Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 20, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 29 Does the state have $300M hidden in a mattress somewhere? The Worcester Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Please send submissions to Brad Kane, editor, at bkane@wbjournal.com. A s we come off the high of the Patriots captur- ing their fifth Super Bowl and watch various highlights from this epic game, I am reminded of the quote from one of my heroes, Vincent Lombardi, who said, "Inches make a champion." The Edelman catch, Danny Amendola's touchdown reception and James White's game clinching touchdown run were all successful by inches. Bill Belichick, who is a branch off of the Lombardi coaching tree, understands better than most the intent of Lombardi's quote. That is – the ability to gain the crucial inch that determines victory, often comes as a result of hard work, preparation and never giving up. These same principles apply to the progress we have made during the past 15 years to expand commuter rail service between Worcester and Boston and contemplate the work ahead as we seek to improve MBTA service. Hard work, persistence and preparation has allowed a team of public and private-sector leaders to go from six roundtrips a day to 20, which now includes the first non- stop service between Worcester and Boston. This progress, three yards at a time – in keeping with the football analogy – has contributed significantly to the unprecedented private-sector investments in and around Worcester's Union Station. Developers, property owners and business owners including the City Square, Theater District and Gateway Park projects all tout the presence of rail service as a major catalyst for their investments. However, as we seek to build on and leverage this posi- tive economic development momentum, we must work diligently with our local legislative delegation and the Baker Administration to ensure state and federal trans- portation investments include Central Massachusetts. Track infrastructure and signalization upgrades must be completed in the upcoming year. So as to facilitate more nonstop and express train services between New England's two largest cities, we must identify funding to study the feasibility of locations for possible rail sidings between Worcester and Boston. This issue, along with limited double tracking, should also be contemplated as commuter rail service between Boston and Springfield is studied. This is critical in meeting the needs of freight rail, which is vital to our local economy. Moreover, as new or rehabilitated locomotives and coach cars are acquired, we need to make sure the Worcester-Framingham line receives its fair share. Lastly, enhanced Wi-Fi service and other amenities such as bar cars on evening trains should be explored to attract a new generation of riders. Progress on this issue, like football, is a game of inches that requires hard work, preparation and teamwork. Timothy P. Murray is president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. Worcester needs commuter rail investments W e don't see Charlie Baker win- ning any Conservative of the Year awards at the next Republican National Convention, but it still was jar- ring to see the Massachusetts governor propose what amounted to a MassHealth bailout tax on companies of more than 10 employees. That lets you know how bad the state's Medicaid situation has gotten. Almost 40 percent of the state budget goes toward MassHealth spending, which is expected to reach $15.2 billion in fiscal 2017 and $16.2 billion in fiscal 2018. Baker has proposed a number of overhauls the business community is both excited and wary about, but the initiative to penalize companies of more than 10 employees $2,000 per uninsured worker for not offering employer-sponsored health insurance has rubbed the business community the wrong way. Certainly the idea of whether company health insurance is an employee benefit or a soci- etal need can be debated, but Baker's potential fine takes it one step further by penalizing even compa- nies that do offer health insurance but fail to get 80 percent of their employees to sign on – not accounting for issues like employees on their spouses' insurance. This proposal would generate an estimated $300 million annually – a drop in the bucket compared to $16.2 billion – but would signifi- cantly reduce MassHealth's projected $600 million deficit in fiscal 2018. Baker's bailout tax does not feel like the right answer – potentially increasing the cost of doing businesses for companies that already offering health insurance for employees. As an insurance industry veteran, Baker worked on these issues long before he became governor, and he has never been a fan of new taxes. The state may have earned its tax-and-spend reputation in the past, but since the Great Recession it has been pretty disciplined about keeping a lid on overspending. So if you believe that this kind of proposal from the governor is a last resort, it makes you wonder what other options are left to tackle this seemingly intractable issue. A $600-million deficit is a big pill to swallow. Efforts to rein in rising drug costs, reduce MassHealth fraud, and create accountable care organizations to team providers and insurers together should help mitigate healthcare spending over the long term, but that doesn't help a deficit for the fiscal year starting in five months. In addi- tion to increasing the cost of doing business, the penalty on non-compliant businesses isn't the sole answer either, and if it is implemented, it will become a tough revenue stream to give up. No, we don't have another $300-million pro- posal to replace Baker's plan. But the state's politi- cal and business leaders need to work together to produce some alternative solutions while we wait for the long-term efforts to bear substantial results. We clearly can't wait for these issues to be addressed thoughtfully in Washington. It's up to the state's leaders to sort out the most prudent path forward, and soon. V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L BY TIMOTHY P. MURRAY Special to the Worcester Business Journal Timothy P. Murray W W WO R D F R O M T H E W E B Comments of the issue "The UMass Medical School was set up by the Massachusetts legislature to provide residents of the commonwealth the opportunity to pursue medical careers. So, what is going on? Why is a state medical school bringing in two post doctorate hires from overseas, let alone ones from countries listed in the ban, which includes a nation such as Iran that is hostile to the United States?" - Commenter Patriot1630, Feb. 14, on news that two UMass Medical School hires were caught overseas in the federal immigration ban limbo Facebook feedback "What a joke, someone isn't getting the right info." - Pat Falcone, Feb. 7, on a story on Worcester's listing as the 54th best place to live by U.S. News & World Report WBJ Tweet of the week "Perhaps #Worcester is healthier b/c of #freefitness? @WBJournal on @ wallethub's 2017 Healthiest Cities in US list" - November Project Woo (@Nov_project_WOO), Feb. 13, on a study ranking Worcester as the 57th healthiest city among the nation's 150 largest cities by WalletHub

• Cover