Boston Bruins anthem singer Todd Angilly was on hand to perform the national anthem before the annual economic development summit hosted by the Springfield Regional Chamber.
There, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll made housing a focus of her address.
“We don't have enough housing - and I mean, we don't have nearly enough housing,” Driscoll emphasized. “And that's why addressing our housing crisis is the administration's top priority.”
In terms of attempting alleviate the matter, the lieutenant governor referred to the $4.1 billion "Affordable Homes Act" that has been making its way through the legislature. In it, is the potential to create more than 40,000 new homes, according to the Healey-Driscoll administration, while also rehabbing and supporting 27,000 units, including 7,000 public housing units.
The bill itself was recently reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets earlier this week.
Driscoll also focused on industry workforce concerns, adding that when it comes to workers leaving the state, there’s one age group in particular that’s been ditching Massachusetts en masse.
“Our biggest out-migration aren't retirees - it's actually 26 to 35-year-olds, who are leaving Massachusetts, and a lot of that is tied to the cost of housing - folks who simply can't afford to live here,” she said.
Driscoll also touted investments in workforce redevelopment, including $8.7 million in grant funding for job training in the clean energy and technology industry.
Also speaking at the event was Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, who called attention to what he says are several pressing matters affecting the city, as well as the surrounding region.
That included a need for new resources and policies from the federal government to meet an influx of migrants arriving in the state, bail reform, and, an issue highlighted throughout the event – a need for workers to stay in Massachusetts, or at least for some locals to rejoin the workforce.
“Workers need to come back to work,” Sarno told the crowd. “It is affecting - the economic system of our cities, because small businesses get hurt with that, square footage/physical plant decreases, which hurts the tax base of the cities.”
Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, gave a presentation on the state’s falling tax revenues, and how shifts in demographic trends have led to the Springfield labor force falling by 5,000-7,000 between 2020 and 2023 – a decline that appeared to start even before the pandemic.
“Hampden County - it's even a little more stark – you saw that decline in the labor force start a little earlier and it’s now down about 15,000 people in this county, just over the last five or six years,” Howgate stated.
He said while nearly 150,000 people have left the state between the same period of time, neighboring states like Maine and New Hampshire have seen modest increases.
Regardless, Howgate said increasing the availability and affordability is housing is key to reversing some of the aforementioned trends.
“Figuring out how we can increase housing production is the only way we're going to make housing affordable for folks and change some of those demographic trends,” he added.
