With Election Day looming, the three frontrunners in Massachusetts’ gubernatorial race — Deval Patrick, Kerry Healey and Christy Mihos — have spent countless hours traversing the Commonwealth to win the favor (and votes) of Massachusetts citizens. Charisma, advertisements, soundbytes and platforms will all play a role in determining the outcome of Tuesday’s elections, but only time will tell what effect the governor-elect’s policies and plans will have on the state of Massachusetts and its citizens.
The three candidates have differing ideas and approaches, but all propose to stimulate economic growth in the Commonwealth if elected governor.
THE RIGHT AND LEFT OF IT
According to his website, Patrick, the Democratic candidate, plans to cut the time of state permitting and approval of businesses to no more than six months.
“What businesses want, I think, is one place to go, one stop, one person, for that matter, to help them steward their way through the approval and permitting processes,” he said during an appearance on New England Cable News channel’s “This Week in Business.” “They want certainty and predictability in regulation.”
Healey, the state’s current lieutenant governor, also wants to expedite the state’s permitting process.
“I want to reform permitting,” the Republican nominee, whose campaign could not be reached for comment, said at an Oct. 3 debate at American International College in Springfield. “Permitting is the biggest thing that’s driving up housing costs and keeping businesses from locating here because they don’t have certainty about how long it’s going to take them to get that shovel in the ground and get done and really get down to business.”
According to her 50 Point Plan for Change, Healey would reduce Massachusetts’ jobs tax, an unemployment insurance cost for which Massachusetts businesses currently pay $688 an employee. If elected, Healey wants to cut employers’ costs by about $100 an employee, her website said, by reforming abuses within the current unemployment insurance system.
“It’s one of those things that makes it prohibitive to either expand or to come here to Massachusetts,” she said during a “This Week in Business” segment. “That’s going to be a high priority for me.”
Patrick spokesperson Libby DeVecchi said the Romney-Healey administration promised to cut taxes while actually increasing taxes and fees.
“Deval Patrick has the broadest leadership of any of the candidates for governor, having served at the highest levels of the Justice Department under President Clinton, as a senior executive in two Fortune 100 companies and as a leader in not-for-profits and community groups,” she said in an email. “He will bring fiscal responsibility to Massachusetts government.”
An economic proposal available on Patrick’s website says he plans to use public funds to “leverage private capital in private investment funds to provide start-up capital” for new businesses in the Commonwealth.
“I also think we have to do things to connect up good ideas with the capital they need to get started and to stay in business,” Patrick said at a Sept. 25 debate. “Remember, it is small and medium businesses where most jobs get created, and it’s a good idea looking for capital in a neighborhood.”
Small Business Administration Regional Advocate Steve Adams said Patrick’s proposal will probably have only a minor impact on small businesses if implemented.
“Capital is not really a big problem,” Adams said. “[Patrick] does have a proposal for small business. It’s not going to have much of an effect on small businesses.”
AN INDEPENDENT VOICE
Mihos, the independent candidate and owner of Christy’s Markets, said he will enhance and protect three Massachusetts industries that “will never leave” the Commonwealth — higher education, healthcare and tourism.
“The first thing I have to do is I’m going to stabilize what we have right now,” he said in an interview.
Once those industries have been enhanced and stabilized, Massachusetts will have a shot at winning back other industries, Mihos said. He also plans to implement the Massachusetts Competitiveness Initiative, which he says will be modeled after a similar initiative in South Carolina. Harvard Professor Michael Porter led a study for the South Carolina initiative, which proposes to strengthen South Carolina’s economy and competitiveness focusing on core industries and education and building an environment that fosters innovation, according to the council’s website.
Mihos said his initiative will not use tax breaks to reach out to companies. Instead, Mihos said “Massachusetts produces some of the best minds in the country” and that he will promote Massachusetts’ pool of knowledge to attract businesses to the state.
As a small business owner, Mihos said he is “acutely aware” of the regulations small businesses face in the Commonwealth.
“I’m a grocer,” he said. “Pennies are important to me because that’s how we make a bottom line.”
He pledged to create no additional state taxes.
“Small businesses are like small families,” Mihos said. “Any type of expense that is put upon them hurts the viability and vitality of those companies.”
Mihos said he does not believe Patrick and Healey can reduce the permitting and approval time for business in Massachusetts.
“I’d like to see a plan on how they’re going to do it,” he said.
Mihos said as governor, he would work to make regulations easier for people to understand, while providing “one-stop shopping” for businesses.
“That would be a very important step forward,” Adams said. “That would be more valuable than a lot of other proposals on the table.”
Improvement in government’s approach to small business will eventually attract larger businesses to the state, Mihos said.
“Once big businesses see what we do with small businesses, believe me, they’ll jump on the bandwagon,” he said
THE FUTURE OF THE ‘LITTLE GUY’ IN MASSACHUSETTS BUSINESS
Adams said the economic proposals of the Democratic and Republican candidates — Patrick and Healey — do not address the real problems small businesses face in Massachusetts.
“What they really could benefit from is a regulatory process that has them in mind,” he said.
Massachusetts state law requires state agencies to consider small businesses when developing regulations, Adams said.
“The problem is, that law is ignored by most agencies,” he said. “So government could have a big impact just by enforcing the law. Neither candidate really speaks to that issue.”
He said permitting and approval reforms do not have a large impact on small businesses because they do not tend to become involved in large development projects.
“Small business are across the entire economy and regulatory burdens are very heavy,” Adams said. “If either candidate could get their heads around improving the regulatory process for small businesses, that would have a major impact on small businesses in Massachusetts.”
In her “This Week in Business” appearance, Healey pledged to work with small business leaders across the state to see how the government can make small business more successful.
“What I would like to do is figure out what we can do to support small business creation and expansion here in Massachusetts,” she said. “What we really should be doing is saying to 350 small businesses, ‘what can we do to help you grow?’ because that is how I think ultimately we’re going to get the most job creation in our state.”
Adams said this governmental approach to small businesses would make business owners feel respected.
“Right now, state government spends most of their attention either talking to big companies who are already here,” he said. “Small firms tend to get ignored. It would be a very positive step if government actually spent time reaching out to small and medium companies to see how it could help them.”