"Only about one-quarter of PPP funds supported jobs that otherwise would have disappeared"

"The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) directed hundreds of billions of dollars to small businesses and other organizations adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, providing resources to maintain payrolls, to hire back employees who may have been laid off and to cover important overhead.

But was this money well spent? A recent study offers evidence that the cost of each job saved was very high and that most of the program’s benefits flowed to small-business owners, their creditors and their suppliers rather than to workers. Other crisis programs, including unemployment insurance and economic impact payments, were targeted much more successfully to wage earners."

Continue reading the article online -> https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/2022/jul/was-paycheck-protection-program-effective

 

"Only about one-quarter of PPP funds supported jobs that otherwise would have disappeared"

"unemployment taxes are 'probably the first of many bills' from the pandemic"

 From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin: 

"With unemployment soaring, state lawmakers are considering ways to soften the blow from a major impending increase in the taxes employers pay toward the state’s unemployment system, a jump in costs that one business group described as a “pretty staggering.”

With the unemployment insurance trust fund suddenly facing a multibillion-dollar deficit over the next four years, the contributions required from Massachusetts businesses are set to increase nearly 60% when the calendar turns to 2021 and then continue growing at a smaller rate through 2024.

Those higher taxes -- estimated at an average of $319 more per qualifying employee next year -- will be due starting in April, raising concerns that the sharp uptick will put a drag on the economic recovery from the ongoing COVID-prompted recession and make it more difficult for employers to bring back jobs they cut.

Christopher Carlozzi, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business Massachusetts, said his group and the employers with which it works view the projected increases as “a looming crisis.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200906/how-is-massachusetts-going-to-pay-all-of-unemployment-requests-employers-will-face-staggering-hike-in-unemployment-taxes?rssfeed=true

In the News: Paychecks get smaller; wind power growth threatened

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Paychecks are about to get a little smaller in Massachusetts.

Employer and employee contributions to the state Department of Family and Medical Leave Employment Security Trust Fund begin coming out of paychecks on Tuesday. That’s the funding source for the new paid family and medical leave benefit signed into law last year."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190930/payroll-deduction-for-mass-paid-leave-starts-oct-1

"The winds are blowing fair for America’s wind power industry, making it one of the fastest-growing U.S. energy sources.

Land-based turbines are rising by the thousands across America, from the remote Texas plains to farm towns of Iowa. And the U.S. wind boom now is expanding offshore, with big corporations planning $70 billion in investment for the country’s first utility-scale offshore wind farms.

“We have been blessed to have it,” says Polly McMahon, a 13th-generation resident of Block Island, where a pioneering offshore wind farm replaced the island’s dirty and erratic diesel-fired power plant in 2016. “I hope other people are blessed too.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190930/presidents-windmill-hatred-is-worry-for-booming-industry

"even if we could afford it, it's the wrong priority"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"As Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a controversial pay-raise bill Friday, several local lawmakers - on both sides of the argument - defended their votes. 

The $18 million package that would bump pay for legislative leaders, judges and constitutional officers swiftly passed through the House and Senate this week with near unilateral support of Democrats, and complete opposition by Republicans. 

Baker called the pay hikes "irresponsible" and rejected the bill. Republicans from MetroWest and the Milford area agreed with Baker's veto."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170128/legsilators-defend-criticize-pay-raise-bill

Accepting minutes, approving bills (audio)

From the School Committee meeting 4/29/08, the acceptence of prior meeting minutes and approval of bills and payroll.

Time: 1 minute, 38 seconds



MP3 File