New Legislation to Create Jobs in Boston
Posted on March 2, 2010
Governor Patrick of Massachusetts recently filed legislation that will help many small businesses create jobs in Boston.
In a nutshell, the legislation will help small businesses hire new workers and reduce the cost of doing business for small businesses.
Recently, leaders in the Massachusetts area have come together to enact measures that will spur on job creation.
Due to these measures, business growth and job creation measures are predicted to create or retain 20,000 jobs, and save small businesses upwards of $400 million.
According to Mass.gov, prior efforts have included:
In the Life Sciences
Eighteen months into its operation, the Life Sciences Center has leveraged $180 million of public funding into $680 million of private investment, with the prospect of over 6,000 permanent and construction jobs. In December alone, the Center awarded $25 million in tax incentives to 28 companies that will create 800 jobs in the Commonwealth this year alone.
In Clean Energy and Green Jobs
By investing $2 billion in customer efficiency receipts over three years, the Commonwealth will be the nations leader in energy efficiency, saving residents and businesses $6 billion and creating an estimated 4,000 jobs for the people modernizing light fixtures, replacing old furnaces and air conditioners, and weatherizing houses.
In Infrastructure Repair
A combination of state bonding authority and federal stimulus funds has put more money into infrastructure repairs and improvements (to roads, rails, bridges, broadband networks, water treatment, and so on) than any other administration in decades. The Governor’s work has cut the number of structurally deficient bridges in our state by 10 percent in the first year of that project alone.
In American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds
Over 25,000 jobs have been saved or created in Massachusetts because of Governor Patrick’s use of federal stimulus funds, including:
Teachers
Firefighters
Police officers
Construction workers
Community health care workers
Among other projects, the Governor has also invested:
Over $430 million in stimulus highway funds obligated to 84 projects.
Over $800 million for 120 projects repairing municipal wastewater systems.
Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit
The proposed legislation creates a $2,500 refundable tax credit on withholding tax for employers with 50 or fewer total employees who hire new full-time Massachusetts employees during the 12-month period beginning April 1, 2010. Calculation of the net increase in the number of Massachusetts employees is based on the employers number of Massachusetts employees as of March 31, 2010. The credit is available to qualifying employers for each new full-time Massachusetts job created and sustained for at least one year.