WORKFORCE CONNECTIONS - Vol. 59

In This Issue:

State & Federal Policy Updates, Committee Assignments
MWA Updates: NAACP Award to Janice Ryan Weekes
News From Around the Sector: Jobs, funding, news and updates

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PUBLIC POLICY UPDATES

State Public Policy

State Legislature Update

Committee Assignments get the Ball Rolling

Two months into the Legislature’s new session, Committee assignments have been dolled out by House and Senate Leadership. The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development has new leadership on both the House and Senate side of the aisle. The House has named Representative Paul McMurtry as the House Chair. In the Senate, Senator Jacob Oliveira will serve as the Chair. The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development is a key Committee for the MWA and our membership. It reviews workforce development related legislation and plays a key role in workforce development budget priorities during the State’s budget process. A full list of members can be viewed here: Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.

With Committees now established, legislation filed in the 2025-26 legislative session can be assigned to committee and hearings can start. Legislative rules have changed the procedure of how bills will traverse the legislative process. The MWA will track workforce development legislation as it progresses throughout the first year of the session.

A full list of all the legislative Committees and their respective membership can be found here: Joint Committees.

State Budget Process in Full Swing

The Joint Committee on Ways & Means (Joint Committee on Ways and Means), the Committee that vets the Governor’s budget proposal, has scheduled hearings for the Governor’s H.1 (Governor's Budget) proposal. The Committee will hold subject matter hearings starting in March and ending in early April. Following the formal hearing process, the House will release their budget proposal in mid to late April, followed by debate and passage in late April. The Senate will traditionally start their budget process in May, following House passage.

Gov. Healey Launches “Fed Up” website to connect dislocated Federal Workers with Commonwealth Job Resources

Following significant federal layoffs administered by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Gov. Healey and her administration have launched a new website to connect dislocated federal employees with job resources here in the Commonwealth.

The website, mass.gov/fedup, directs jobseekers to state and municipal job opportunities, Careers in high-growth industries and MassHire services and Career Center locations.

January 2025 Unemployment Rate and Economic Analysis

On March 7th, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development released the unemployment rate for January 2025 and the revised rate for December 2024. Click here to read the 03/07/25 state press release. The January 2025 estimates show 3,761,200 Massachusetts residents were employed and 164,900 were unemployed, for a total labor force of 3,926,000. The January unemployment rate at 4.2 percent was 0.1 percentage points higher than the revised December rate of 4.1 percent. Over-the-month, the January labor force increased by 9,600 from 3,916,400 in December, with 6,800 more residents employed and 2,900 more residents unemployed.

The labor force participation rate, the share of the working age population employed and unemployed, increased by 0.2 percent to 66.5 percent. The labor force was up 64,900 from the January 2025 estimate of 3,861,100 following the annual revision, with 44,100 more employed residents, and 20,900 more unemployed residents.

January 2025 Employment Overview

Leisure and Hospitality gained 4,000 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 7,500 were added.

Government gained 1,100 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 5,400 were added.

Financial Activities gained 1,000 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 800 were added.

Manufacturing gained 400 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 3,800 were lost.

Other Services gained 400 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 700 were lost.

Construction gained 200 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 6,700 were lost.

Professional, Scientific, and Business Services lost 200 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 6,500 were lost.

Trade, Transportation, and Utilities lost 500 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 3,700 were lost.

Information lost 1,000 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 3,100 were lost.

Education and Health Services lost 2,200 jobs over-the-month. Over-the-year, 11,100 were added.

Detailed labor market information is available here.

Federal Public Policy

Federal Updates

WIOA Gets Strong Bipartisan Support – But Contents and Timeline Still Unclear

Following uncertainty about where WIOA Reauthorization fell on the spectrum of priorities for the Republican lead Congress, it is becoming clearer that the deal almost struck in the 11th hour in December 2024 is looking more likely to reappear.

On March 5th, the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee held a hearing focused on WIOA. The positive note from the hearing was wide bipartisan support for the workforce system at large. As mentioned above, it appears that previous versions which were nearly passed last year are likely to be the starting point for WIOA Reauthorization.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer Confirmed as Secretary of Labor

The Senate confirmed former Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer on Monday March 10th, following hearings before the Senate in February. Secretary Chavez-Deremer picked up 17 votes from Democrats as she passed the senate 67 to 32. The Secretary had picked up support from prominent labor unions after earning a pro-labor reputation from her time in the House of Representatives.

MWA AND MEMBER UPDATES

Worcester NAACP Honors

Janice Ryan Weekes

MassHire Central Career Center, Executive Director Janice Ryan Weekes received an award from the Worcester NAACP for her decades of service reducing barriers to employment for underserved and overlooked demographics, championing education, and uplifting residents of the City of Worcester and the 38 surrounding towns and communities the MHCC serves. To see more click here.

MTF Releases Report on

Workforce Spending

On January 22nd, the Healey-Driscoll administration released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget proposal, which included notable spending increases in health care, education, and transportation. The $62.07 billion spending plan is a $4.3 billion (7.4 percent) increase over the FY 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and a $1.8 billion (2.1 percent) increase over the administration’s FY 2025 estimated spending level.

This brief focuses on the $522.6 million included in the Governor’s FY 2026 budget proposal for workforce programs, including descriptions of where investments occur and how proposed funding compares to the FY 2025 GAA.

Click here to see the full report.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SECTOR

There are so many job postings and funding announcements, we moved our News from Around the Sector section to our website, where you can access the news, jobs, funding announcements and more anytime throughout the month. Go to: www.massworkforce.com/around-the-sector.

Here is a just sample of the events, funding opportunities, jobs, and more posted on our website:

Job & Training Opportunity: Springfield Technical Community College is currently accepting applications for 2 part-time Recruitment and Retention Specialists. To see more about these positions, click here .
Job & Training Opportunity: MassHire North Central Workforce Board is looking for a Director of Finance. To learn more about this position and others click here .
Article: Misclassifying Workers as independent Contractors is Costly for Workers and States , Economic Policy Institute