Ways & Means Committee

Thursday, April 23, 2026, 10 a.m. (Boston time), Boston City Hall, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201

Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, 0748, FY27 Budget: Labor Compliance & Worker Protections, Law, Revolving Fund

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Documents

Summary

The Ways & Means Committee, chaired by Councilor Weber, held an FY27 operating budget hearing on dockets 0733, 0740, and 0748 covering the Office of Labor Compliance and Worker Protections, the Law Department, and the Property Damage Revolving Fund. Staff from both offices presented: the labor compliance office reported a $1.8 million budget (a 1.4% decrease) and described enforcement of the Boston Resident Jobs Policy, living wage and wage theft work, heat illness prevention implementation, and workers' rights trainings; the Law Department reported a roughly $10.9 million budget (also a 1.4% decrease), nine vacancies out of 75 positions, and extensive litigation work including defending the Boston Trust Act against a federal lawsuit and preserving over $100 million in federal grants. Councilors Flynn, Murphy, and Coletta Zapata asked questions about BPS transportation and Transdev liability, settlement payouts, outside counsel spending, unanswered 17F document requests, and public records. No votes were taken and no public commenters signed up; the chair adjourned the hearing.

Transcript

2:59 um.

3:42 Um.

10:35 Good morning.

10:38 Um my name is ben weber and the

10:39 boston city council for

10:41 district six and the chair

10:42 of the boston city council on

10:45 ways and means of the boston

10:46 city council committee on ways

10:46 and means.

10:49 Today is APRIL 23rd, 2026 and

10:51 the exact time is 1011.

10:53 Uh, this hearing is being

10:53 recorded.

10:55 It's also being live streamed

11:00 at boston.Gov/city-council-tv

11:01 and broadcast on xfinity

11:05 channel eight, rcn channel 82

11:07 and fios channel 964.

11:09 Uh the council's budget review

11:12 process uh encompasses a series

11:12 of public hearings which we

11:14 began last week and run through

11:14 JUNE.

11:16 We strongly encourage residents

11:18 to take a moment to engage in

11:19 this process by giving

11:19 testimony.

11:22 Uh, for the record, you can do

11:22 this in several ways.

11:24 First, you can attend one

11:25 of our hearings and give public

11:25 testimony.

11:29 We'll take public testimony um,

11:31 after, uh, the councilors first

11:32 round of questions.

11:35 Um, and also at two hearings

11:36 dedicated to public testimony.

11:38 The full hearing schedules on

11:43 our website at

11:44 boston.Gov/council-budget our

11:46 scheduled listening sessions

11:47 where the public just gives

11:49 testimony are both in person

11:50 here at city hall.

11:54 Uh tuesday, APRIL 28th at 6

11:56 P.M. And again on thursday, may

11:58 26th at 6 P.M. Again both right

11:59 here in this chamber.

12:01 You can give testimony in

12:02 person here in the chamber or

12:04 virtually via zoom for

12:05 in-person testimony.

12:07 Uh, come to the chamber and

12:08 sign up on the sheet near the

12:10 entrance for virtual testimony.

12:12 You can sign up using our

12:12 online form.

12:15 Uh, on our council budget

12:16 review website or by emailing

12:19 the committee at

12:21 squirm@boston.Gov or by

12:22 emailing chris mitchell on

12:24 that's car hire.

12:29 Marco u h a n@boston.Gov.

12:33 When you are called to testify

12:34 state your name and affiliation

12:35 and residence and please limit

12:38 your comments to two minutes

12:38 email your written.

12:41 So you can either testify in

12:43 person uh you know or by zoom

12:44 or you can submit written

12:47 testimony to the committee at

12:48 squirm at boston archive.

12:50 A third option is to submit a

12:52 two minute video of your

12:53 testimony through the form on

12:54 our website.

12:56 For more information on the

12:57 city council budget process and

12:58 how to testify.

13:00 Please visit the city council's

13:03 budget website at boston gov uh

13:06 slash council council uh dash

13:08 budget uh in person public

13:10 testimony will be taken again

13:11 here after our first round

13:12 of questions from councilors.

13:14 Uh, individuals will be called

13:15 on the order in which they've

13:17 signed up and will have two

13:17 minutes to testify.

