit- ical role of telehealth in healthcare delivery by expanding coverage during and aer COVID-19. Most recently, the Consolidated Appro- priations Act of 2023 extended several Medicare telehealth flexibilities through Dec. 31, 2024. Among these was a provision allowing patients to use telehealth regardless of where they are located. ese short-term extensions have been important to expand access and ensure continuity of care. We know that tele- health has been particularly beneficial in ensuring access to much-needed behavioral health services, and has enabled patients in rural and underserved areas to receive quality healthcare services. However without Congressio- nal action, these flexibilities will expire at year's end. Affordable Connectivity Program – Established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in late 2021, the Affordable Connectivity Program ensures all Americans have access to high-speed internet, which has become vi- tal to economic success in the 21st century. Administered by the Federal Communications Commission, the ACP provided a monthly subsidy of $30 for eligible house- holds to use for broadband internet. Since its launch in December 2021, the ACP helped more than 23 million American households gain access to affordable broad- band, including over 367,000 here in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, funding for the program ran out in April 2024. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced to infuse another $7 billion into the program. eDelivery – A third top priority is passage of legisla- tion to make electronic delivery of financial statements and disclosures the default method of delivery to inves- tors. Bipartisan legislation – introduced by Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) – passed the House earlier this year as part of a larger capital markets package, but it has languished in the Senate. Not only is eDelivery more environmentally friendly as it decreases paper usage and waste, but it is also a much more secure and efficient method for delivering sensitive financial information to investors. All three of these proposals represent common sense solutions and have strong bipartisan support. e New England Council will continue to urge our leaders in Washington, D.C. to consider these proposals as key deadlines to advance legislation fast approaches. James T. Brett is the president & CEO of e New England Council, an alliance of businesses dedicated to supporting economic growth and quality of life. e Worcester-WPI detente S hortly before anksgiving, it was nice to see Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the City of Worcester sign a peace deal over WPI's purchase of two Gateway Park hotels in September, in a way where WPI acknowledges the negative impact the deal will have on the City's tax rolls and reaffirms its position as a positive contributor to the city/ regional community. e deal makes us wonder if the fire & fury brought down on WPI by government and busi- ness leaders was a necessary part of arriving at that compromise, or a deterrent that made the negotiations longer and more contentious. James T. Brett The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. W Transparency at the Massachusetts Legislature M assachusetts state Auditor Diana DiZoglio got a huge win on Election Day, when 72% of voters passed a ballot measure granting her office the authority to audit the state Legislature and its operations. e Legislature's leaders had op- posed the idea of a probe into their activities, saying previous efforts by DiZo- glio to conduct the audit went against the idea of separation of powers between the branches of government. Even aer the ballot initiative passed in a decisive landslide, legislative leaders remained somewhat defiant, with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka issu- ing a joint statement saying they would consider next steps to respect the election results while still aligning with the fundamental principles of separation of powers. In August, after WPI's plans to buy the Hampton Inn & Suites and the Courtyard by Marriott and eventually convert them into student housing became public, the Economic Development Coordinating Council issued a rare public rebuke of the school. The land the hotels sit on is a formerly blighted area where significant public money was invested to return it to active use. The EDCC members were concerned not only about losing property and hotel tax revenue once they became exempt under WPI's nonprofit status, but also a significant number of Worcester's hotel rooms. Temperatures ran high as officials expressed their frustration in media interviews, and the Worcester City Council discussed ways to potentially tax nonprofit property. Maybe all this noise was necessary to bring WPI to the bargaining table, but the way it played out in public certainly went against the region's reputation for being a low-conflict, collaborative business community. The agreement calls for WPI to make payments to the City to partially offset lost tax revenue, keep hotel workers employed, collaborate with the City on four projects per academic year, and discuss future plans for its other Gateway Park properties with the City. All this shows the adults in the room did their job striking a fair compromise. W Massachusetts leaders have a histor y of rewriting approved ballot initiatives in a way that mildly alters the will of the voters, as state leaders too often believe they know better. After the 2016 ballot measure passed legalizing recreational marijuana, state leaders – who were largely opposed to the measure's passage – wrote an entirely different law, which created an independent commission to regulate the industr y. The dysfunction at the independent Cannabis Control Commission has been quite public, and the lack of oversight of the agency has impeded businesses in the nascent industr y. In the case of a legislative audit, the vote was so over whelming that its intent should not be tampered with. Public mistrust of the government is only growing, and increased transparency around the Legislature's operations to potentially weed out any deficiencies will go a long way in restoring trust in our institutions. W

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