MassBenchmarks: Despite positive economic performance, Bay State needs to address infrastructure, education needs

THE MASSACHUSETTS economy is performing well, but the state needs to address infrastructure and education, according to the MassBenchmarks editorial board.
THE MASSACHUSETTS economy is performing well, but the state needs to address infrastructure and education, according to the MassBenchmarks editorial board.

BOSTON – With state employment growing faster than the national level and the unemployment rate the lowest it’s been since “the ‘dot com’ boom at the turn of the century,” the Massachusetts economy is performing well, according to the Editorial Board of MassBenchmarks, the journal of the Massachusetts economy published by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
In a commentary released by the board this week, risks to the Bay State’s economic outlook include sluggish national and global growth, slowing productivity growth and a changing demographic structure in state population, with very few young people entering the workforce as many older workers are leaving, or poised to leave.
According to MassBenchmarks, the three areas of concern are the condition of public infrastructure, adequacy of funding for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade educational offerings and the level of investment in higher education.
According to data from a 2013 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers, which releases a report card of the nation’s infrastructure every four years, there are 487 structurally deficient bridges in the state. The report also estimates the state will need to invest more than $7 billion in drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years, and more than $4 billion in school facilities.
With regard to education funding, the Foundation Budget Review Commission found that the state’s Chapter 70 funding formula to distribute state aid to school districts is failing to provide for rising local costs due to special education services, health insurance and the needs of English language learners and low-income student populations.
According to the board, funding levels for higher education have dropped by 9.7 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since just prior to the recession in 2007. In 2012, Massachusetts ranked No. 28 in appropriation per full-time student, and No. 48 in percentage of state personal income spent on public higher education at 0.30 percent.
In order to resolve these unmet needs in infrastructure and education, the board recommends the state legislature and governor take the necessary steps to increase tax revenue.

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