Press Release: 7/14/2025
NFIB Asked the Governor to Veto a New Mandate in the FY26 Budget; and Healey Obliged
July 10, 2025
NFIB urged legislators not to reinstate the mandate if veto overrides occur in the Fall.
The Secure Choice Savings Program mandated that businesses with more than 25 workers remit a portion of their employees’ pay into a state-run retirement program. Workers are automatically enrolled and must choose to opt out. Businesses that failed to comply faced fines of $250 per incident (eventually raised to $500) while allowing workers to take civil action against employers.
In April, NFIB first raised concerns that the state House included the Secure Choice Savings Program in a consolidated budget amendment mixed in with hundreds of other earmarks. This was after lawmakers said they would not include any major policy initiatives in the budget.
NFIB issued a press release notifying the media and the general public about this hidden new programpassed by lawmakers.
After successfully advocating that the Senate not include the new mandate in their budget, it ended up in a budget conference committee between the two branches. Unfortunately legislators included the House language in the final budget and we notified the media of our disappointment.
The next step involved contacting Governor Healey requesting she veto the section of the budget. NFIB’s letter stated this program added new compliance expenses for businesses, while risking penalties and potential civil suits. We also continued to criticize the lack of legislative process as the policy never received a public hearing or sought public input at any point this session. Governor Healey agreed with our assessment and returned the outside budget section with an amendment creating a study of the issue until they can better understand its impact.
Proactively, NFIB urged legislators not to reinstate the mandate if veto overrides occur in the Fall. We ask that you take a moment to contact your lawmakers urging them to uphold the governor’s amendment!