13:20 Uh, again, uh, you know, if

13:22 you're if you're well, if

13:23 you're watching online and want

13:25 to testify, email karishma cho

13:30 on that's charisma aq h a

13:32 n@boston.Gov for the zoom link

13:33 the list.

13:33 and your name will be added to

13:35 This morning's hearing is on

13:40 docket numbers 073320740 and

13:42 docket number 0748.

13:45 An overview of the fy 27

13:46 operating budgets for the

13:48 office of labor compliance and

13:49 worker protections, the law

13:51 department and the property

13:52 damage revolving fund.

13:54 These matters were sponsored by

13:55 mayor michelle wu.

13:56 When we referred to the

14:00 committee on APRIL 8th 2026,

14:02 I'm joined by my colleagues and

14:03 our order of arrival.

14:05 Uh, councilor murphy and I have

14:06 received an order a letter

14:07 of absence from

14:07 councilor flynn.

14:08 Uh, no.

14:08 Just kidding.

14:09 He's here.

14:09 Of course.

14:10 And he was here first.

14:12 Uh uh.

14:12 Yep.

14:13 Uh, I've.

14:15 Yeah.

14:17 Um, I've received letters

14:18 of absence from

14:20 council PRESIDENT Breadon and

14:21 councilor santana.

14:24 Um, we waive opening remarks at

14:25 these hearings, so we're going

14:26 to go directly to the panel.

14:28 Uh, who I'm going to introduce.

14:31 Uh, we're joined by mike.

14:33 Is michael and mike okay?

14:35 Michael firestone corporation

14:36 councilor for the city

14:36 of boston.

14:40 Uh, sam denning uh, for the

14:41 chief of staff and policy for

14:42 the law department.

14:46 Uh, kristen coventry uh, office

14:47 manager for the law department

14:48 .

14:51 Uh, monique mitchell uh, senior

14:52 program manager for the office

14:53 of labor compliance for worker

14:55 protections and jody sugarman

14:57 and deputy chief for the office

14:58 of labor compliance and worker

14:59 protections.

15:01 Um, so I'm going to hand things

15:02 over to the panel.

15:04 I think I saw slides or you got

15:05 a presentation.

15:07 So um, that way however you

15:08 want to go about this.

15:10 Great.

15:10 Uh, the floor is now yours.

15:13 thank you so much.

15:15 Um good morning councilors.

15:16 My name is jody sugarman.

15:16 Both.

15:18 And, um, I have the honor

15:20 of serving as deputy chief in

15:21 the worker empowerment cabinet

15:22 and direct the office of labor

15:23 compliance and worker

15:24 protections.

15:25 We're going to go through our

15:26 slides really quickly to give

15:28 you an update on what we've

15:29 accomplished over the last year

15:30 and what our plans are for fy

15:31 27.

15:33 So first just a little

15:33 background.

15:34 Um, the worker empowerment

15:36 cabinet includes three

15:37 departments.

15:40 Um the office of workforce

15:41 development, the office

15:42 of youth employment and

15:43 opportunity and the office

15:45 of labor compliance and worker

15:45 protections.

15:46 And we're here today just

15:47 speaking about the office

15:50 of labor compliance and worker

15:50 protections.

15:55 We our budget is 1.8 million.

16:00 Um, about 64% of that budget is

16:02 specifically for the boston

16:03 resident jobs policy office.

16:05 And that is also where ten

16:07 of our 13 staff reside.

16:10 Our budget this year has seen a

16:13 1.4% decrease of about $27,000

16:13 .

16:17 Um and uh I will going now to a

16:20 do.

16:20 little bit more about what we

16:22 Um our the office of labor

16:23 compliance and worker

16:24 protections is a central

16:25 resource for workers.

16:27 We protect and promote labor

16:28 standards and policies that

16:31 create fair workplaces for all

16:31 workers.

16:33 And primarily we're charged

16:35 with enforcing the city's labor

16:37 policy and worker protections.

16:38 That includes the boston

16:40 resident jobs policy, the

16:42 boston jobs living wage

16:44 prevailing wage ordinance, the

16:45 boston wage theft executive

16:48 order and now the heat illness

16:50 and injury prevention

16:50 ordinance.

