Keating Talks Federal Uncertainty At Legislative Breakfast

HYANNIS – With a packed house of Cape Cod business owners, local and state leaders addressed the greatest threat to small businesses everywhere: uncertainty. 

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual legislative breakfast, an event that this year focused on federal policy, local governance and the Cape’s economic challenges. 

Congressman Bill Keating headlined the event, with much of his remarks centered on the uncertainty in federal government. He emphasized that global instability and federal policy decisions have been key drivers of economic uncertainty, affecting local efforts. 

Keating’s speech centered on a clear, repeated idea, that businesses and communities can adapt to almost anything—except unpredictability.

“The one thing you can't plan around… the greatest threat to business is uncertainty,” he said. 

Keating opened his remarks with stories of visits to Iraq and Afghanistan during previous global conflicts. He underscored the real world consequences that foreign policy decisions were causing, stressing the stakes of current conflicts, particularly with Iran, and calling attention to both financial and human costs.

Keating also criticized President Trump’s use of tariffs within the past year, arguing that they were politically driven and destabilizing to the local economy. 

“These tariffs are not done for economic purposes,” he said. “They've been done for political purposes.”

Much of his speech centered on the need for predictable trade policy to help local business owners develop structure. He also connected federal immigration policy to staffing shortages on Cape Cod, saying that many businesses will have a harder time getting visas for their workers this summer, especially J-1 students. 

Like many others, Keating said he believes seasonal workers are the backbone of the seasonal economy on Cape Cod. He feared processing times and potential bottlenecks would prevent many workers from coming.

Housing, inflation and cost increases were also themes within Keating’s speech. He said many average Cape Cod locals are spending over 30 percent of their income on housing costs alone. 

Keating opened with a story of an Afghan man who had been helping American soldiers during the War in Afghanistan. He was providing intel that kept many soldiers safe. 

When Keating asked why, he said he was doing it to give his son a better life—the American dream. 

The government at the time promised to bring him back to the United States with his family. Keating said he had recently gone to visit him in a detention center after he was kidnapped by ICE agents outside of the U.S. Center for citizenship and naturalization. He had just finished the last step in legally obtaining a green card. 

Keating said he is currently being held in Plymouth and he went to visit him to show that a government official still cares and wants to help.

“The government can sometimes fail us, but the people are strong,” he said. “And the things I said to you about some of the economic uncertainties, there are solutions for all those things. And I honestly think the strength of this country will take us there. But I don't think people can depend on the political parties and the party-political structure, alone.” 

Town Managers Peter Lombardi of Brewster and Kim Newman of Orleans were part of a local panel that also included Yarmouth Town Manager Bob Whritenour and Falmouth Town Manager Mike Renshaw. 

Lombardi kicked off the panel discussion by providing an update of Brewster’s circumstances going into town meeting next month. He said almost half of Cape Cod towns will be bringing operating overrides to their residents. Drivers include pension obligations, personnel costs and union contracts. 

He said utility costs are set to increase as well, leaving many towns in complex scenarios regarding budgets for next year. 

“Prices are set to increase by 100 percent,” he said, of utility costs. “They're effectively doubling.”

Whritenour said many towns are competing over limited state aid. Federal funding cuts are impacting state revenues and thus affecting local municipalities when it comes to state funding. 

Renshaw said housing is his number one priority as a town manager and urged local business owners to participate in the process of zoning changes and housing solutions, which rely heavily on public input. 

Newman pivoted the conversation to a more optimistic perspective. She said the town created an economic development position within town hall to support local business initiatives such as a local incubator grant program. 

She said the grant program helped purchase a $10,000 juicer for a local business in Orleans. Although she thought the community wasn’t going to support the idea, she said it has had a fantastic impact. 

“The idea is we're helping that business grow their service and then generate more in the community,” she said. “And it was a huge success.”

Newman also said the town manager’s office has partnered closely with the Orleans Chamber of Commerce to support annual events that bring visitors to the community.

Her efforts to stimulate the economy are coming from within the network of local Orleans residents, which she said, has seen a huge impact.   

State Senator Dylan Fernandes’ opening remarks echoed similarly to his colleagues’. He offered positive updates with the creation of the seasonal community designation, the free lunch initiative, free fare for public transportation on Cape Cod and the bill that just banned cell phone usage in schools. 

He called on officials and constituents to take part in discussions surrounding work on the Bourne Bridge. The state is currently looking into funding sources to help revisit critical infrastructure updates. Fernandes said while he believes the federal government will not offer funding for the bridge, it is crucial for the commonwealth to implement a plan. The default scenario without the necessary funding would decrease the bridge to one-lane traffic only for multiple years, affecting the Cape’s economic sustainability. 

Keating closed after mentioning the American dream, hoping to revive the idea that once the United States of America was a top country in the world. 

“It can be a deliberate process, but I hope after some of the dust settles from this election, then we'll look forward and be able to really deal with some of the great challenges we have,” he said. “So many of our societal challenges depend on the economic challenges I said here. If we don't have a great economy here, we are not going to be able to do the social things that we have to do, to bring families and people forward, to give people new opportunities, and to become the beacon of the world that we have been, and we will be again.”