Government Affairs Forum Highlights with Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo
March 15, 2019
On March 12 we hosted our annual forum with Massachusetts Speaker of the House of Representatives Robert A. DeLeo. Now in his sixth term as Speaker, DeLeo provided a brief overview of the Legislature’s recent accomplishments before going into detail on his, and the House’s, priorities for this new Legislative session.
Among those priorities is Speaker DeLeo’s hope for a comprehensive healthcare bill. The Chamber supports policy initiatives that balance the need for access and quality of healthcare with efforts to constrain the rising costs of that care to employers and employees alike.
The Speaker also promised to continue his work on early education and care for the Commonwealth’s youngest residents, including promoting children’s health and wellness. Specifically, he announced that the House will pursue a comprehensive initiative to support children from early childhood through adolescence in clinical, educational, and community settings.
Another key topic the speaker touched on was transportation. In his speech he called on business leaders to bring their ideas and priorities for transportation improvements, including easing congestion.
“We need the entire business community, along with transit experts, at one table to coordinate ideas, streamline and consolidate the ongoing transportation conversations and create a broadly supported employer agenda for transportation improvements – while we engage other stakeholders.” – House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo
Lastly, Speaker DeLeo committed to boosting the reputation and innovation of our state’s restaurants, including at least $2 million in funding under the Mass Office of Travel and Tourism to help promote restaurants and encourage farms and food purveyors to find a global audience.
We are excited to see the Speaker and the House get started on all of these promising initiatives and look forward to continued collaboration with the Legislature.
Watch the Speaker’s Government Affairs Forum address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce below thanks to our partner Comcast New England.