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By Colin A. Young, Ella Adams & Keith Regan
New report tracks new immigrants’ futures in the Bay State — and how they add to the economy
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As the number of people seeking asylum or other protection in the United States has climbed sharply in recent years, states like Massachusetts are faced with significant additional expenses associated with providing shelter and other services to some of the new arrivals. In a report out Wednesday morning, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Immigration Research Initiative attempted to chart the future for those immigrants newly arriving in Massachusetts, from their job and wage prospects to the tax revenue they can be counted on to contribute to state and local governments.
They found that immigrants who settle and find work in Massachusetts provide "a direct economic benefit to the region in which they are working in both the value of work produced and in added local spending power."
Immigrants arriving in Massachusetts can expect to earn a median wage of about $24,000 per year. The report said that means that immigrants coming to Massachusetts "will have a hard time making ends meet, to be sure, but are likely to be at least slightly above the federal poverty level." After being in Massachusetts for five years and as they earn higher wages, the median wage for an immigrant "will likely increase to about $34,000 per year," the report said.
And as immigrants settle into working here, they contribute to state and local tax revenues. The MassBudget and IRI report said that state and local tax revenues are predicted to increase by $2 million for every 1,000 newly-arrived immigrant workers, increasing to $2.8 million annually after about five years.
But there are a number of important caveats at play, like access to work authorization. MassBudget and IRI said that their modeling was based on "a substantial number of people getting work authorization," something that Gov. Maura Healey and her administration have said is critical to being able to live within the 7,500-family cap the governor imposed on the emergency assistance shelter system late last year. More than 2,700 immigrants in the shelter program had secured work authorizations, including through clinics hosted in November by the administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
"Folks come here, they want to work. This population is eager to work. Every shelter we're at, folks want a job, they want to get out of shelter as fast as they can. We've got 3,000 folks who we're already matching up," Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said during a Sunday appearance on WCVB's "On The Record" program. "My own community, Salem, where we have a shelter, Salem Hospital now has a fully staffed housekeeping department, the first time in years as a result of some of our new arrivals getting the work authorizations and then getting a job."
The Healey administration estimated in mid-December that emergency shelter costs would approach $1 billion this fiscal year and $915 million in fiscal 2025, far more than the $325 million initially set aside by the Legislature for shelter in this year's budget. Even if it secures legislative approval to drain a large state reserve account full of COVID relief and state surplus funds to cover shelter costs, Healey's budget team still expects to face a $90 million gap by the end of fiscal 2025. — Colin A. Young
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9:00 | The SJC sits with five cases on the docket | John Adams Courthouse, Room 1, 1 Pemberton Square, Boston | More Info, Livestream
11:00 | Massachusetts Association for Community Action holds a public policy briefing about its programs and services, and budget priorities for fiscal 2025 | Room 428
12:00 | Gov. Healey testifies at the Joint Ways and Means Committee's first hearing on her $58.1 billion fiscal 2025 budget bill | Gardner Auditorium | Agenda and Livestream
12:00 | Governor's Council meets, with a vote possible on one judicial candidate, Juvenile Court nominee Jennifer Currie | Council Chamber | Livestream
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January revenues plummet below revised expectations
The Department of Revenue reported Monday that Mass. collected $3.5B in January, almost 7 percent, or $263M less than Gov. Healey’s revised expectation made in January. Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz confirmed that the Healey administration has no plans to further downgrade revenue expectations or slash more cash from the budget, and Dept. of Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said January collection decreases were in part offset by a sales and use tax increase, as Healey was already anticipating decreased tax revenues for the remainder of FY24. — Boston Herald | MassLive
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Falmouth Dem outraises Republicans for Plymouth, Barnstable Senate seat
Rep. Dylan Fernandes, a Democrat running for a South Shore and Cape Cod Senate seat outraised two Republican contenders in January: fifth-term Republican Rep. Mathew Muratore and Bourne School Committee member and Republican Kari MacRae. Fernandes received over $53K in January from more than 180 donors and has been endorsed by Gov. Healey, Lt. Gov. Driscoll and Sen. Susan Moran. — Boston Herald
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Dudley selectman Marsi wins Republican primary for open state House seat
Dudley Selectman John Marsi won the Republican nod to represent the 6th Worcester District in the state House of Representatives in Tuesday’s special primary election, putting him on track to replace now-Sen. Peter Durant in the seat. Marsi outpaced Dave Adams of Southbridge by just over 100 votes and with no Democrat slated to be on the final election ballot on March 5, is poised to retain the seat for the state GOP.
