Minutes: Jobs Creation Commission Legislation Brainstorming Breakfast, March 22, 2003 (SEIU Local 509)

Present: Laurie Taymor Berry, Barbara Brandt, John Berry, Jill Stein, George Mokray, Evan Rauch, Tina Poindexter, Melvin Poindexter, Jim Goldberg, Paul Stone, Moe Gillen, Jesse Gordon, Susan Schiro, Representative Tim Toomey.

Laurie began the brainstorming meeting stating that the idea of a Jobs Creation Commission originated from the 1996 Massachusetts Democratic Action Agenda. The first plank, in that agenda, stated that government will bring together representatives from the business, labor, unemployed and academic communities to examine the issue of job creation and establish a commission to address issues of common concern. The 2000 Democratic Action Agenda included the language "to promote the creation of good jobs and a healthy work environment, which must include health insurance, good working conditions, the enforcement of prevailing wage laws and the right to organize and bargain fairly and effectively".

Laurie said that the bill, House No.1813, Senate No.31, creating the jobs creation commission, is nonpartisan. . Rep. Tim Toomey is the lead sponsor in the House. Senator Jarrett Barrios is the lead sponsor in the Senate. It has been in the Joint Committee on Commerce and Labor since 1997. That committee now has stacks of letters in support of this bill. Because the bill includes no appropriation, Speaker Finneran has expressed support.We want to see the bill come out of committee as soon as possible. Because of the budgetary problems, no hearings are being held on non-budgetary issues until after the budget is adopted. The hearing on this bill will be held in September. Senator Hart and Representative Rodriques now chair the joint committee on Commerce and Labor. There are over 5,000 bills filed every year, most of which never see the light of day.

Barbara Brandt introduced herself as an organizer of the Shorter Worktime Group, a nonprofit advocacy group. People discovered that everyone they knew was overworked. The media treats this as an individual problem. It is now happening to people of all income levels and both genders. On the one hand, full-time people are working more and more hours. At the same time, 30% of the workforce works in contingent jobs. About one-third of the full-time workers are exempt from the overtime laws. Even for those who are not exempt, employers have found that it is cheaper to pay time-and-a-half than it is to hire more workers who would then receive benefits. This would allow people to reduce excessive work hours; give them more time for their families and communities and would also open up more job opportunities. In France, the 35-hour workweek led to the creation of more jobs.   In addition to having existing employers create new jobs, another promising approach to job creation is recognizing new kinds of needs and creating new kinds of enterprises that will generate new jobs to fill those needs. A very promising area for job creation is in sustainable economic development. This means recognizing the growing interest among both business and individual consumers for product and services that are more healthful and economically sustainable.

Mr. Stone, from the Urban League, said that his group trains people to get existing jobs. The Urban League works on both hard and soft skills. They try to partner with employers and ask them to create job tracks which the group can then provide people to fill. It will be extremely important to have employers with us when we go before the legislature.

John Berry said that he is a strong advocate of small business. While he has worked for large companies, it is nice to know the CEO of your company by name. Most jobs are created by small businesses. Most of the government seems to be geared to getting large companies to move to Massachusetts. Those companies generally have a better deal in the Sun Belt anyway. We get jobs around here through innovation. We need to talk about creating a healthy environment for innovation and small business.

Moe Gillen said that he works for Senator Barrios and that the senator is fully behind this bill. The legislature is now in a huge battle over money. We need to think about how we can create jobs in this difficult environment. We also need to tell city and town officials that this effort could be important for their communities

Jill Stein said that only fifteen substantive bills passed in 2002, five of which were designed to help the dogtrack and racetrack industry. Even positive mom-and-apple-pie bills with large constituencies are getting killed. We need to think about passing this bill in the context of broad coalitions. Jobs without economic justice would not be particularly meaningful. We should join the Mass Coalition for Healthy Communities. Poor people pay much larger portions of their income in taxes. Recent tax cuts have largely gone to the wealthy. The recent boom in incomes also went largely to the top, increasing the income disparity. Many economic, social, and environmental issues can be folded into jobs creation. There’s a lot of good economics behind tax cuts for people who will actually spend them. We can also talk about tax cuts for job creation. Ohio gives tax credits for job creation when the job is sustained over a long period at a living wage. We can invest in recycling companies and save lots of money for cities and towns. Single payer health care would put small business on the same playing field as large business. It also creates a healthier workforce.

George Mokray said that a coalition which would get this bill passed would look a lot like the coalition which the bill seeks to create. Mel King and some rural legislators got together to work for both community gardens and rural farms. One of the results was a dramatic increase in the number of farmers’ markets, from around fifteen to over a hundred. Public access computing provides another model of creating jobs while also allowing a range of people to improve their job skills. Companies can also be formed to retrofit businesses for greater energy efficiency. A viable local agriculture would produce tastier food not vulnerable to disruptions in transportation.

Susan Schiro said that she works for Career Connections Collaboratives. The group works with young people over a period of two years. Creating jobs solves all kinds of problems. Helping people get jobs is highly leveraged but creating jobs is even more so. As an economist for Connecticut, she looked for companies that paid high wages while causing no pollution and using minimal natural resources. Businesses want a high standard of living for the top people and predictable expenses. Venture capitalists need to meet on this issue.

