High cost of living. Rising health care prices. Long commutes. Low private job growth.
Sound familiar?
Those are some of the top challenges facing Massachusetts that are pushing residents away and “stifling” private sector growth, according to a report released this past week by the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation.
The “2025 Competitiveness Index” — or a measure of how the Bay State stacks up against other states in its ability to attract and retain families, businesses, and talent — found that core industries like education, health care, and innovation remain strong in Massachusetts.
But the high costs of living and doing business here “are eroding its competitive edge while a changing federal policy landscape poses unique threats to the Commonwealth,” the organization said.
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Doug Howgate said rising costs around housing, energy, and health care are driving people to cheaper states while federal “headwinds threaten the very talent and research ecosystem that makes us unique.”
“We must meet the moment by taking action that keeps Massachusetts as the best place to live, learn, and innovate,” Howgate said in a statement this past week.
A companion poll of 1,000 residents conducted by MassINC Polling in July also found that people with higher levels of education and income are more likely to rank Massachusetts highly as a place to live.
The survey showed that 30% residents found Massachusetts one of the worst places for the overall cost of living, and another 33% said it was one of the worst states for the cost and availability of housing.
The poll found 26% of residents said the overall tax burden was one of the worst in the country.
The survey also showed that 25% of residents are considering moving out of Massachusetts in the next five years, with younger people — those aged 18 to 29 — more likely to be thinking about jumping ship.
“When people think about where they want to live and work, perception is reality, so state leaders need to pay attention to how residents think we stack up,” MassINC Polling Group President Steve Koczela said in a statement.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation urged lawmakers to take action on legislation Healey filed earlier this year to contain energy costs, reduce regulatory barriers to housing development, manage health care premium growth, create a “consistent, rigorous” high school graduate standard, and use state resources to mitigate federal funding cuts.
“The state’s competitiveness agenda in 2025 and 2026 must maintain the focus on longstanding challenges that make the state unaffordable for many families and less attractive for new residents, while also recognizing that the state must strategically respond to federal actions that threaten our unique strengths that relate to talent,” the organization said.
Healey’s former economic development secretary lands in the private sector…
Gov. Maura Healey’s first economic development secretary, Yvonne Hao, snagged a job at Flagship Pioneering, a Cambridge-based venture capital firm that focuses on scientific ventures.
In a statement this past week, the company said Hao would serve as chief operating officer and general partner. She’ll oversee “key functional pillars” of Flagship Pioneering, like human resources and talent, legal and intellectual property, IT and digital, communications, government and regulatory affairs, and facilities and real estate, the company said.
“I’m excited to join a leadership team that combines bold vision with exceptional capabilities and to help steward the next generation of ventures that can deliver lasting impact for people and the planet,” Hao said in a statement.
She stepped down from her government post earlier this year after serving for two years at the helm of the Executive Office of Economic Development. A spokesperson for Healey said at the time that Hao was leaving to address pressing family matters.
Hao, who previously worked at Bain Capital and the online pharmacy company PillPack, shepherded a $4 billion economic development bill through the Legislature — though the process was not without headaches — and helped Massachusetts notch several wins at the federal level, like pulling in an ARPA-H hub.
Mike Pence to talk ‘civility’ at Kennedy Institute…
Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to discuss the challenges of governing in an era of drastically polarized politics, the importance of civic dialogue in sustaining democracy, and the future of the Republican Party at a Kennedy Institute event this coming week.
Pence, who has faced no shortage of threats and political backlash after the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, will take the stage Wednesday to face questions from Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.
Pence said he is looking forward to “this important conversation in the city where our American Experiment was born.”
“While we must continue to uphold individual principles and convictions, our collective democracy depends on heavy doses of civility,” he said in a statement shared by the Kennedy Institute.
The discussion will conclude with a question-and-answer session. The event is free and open to the public and is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Wednesday.