New Retirement Mandate

The Massachusetts House of Representatives slid a new state mandate impacting all businesses with 25 or more workers into their FY26 state budget. Despite saying there would be no major policy changes in the budget, this new Secure Choice Savings Program was thrown into a consolidated amendment with hundreds of other earmarks and voted on in a block.

The Secure Choice Savings Program demands businesses with 25 or more workers deduct money from worker paychecks and remit it to a state managed retirement program. Workers are automatically enrolled and will have money deducted from their checks by employers unless they choose to affirmatively opt out.

Businesses who willingly fail to comply will face fines of up to $250 per employee in the first year, then fines of $500 in future years.

This proposal did not receive any sort of public hearing to determine how it would impact businesses or their workers. In order to advance, it must be included in the Senate budget or be agreed upon in a conference committee report later on in the budget process. We ask that you take a moment to send a message to lawmakers highlighting how disappointed you are with the House for sneaking this into the budget, while urging your senator to not include the provision in their upcoming version of budget.

New York vs. Massachusetts on UI

File this under words I thought I would never say…Massachusetts should be more like New York. State leaders in the Empire State just opted to provide more than $6 billion to pay off UI debt. Meanwhile, Massachusetts refuses to use any of the state’s $9 billion rainy day fund to pay off the nearly $5 billion pandemic-related UI liabilities. Not even the $2.1 billion for the error made by state regulators.

Both Governor Hochul and legislative leaders explained how this will help take the burden off the shoulders of employers, along with helping the overall state economy. New York lawmakers seem to comprehend how UI taxes impact employers and the small business economy.

We ask that you take a moment to contact your lawmakers urging them to follow New York’s lead. Also, please mark your calendar to attend the 2025 Small Business Summit we are cohosting at the Massachusetts State House on June 18^th to raise the small business flag on Beacon Hill.