As the 2017-2018 legislative session continues to unfold on Beacon Hill, Massachusetts lawmakers are considering several policy proposals that have significant implications for employers across the Commonwealth. The FY2018 budgets proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee on April 10th and Governor Charlie Baker on January 25th both institute a fair share assessment on Massachusetts employers that aims to curb rising MassHealth costs. The legislature is debating several tax measures as part of the budget negotiations and considering legislation providing accommodations for pregnant workers, workplace violence prevention programs for health care employees, and protections against wage theft. It is also expected that lawmakers will debate legislation this fall limiting non-compete agreements in Massachusetts.

Fair Share Assessment Update -

Attempting to address rising MassHealth spending, Governor Baker proposed in January instituting a “fair share assessment” that levies a $2,000 per employee assessment on Massachusetts employers who do not contribute $4,950 per full-time employee (FTE) annually or have an 80 percent uptake rate for all FTEs. The House proposed its own version of the assessment in the recently released House Ways and Means budget, but its version does not establish the same thresholds as the Baker Administration’s original proposal. Instead, the Ways and Means budget creates a six-month review process for the Administration, through the Department of Revenue (DOR), to develop an assessment.