16:52 We also provide free worker

16:54 health and safety training and

16:56 we, uh, coordinate a worker's

16:57 safety and rights initiative.

17:01 I'm going to go very quickly

17:02 through the boston resident

17:04 jobs policy because that is

17:06 something that we had a hearing

17:08 on just last week or the week

17:08 before.

17:10 So we've had a lot of time to

17:10 talk about this.

17:12 But boston resident jobs policy

17:14 was established in 1983 with

17:18 updates in 2017 and it set

17:20 goals for private development

17:23 and projects over 50,000ft2, uh

17:24 ,that have to meet certain

17:26 employment standards at least

17:28 51% of total work hours for

17:31 boston residents, 40% for um

17:33 people of color and 12% for

17:33 women.

17:36 The ordinance is enforced based

17:39 on seven administrative

17:39 compliance measures which are

17:42 listed here listed here

17:44 primarily focused on um

17:48 submitting on time payroll um

17:49 attending pre-construction

17:50 meetings and things like that.

17:53 And over the last year and we

17:54 again just had an opportunity

17:56 to present on this.

17:57 We've done a lot of work.

18:00 Um the office has monitored 166

18:01 projects in this fiscal year.

18:04 We've streamlined compliance,

18:05 uh, related to the boston

18:08 resident jobs policy and state

18:10 prevailing wage compliance.

18:11 Now contractors who are

18:13 covered by brg are able to

18:15 through our salesforce database

18:17 submit their certified payroll

18:19 records combined with their brp

18:21 compliance documentation.

18:23 Um we also have a full time

18:24 staff dedicated to maintaining

18:26 our boston resident jobs policy

18:28 jobs bank, which has about 400

18:30 workers registered and the jobs

18:32 bank has received 11 requests

18:34 for labor in this fiscal year.

18:36 We created a transparent

18:38 nichole system for sanctions

18:40 and we've expanded transparency

18:42 through upgrades to our real

18:44 time dashboard.

18:46 Our numbers at the moment um

18:50 from JULY to MARCH of JULY 2025

18:54 to MARCH of 2026 we 19% of work

18:55 hours have gone to boston

18:58 residents 42% to people

19:00 of color, 7% to women.

19:03 And this is just a slide

19:05 showing our dashboard which

19:06 I've shared with many

19:07 councilors before.

19:09 Uh we've made many improvements

19:10 thanks to conversations we've

19:11 had with the councilors to add

19:13 different ways that you can

19:15 track data by year developer,

19:17 contractor, subcontractor now

19:20 by trade and I will hand it off

19:20 to my colleague.

19:22 Good morning everyone.

19:24 Good morning councilors.

19:25 Um again my name is monique

19:27 mitchell and the senior program

19:28 manager for living wage and

19:29 wage theft.

19:31 And in my role I oversee the

19:32 boston jobs living wage and

19:33 prevailing wage ordinance.

19:35 And so this ordinance has been

19:36 in fact throughout 30 years or

19:39 so and the primary focus is to

19:40 ensure that workers who are

19:42 working on a service contract.

19:43 of a sizable amount earn a

19:43 living wage.

19:46 Um the ordinance stipulates how

19:47 the living wage can be

19:47 calculated.

19:49 It can be either 110% of the

19:51 federal minimum wage, 110%

19:53 of the statement of wage or

19:55 using using the consumer price

19:56 index percentage to calculate

19:56 it.

19:58 And so for this upcoming JULY,

20:00 the living wage will increase

20:01 in $19.36.

20:07 Um so this past year we

20:08 monitored about over 500

20:09 vendors.

20:11 Um, about a thousand contracts

20:13 that meet the ordinance

20:14 requirements for a living wage.

20:16 And so that means that they'll

20:17 be paying the workers at least

20:19 1930 $0.06 per hour.

20:21 Um, this past year we also work

20:23 to implement the prevailing

20:24 wage section of the ordinance

20:26 the ordinance as amended in in

20:27 JULY of 2021.

20:29 And so with for that for

20:30 building services as

20:31 particularly cleaning and

20:33 service security guards.

20:34 And so this year we were able

20:35 to implement both building

20:37 service contracts as well as

20:38 leases to workers who pay

20:39 prevailing wage.

