Regan

Massachusetts economy are ready with ideas to address the challenge. We also stand ready to work with elected officials such as Gov. Maura T. Healey on an issue that should unite businesses and workers, Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals and anyone else who cares about the economic future of Massachusetts.

The structural shortage of workers is complex. It grows out of a multitude of factors ranging from a slowly growing overall population to the increasing prevalence of remote work to pressures on the participation of Massachusetts residents in the work force.

Consider the following:

• People are leaving Massachusetts in large numbers. The commonwealth has lost 750,000 more people than it has gained during the past three decades. And that trend is accelerating — 57,292 Massachusetts residents packed their bags between July 2021 and July 2022, the fifth largest outmigration of any state in the country;

• Birth rates in Massachusetts are plummeting. The commonwealth’s birth rate is below the national average — 9.4 births for every 1,000 people in the state between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021 compared to 10.8 per 1,000 nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates Program;

• Baby boomers are exiting operating expenses for tax purposes, giving many an effective tax rate of 70%. “You are basically taxed on your gross profit,” he said. “You might even have an operating loss. But still a profit.” by regular appearances by our Grinch-costumed character. As a result of its popularity, our attendance for November was the highest it has ever been, even before the pandemic. the labor force. The number of college-educated Massachusetts residents exiting their working-age years will be 30% larger in the 2020s than during the 2010s;

Federal law also prohibits cannabis companies from accessing the banking industry and necessitates workarounds so customers can pay with credit and bank cards. Cannabis companies also can’t trade on the stock exchange. It also means, Hirschberger said, that cannabis companies with shops in multiple states cannot move product across state lines and even out supply with demand.

Brandon Pollock is CEO of Theory Wellness which has locations in Maine, Massachusetts locations in Chicopee, Great Barrington and Bridgewater, as well as a store that opened recently in Brattleboro, Vermont. Vermont laws and the state’s overall philosophy mean its cannabis industry focuses on locally grown, artisan-type cannabis brands. The emphasis is on Vermont farmers. But if one of those brands takes off and gets popular, he cannot just start shipping products to his legal stores in Massachusetts and Maine. Federal law won’t let him ship the product across state lines. Hirschberger said the oversupply means it is less likely big operators will invest in growing facilities in at least the next few years. It also points to the efficiency of the black market, where product moves quickly between jurisdictions without inspections or taxation.

“In cannabis, you are always competing with the illicit market,” he said.

It is a different Who-ville than before: We still have hand sanitizing stations; and we are committed to meeting the health and safety needs of all our visitors. Perhaps, like the Grinch, all of our hearts grew bigger during the pandemic, and, because we were isolated for so long, we will take every opportunity to make each one of our visitors feel welcome as we exponentially expand our audience and our possibilities for growth in the year ahead.

Kay Simpson is president and CEO of the Springfield Museums. To learn more about the museums, go online to Springfield museums.org.

• Fewer people are participating in the labor force. The labor-force participation rate in Massachusetts has declined from 67.1 in May 2019 to 65.6 currently; and gaming commissioners offered their stamp of approval on their financial statuses.

• Women are participating in the labor force the lowest rates since the 1970s. In the spring of 2020, 3.5 million mothers left their jobs, driving the labor force participation rate for working moms from around 70% to 55%. This number is improving — but it has not fully rebounded.

The workforce numbers should give everyone from employers to policymakers pause, because the decisions workers make today will have a dramatic impact of the economy of tomorrow. At AIM, we believe that Massachusetts will thrive only with a commitment to inclusive economic growth that brings as many people as possible into the workforce and leaves no one behind.

Solving the workforce crisis will require a comprehensive effort to address issues on multiple fronts. We must moderate costs for both employers and workers who might otherwise move elsewhere. We must ensure that our education system provides all students — especially those in underserved communities — with the skills needed to share in the commonwealth’s economic prosperity.

State Gaming Commission chair Cathy Judd-Stein said she does not expect companies to depart the Massachusetts market, which “is not a phenomenon that’s happening around other jurisdictions.” She said she was “personally really pleased” by the variation among the six mobile applicants who were not tied to a casino.

“They offer practices that are some very local and some very global and some new, which might bring innovation which Massachusetts, of course, promotes, right? And with those innovations, might offer something new to our consumers,” Judd-Stein said at the end of January.

“So on balance, I think all six really can offer something that they believe they can absolutely be successful in this market.”

Pascrell III said some of the larger players — BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel, to name a few — already have massive market shares across the country.