George Mokray replied that business schools do have student organizations that do socially responsible projects. He added how Silicon Valley was more successful than Route 128 because Silicon Valley had a culture of cooperation and Route 128 did not. There is a model that Silicon Valley did called the SMART VALLEY PROJECT that linked schools and towns, in the valley, with businesses for job creation. Susan said that we need to pass legislation that makes it more profitable to create jobs.

Laurie explained that Mel and Tina Poindexter are working with her to reach out to young, urban people, and involve them in the electoral process. Tina said that we have to make sure that we don’t just pass a law that ends up going the same way as clean elections. Communities of color just aren’t interested in the environment. We want jobs and health care. We want money from entrepreneurs and also guarantees from large companies that they will hire a certain number of people from the community. African-Americans are the most likely to be out of work and also the most likely to stay out of work for a long time.

Mel Poindexter said that we have to get business involved in this group. We need to have a Republican at the table. Laurie replied that many business people had been invited to the meeting, and that the bill is co-sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Lees and Asst. Minority Leader Tisei as well as Republican Senator Joanne Sprague.

Susan said that we need Mitt Romney advocating for job creation. .

Representative Toomey said that we should be able to set up a meeting with Senator Lees, Senator Tisei, and Governor Romney.

Susan said that we need a way to get high-profile people involved. We can give them titles. Laurie replied that a number of people confirmed that they were coming to this meeting but did not show up. Tina Poindexter said that too many people were invited to the meeting. With so many people potentially involved, there is no accountability. Evan Rauch said that we can still have a large meeting on May 10 but need to also form a smaller committee of ten to fifteen people. That committee could be even smaller if there were not so many constituencies involved.

Tina said that the May 10 meeting won’t be much larger than this one but we need to make sure that we have at least one person from each constituency. Susan Schiro said that the categories should be employers, academics, unions, religious leaders, urban youth, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, legislators, job training providers, career mentors, chambers of commerce, and sustainable economic development advocates.

Jim Goldberg said that this issue would be heavily effected by changes in the economy.

Laurie said that her concern is that so many kids are roaming the streets without jobs or constructive activities. In many cases, their families have thrown them out because they do not have jobs.

Laurie read a letter from John Kenneth Galbraith in which the professor stated that he considers job creation a very important issue and is currently writing about it. Unfortunately, at the age of 95, he is not healthy enough to attend meetings.

Jesse Gordon, former Communications Director for Robert Reich, said that we need to make sure that the Commission does not generate a report that ends up on a shelf somewhere.

Laurie said that we got a lot of ideas on the table today. They have been recorded and will be mailed out. It took us eight years to get this far.

Minutes were recorded by Evan Rauch, former Chair, Cambridge Democratic City Committee(2000-2002)

Addendum from George Mokray:.

Back in the early 70s, there were maybe 12-18 farmers markets left in
the state. Local agriculture was disappearing quickly, along with
the infrastructure to support it. Today, there are over 100 farmers
markets and there is a premium on locally-grown produce in high-end
restaurants where chefs have created a new seasonal cuisine and in
supermarkets. Although the total acreage in agriculture has
continued to decline, the number of farmers has actually increased as
has the revenue from agricultural businesses, or was the last time I
looked. There is a new economic infrastructure that has evolved to
meet the new realities of the late 20th and early 21st century. This
economic system can be seen as a model of the high tech/high touch
consciousness that was supposed to arise with the vaunted New Economy
of the computer age: our vegetables are now grown in market gardens
with intensive cultivation and specialty seeds overseen by
highly-skilled people who are master craftsmen.

This happened because the Commonwealth made it a priority and built
an urban/suburban/rural coalition that worked. It is my belief that
this idea of local production can be expanded much further beyond the
success that it has now. Community supported agriculture, the idea
of paying a farmer at the beginning of the season for a portion of
the farm production throughout the season, began in Massachusetts and
has the possibility of expanding much further. Recognizing the links
between farmers in the Pioneer Valley with community gardeners in
Boston can result in a food system that is local, robust, productive,
and responsive.

The new agriculture has already resulted in a new infrastructure of
farmstands, farmers markets, CSAs, pick-your-owns, coops, market
gardens, specialty crops, seasonal cuisine, and high-end restaurants
and supermarkets. Talk to the Chef's Collaborative and see what
visions they might have for how to expand the local agricultural
sector in the next few years.

Another avenue for job creation is in energy conservation and
efficiency and the transition to renewables. Energy services
management companies provide one example of a way to manage the
transition. ESCOs offer a set price below the present price for
energy services and then make money by putting energy conservation
and efficiency measures into place thus reducing the energy load
enough to make money on the contract. This strategy can be applied
to factories, individual buildings, neighborhoods, and even towns and
cities. A "window utility" as formulated by Bill McDonough could
replace old, leaky windows with newer high efficiency windows that
save energy and reduce noise. The cost would be covered by the
energy savings of the newer windows and the process would produce new
jobs. ESCOs could also be part of the new "aggregations" allowed
under energy deregulation. Imagine a concerted program to reduce
energy loads and use some of the savings to finance solar and other
alternatives gradually, without pain.