State Sen. John Velis speaks at the Oct. 25 Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon, flanked by fellow panelists state Rep. Kelly Pease, left, and Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe, right.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Lederer
WESTFIELD — At the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce’s Oct. 25 legislative luncheon, hosted at Tekoa Country Club, state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) told an audience of businesspeople that data shows 20- to 40-year-olds are leaving Massachusetts, and people who graduate from college are not moving to Massachusetts.
“If we don’t remain a destination place, where people like to come to — and that covers things like taxes, that covers things like transportation, that covers things like housing — we have a real, real problem … people are not going to come here, and they’re going to leave here,” he said.
A related issue, Velis said, was that he can’t find an industry in the state where people aren’t telling him they can’t find people to work. He said part of the reason people are leaving or not moving to the state is its affordability.
Velis said the housing bond bill was part of the solution, as well as the economic development bond bill. For the latter, he said that, while there are some sticking points between the state House of Representatives and Senate, both are “close” to coming to a deal.
“I fully anticipate us getting something to the governor ASAP,” he said.
The legislative luncheon panel was composed of Velis, state Rep. Kelly Pease (R-Westfield) and state Rep. Michael Finn (D-West Springfield); Kristen Elechko, Western Massachusetts director at the office of the Gov. Maura Healey; and Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe.
Pease addressed inflation from a business owner’s perspective.
“It’s tough because you try to limit what you’re passing on to consumers, but you also have to make your living,” he said.
He also addressed transportation, saying a lot of money from the millionaire’s tax intended for transportation went to the MBTA, the Eastern Massachusetts public transit agency. The income surtax revenue has not increased the amount of highway aid municipalities receive.
“It’s been [the same] for 15 years, speaking of inflation,” he said. “So, our cities and towns struggle.”
Finn spoke on the emergency shelter system, saying that the communities are dealing with excess costs due to the inefficiency of the system. A report should come out by the end of the year that would inform how the system is budgeted for next year, he said.
“We paid for last year’s services. We have this year’s budget effectively paid for, but after that there aren’t a lot of great solutions out there,” he said.
He also tied the system to immigration, which he said the state government has had to pay to address because the federal government hasn’t been able to control it.
“The state is being asked to answer the call of the inability of Congress to do anything about immigration, so we’re all paying the price and it’s a very difficult situation,” he said.
Velis said that if the state spends $1 billion a year on the shelter program, it can’t spend that money on other issues.
Finn also defended the administration of Gov. Maura Healey, after an audience member voiced his disapproval of her signing an emergency preamble to make a state gun reform law effective immediately.
“They have the authority. They’ve exercised it. It’s part of the process. You may not like the process — in this particular issue, I’m not really a gun guy, but I’m also not really not a gun guy — the reality is that the process is playing out. The rules are established. The constitution is clear,” he said.
In October, East-West Rail director Andrew Koziol toured Westfield’s historic train depot on North Elm Street, during a meeting with McCabe, Elechko and MassDOT Chief of Intergovernmental Affairs Gus Bickford. The meeting, which Elechko arranged, was to discuss the possibility of a passenger rail stop in Westfield.
Elechko acknowledged the meeting at the luncheon. She said the highly anticipated intercity rail service between Boston and Pittsfield, which would pass through Westfield and the Hilltowns, would still come to fruition.
“We consistently have been winning federal grant after federal grant, above and beyond what some other states are winning, so that we can build resiliency within travel,” she said. “We have Amtrak and federal partners who are really dedicated to seeing the success of that project.”
McCabe told The Westfield News the next week that MassDOT officials were cautious about a Westfield stop, since it wasn’t on the original plans for East-West Rail. Those plans do include Chester as the only intermediate stop between Springfield and Pittsfield.
“They said they would take a look at it and get back to us,” McCabe said.
At the luncheon, McCabe touted his administration’s business-related accomplishments, such as raising the occupancy rate of downtown Westfield from 75% to 90%. He also said the Westfield Shops on East Main Street have a 100% occupancy rate.
“We’re doing extremely well in several different areas,” he said.