“I think there’s going to continue to be a weeding out with the sort of smaller operators, which are challenged,” he said of Massachusetts.

Kevin Conroy, a partner at Foley Hoag who works with a variety of sport betting companies, said those to whom he’s talked, both small and large, feel like they’re going to be able to compete in the market.

“We represent one of the smaller folks who got an untethered license, and they’re excited about Massachusetts, and they’re excited about the opportunity it brings. They think there’s going to be a very good consumer base,” he said. “They’re really happy that they ended up filing an application and going through the process.”

Lawmakers have long projected that the state could see as much as $60 million in tax revenue from sports wagering. It is a small portion of the typical annual state budget, which has run north of $40 billion in recent years.

Former Gov. Charlie Baker wrote into several of his proposed state budgets an estimated $35 million in sports gambling revenue before the practice was legalized in an effort to urge lawmakers to

We must find ways to integrate more qualified immigrants and their dreams into Massachusetts’ world-renowned educational institutions and entrepreneurial companies.

And we must re-imagine the entire structure of work in a manner that encourages our employees to interact with our companies.

What ties all these disparate ideas together is a rethinking of the very nature of work and the relationships those jobs create between an employer and an increasingly limited pool of employees.

We are used to thinking about work in terms of jobs. But with the nature and structure of work changing rapidly, this may no longer be helpful. Successful organizations are shifting their thinking towards the capabilities needed to win in their marketplace. Through strategic modeling of future workforce options, they clarify the future roles, skills, and mindsets to deliver their strategy. They then focus on sourcing and developing these through reskilling, upskilling, recruitment or drawing on the wider “gig economy” of flexible workers.

AIM looks forward to working with others who have their own good ideas on how to address the issue. But one thing is certain — there is no time to lose.

John Regan is president and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts. To learn more about AIM and its work, go online to aimnet.org pass a sports betting bill.

At a Gaming Commission hearing in September, state Treasurer Deb Goldberg said with an annual $60 million revenue forecast, about $16.5 million, or 27.5%, would be earmarked for unrestricted local aid.

In a television interview on Jan. 22, Goldberg said she had not studied what sports betting will generate in terms of revenue for the state but had heard estimates between $35 million and $50 million in revenue.

“Sports betting is a for-profit business; they’re in it to make money. So the tax revenue that they’ll pay is merely a drop in the bucket to what they will ultimately make,” she said on WCVB’s “On The Record.”

State law sets a 15% tax rate on in-person sports betting, 20% on mobile or digital betting, and 15% on fantasy sports wagering. The tax rate was a point of contention during legislative negotiations during the summer of 2022, with the Senate originally proposing a higher 20% tax rate on in-person betting and 30% tax rate on mobile or digital wagering.

Judd-Stein said the Gaming Commission is “really careful” when it comes to tax revenue predictions.

“We have not made any kind of public statements about what we expect with respect to revenues over time,” she said. “We certainly assess the economic impact that each applicant might have, that would maximize the benefit for the commonwealth.

And we learned from our financial adviser that there’s no crystal ball to understand this.”

The state’s three casinos pay taxes on their slots and table games. Since casino gaming started nearly 10 years ago, the state has collected nearly $1.3 billion in total taxes, according to data last updated in December.

Experts who follow the sports betting industry nationally suggested the state’s haul for 2023 is not expected to turn any heads, partly because most people bet on their phones, and mobile wagering will only be available for about half the year.

Conroy said 2023 will not be a good indicator of Massachusetts’ sports betting market for a handful of reasons, including the fact that it will take some time for consumers to get used to legalized wagering here.

“Second, we (did) not have mobile sports betting for the biggest sports betting event, the Super Bowl, and we

(didn’t) have it for the January NFL playoff games,” he said. “That’ll cut down on the revenues that come from mobile sports betting in 2023. So, yes, 2024 is the first full year where we will have established retail sports betting operations and established mobile operators, and 2024 will be the year to really measure as to whether the projections were right.” All eyes in Massachusetts are looking toward early March, when mobile betting is expected to launch.

Conroy said the Gaming Commission put mobile sports betting operators on an “aggressive timeline to move from licensing to operating.”

In the coming weeks, wagering companies will need to submit internal controls, or the rules that govern how their betting systems work, and undergo a review period ahead of the launch.

“I think there’s this question about how many will be ready to go in March. I think the bigger guys have circled the date and they will be ready to go,” Conroy said. “This is an aggressive timeline that the commission is moving on. And so I will be interested, on the go-live date that the commission lays out, how many companies are offering their, products on that date.”