20:41 Um we continue to work to train

20:43 city of boston staff as well as

20:44 our vendors and how to meet the

20:45 ordinance requirements,

20:46 ensuring that they do

20:48 symmetrical reports as well as

20:49 the different forms that need

20:49 to be completed.

20:51 And lastly we've also we're

20:53 working to implement a data

20:55 tool in order to meet our

20:55 compliance demands.

20:58 Um and for our balancing of the

20:59 compliance reports online

21:00 versus submitting the email.

21:07 We also oversee the boston uh

21:08 wage that executive order.

21:09 And this has been an average

21:11 of about over ten years or so.

21:13 And so one of the key things

21:14 we've been working on this past

21:16 year is implementing a data

21:16 tool.

21:17 So we currently look at six

21:18 different data sets.

21:20 And so with this data tool

21:21 brings it all into one area.

21:23 So you can search by uh

21:24 employer's name and have all

21:26 the data from the different

21:27 data sets available to us in

21:28 one area.

21:30 Um we've also received wage

21:31 theft complaints throughout the

21:33 year on 22 to be specific and

21:35 refer them to to the masters

21:36 attorney general's for labor

21:36 division.

21:38 And so we're grateful for our

21:39 partnership because any

21:40 complaints that we receive in

21:41 our forum we can just send it

21:43 to them versus having the

21:44 worker be submitted new claim.

21:46 and so this past year we refer

21:48 20 uh claims to their office.

21:50 Uh one was FEBRUARY results

21:51 meaning that the worker

21:52 received their money back.

21:55 Uh for currently open and

21:57 pending investigation, seven

21:58 complaints are under review

21:59 determining they'll determine

22:00 if they'll open investigation

22:02 or they'll issue five out

22:04 of action letter and a

22:06 currently we see the right

22:08 of action letter allowing the

22:09 work of isu um different

22:10 methods on their own.

22:16 One the other areas we work on

22:17 in our office is multilingual

22:18 health and safety training.

22:20 And we do this through osha ten

22:21 and osha 30.

22:22 Um, by offering this training

22:24 we meet two of our ordinances.

22:25 One of the ordinances as

22:27 mentioned on the slide is the

22:28 construction and demolition

22:28 safety ordinance.

22:31 The ordinance requires that

22:32 site safety coordinators for

22:34 large scale projects have a

22:36 osha 30 and the osha ten

22:37 supports their boston jobs

22:38 residency policy by allowing

22:40 workers have the opportunity to

22:41 work on public projects.

22:44 And so today we have um,

22:46 trained over 600 boston workers

22:47 who also trainings, which is

22:48 great to see.

22:49 And we offer two english,

22:51 spanish portuguese and haitian

22:51 creole.

22:57 So you'll forgive me for the

22:59 amount of texts on this slide,

23:00 but I thought the councilors

23:02 would like an update on the

23:02 implementation of the heat

23:04 ordinance that was passed last

23:04 summer.

23:06 We are well underway.

23:07 we've worked with the

23:09 procurement team to develop a

23:10 list of contract categories

23:11 that are covered by the

23:11 ordinance.

23:13 We use bureau of labor

23:15 statistics data to identify

23:17 those workers most at risk

23:19 of exposure to excessive heat.

23:20 And you can see the list is

23:21 here.

23:22 We've developed the required

23:24 heat illness prevention plan

23:26 affidavit that

23:27 covered contractors will need

23:27 to sign.

23:29 Um the department is reviewing

23:30 that for us now.

23:32 And we've also contracted with

23:33 the vendor who will be

23:35 providing three in-person

23:36 training the trainer sessions

23:38 for city of boston managers to

23:39 learn how to provide training

23:41 on heat protections and how to

23:43 develop a heat illness

23:44 prevention plan for their

23:45 department or team.

23:48 Mass kosh is also providing a

23:50 full schedule virtual and

23:51 in-person technical assistance

23:53 sessions on how to create that

23:54 heat illness prevention plan.

23:56 We've got a draft template for

23:58 that plan and we've also

24:00 already scheduled three

24:02 webinars for

24:03 covered contractors and anybody

24:05 who would like to attend.