Alison Kuznitz of the News Service reports Marsi also dominated the race for campaign cash, raising twice as much as Adams, including a slew of donations from other elected Republicans. — Worcester Telegram & Gazette | State House News Service
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Gaming Commission to study sex trafficking in Mass. casinos
Massachusetts Gaming Commission wants to study the influence of the expansion of gaming on sex trafficking in Mass. Spurred by the sex trafficking ring bust in Mass. and Virginia in November, and federal reporting finding that the most common form of human trafficking in casinos is sex trafficking, MGC brought forward a request for bids in which researchers will explore the extent of sex trafficking through Mass. casinos, how law enforcement and casino staff can identify and intervene in it and what those who have been trafficked need.
— CommonWealth Beacon
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Federal agency confirms investigation into Harvard’s treatment of Palestinian students
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has launched an investigation into how Harvard has handled campus hostility toward students of Muslim and Palestinian descent. A formal request for an inquiry had been made just last week on behalf of students who said they faced harassment and stalking amid protests over the war in Gaza. The same office is already looking into a similar complaint made last fall by Jewish Harvard students.
— GBH | Harvard Crimson
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FAFSA delays and overworked counselors
The new federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid came out three months late and with mistakes, reports GBH’s Kirk Carapezza, impacting students relying on the FAFSA for loans, Pell grants and work-study funding. FAFSA complications are backlogging high school counselors not just in Mass., but nationwide, who are worried if students don’t know how much they have to pay for college, or when they’ll find that out, fewer will apply for scholarships and fewer will actually be able to enroll — especially those who are low-income and may not have resources to hire other advisors. — GBH
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Boston bus Routes 23, 28, 29 fare-free through 2026
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced Tuesday that her administration will continue to use federal pandemic aid to continue to cover ridership costs on MBTA bus Routes 23, 28 and 29 for the coming two years. Data says riders have taken over 12 million trips on the routes since they became free, and that half of riders actually save money thanks to the program. This is the newest piece in the saga that is the MBTA, its ongoing fixes and future investment.
— State House News Service
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Childbirth costs still climbing, bill aims to address
Mass. health insurers are still not required to cover childbirth without deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket payments, the Globe’s Katie Johnston reports. State legislators are again — for the third legislative session — considering a bill to address climbing childbirth costs by requiring insurers to cover the “full spectrum” of pregnancy care, and the effort is led by a group of local health care and business leaders who make up the Health Equity Compact. — Boston Globe
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Outdoor dining to return (...except not in the North End)
Applications just opened for Boston’s outdoor dining program, and a number of restaurants in the North End will once again be excluded from the program — a point of contention between the city and some of the neighborhood’s restaurants in the past that have led to lawsuits against the city, which cites narrow sidewalks and streets, a short supply of resident parking and foot traffic as reasons outdoor dining is out of the picture for the North End. North End Chamber of Commerce and restaurateurs filed a lawsuit against Boston in federal court in January, arguing unfair and discriminatory treatment by officials over the past two years as a result.
— WBUR | Boston Herald
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Human trafficking increases on Cape and Islands
A 31 percent increase in sex trafficking cases was reported on the Cape and Islands between 2022 and 2023, and the Cape’s first-ever, just-over-$97K human trafficking grant will help with services on the Cape to support victims of human trafficking and help police investigate cases. — Cape Cod Times
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Holyoke eyes ‘Olympic-style’ complex to put the home of volleyball on the map
Holyoke Mayor Joshual Garcia says a private developer is prepared to spend $60M to upgrade the International Volleyball Hall of fame with a massive sports complex designed to host major tournaments and boost tourism in the city. USA International Sport Complex Group says it has local investors on board to build a new home for the hall and a competition arena that will create more than 30 permanent jobs and draw as many as 100,000 visitors to the city each year. — MassLive | Daily Hampshire Gazette
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Marlborough mayor targets surge of rat complaints traced to construction activity
In one of his first high-profile acts since taking office last month, Marlborough Mayor Christian Dumais is pledging to address his city’s surging rat infestation problem, which is apparently being exacerbated by a surge in roadwork and other infrastructure construction. Jesse Collings of the MetroWest Daily News reports Dumais is enlisting the public’s help to find out exactly where the rats are hiding. — MetroWest Daily News
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