The Legislature’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget released earlier this week by the Conference Committee differs dramatically from both the House and Senate proposals in part because of its larger bottom line, which estimates tax collections of $39.58 billion, an increase of $2.66 billion or 7.2 percent.
Massachusetts currently has the highest per capita income of any state, but the Commonwealth lags many states when it comes to using those resources to support funding for education, health, human services, transportation and the like. Massachusetts is even below the national average.
“ Over two years into the pandemic, the state is still missing about 8,000 seats that it had pre-pandemic. “That’s a dynamic that we have to keep in mind as we go about this … we can’t take three years to figure out the policy,” said Colin Jones, a senior policy analyst at the Mass. …
Child care is in crisis. Here’s what’s being done about it – WBUR Read More »
MassBudget’s brief to Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court asking to dismiss the ballot question exempting gig companies from providing employee benefits and protections. The brief outlined how excluding these workers from labor protections and failure to contribute to social insurance funds for them would hurt these workers and more broadly erode labor protections and employment-based social supports across the Commonwealth.
“ Colin Jones, a research analyst for the Mass. Budget and Policy Center, said class sizes need to remain small — around the levels set by the state — for child care to fulfill its potential to be a lasting, positive intervention in children’s lives. “The evidence says quality [child care] takes paid teachers — like teachers …
Why child care in Massachusetts costs so much – WBUR Read More »
June 10, 2022 To: House and Senate Ways and Means Committee members and staff Re: Options for Targeted Tax Relief and a Warning About Estate Tax Changes From: Marie-Frances Rivera, Phineas Baxandall, Nancy Wagman, Kurt Wise __________________________________________________________________ Chairman and Members of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, Tax collections have come in …
Options for Targeted Tax Relief and a Warning About Estate Tax Changes Read More »
After debate and quick consideration of more than 1,000 amendments, the Senate increased their Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget bottom line by more than $90 million. The budget debate has highlighted the power of this $50 billion bill to set the tone and the direction for the state in the year to come.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means (SWM) released a budget proposal that illustrates again how a state budget can be a powerful tool for advancing equity and improving well-being – as long as policymakers don’t decide to give hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue each year to the wealthiest residents of the Commonwealth.
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The House Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget reflects many of the challenges the state faces moving out of the most acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has also taken a first step towards creating a budget that pushes the state towards equity in several important areas.