You are not alone if you had never heard of the Massachusetts “tax cap law,” or what is also known as “62F.” This Reagan-era law sets an artificial limit on how much tax revenue Massachusetts can collect, regardless of the current needs of the Commonwealth.
Explainer via Napkin Finance With Legislators debating potential changes to taxes on large estates, it’s important to remember why we have taxes on the transfer of inherited wealth in the first place: Fostering Equality of Opportunity — The estate tax is Massachusetts’ only major tax designed to reduce how much individual economic success depends on being born …
As the Legislature considers elements of a possible tax package, it is worth focusing on a number of interrelated corporate tax issues that are now – or may become – part of the mix. At the heart of these interrelated issues is a problematic, state-level corporate tax break referred to as FAS 109.
The cash assistance program was created to be a reliable back-up for the lowest-income families; today the program reaches only a small share of families in need. Cash assistance (Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children or TAFDC) provides a small monthly cash grant to families with children or to pregnant people only if they …
Massachusetts Cash Assistance – A MassBudget Data Droplet Read More »
Maria has been living in fear. Her landlord has been rapping on her door, harassing her and her children for the rent. But, since both Maria and her husband have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis, they can’t pay rent. “We cannot pay the rent if we don’t have jobs,” Maria said through an …
Interested in learning more about how the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 House Ways and Means (HWM) budget proposal and federal aid impacts our state budget? Learn more in the presentation from our KIDS COUNT Director, Nancy Wagman, and Senior Policy Analyst, Monique Ching, for a recent presentation to the Massachusetts Public Health Association’s Health Equity …
The State of FY2022 HWM Budget & Where We Go From Here Read More »
MassBudget welcomed our new and returning Massachusetts legislators and their staff with an overview of the state budget and taxes, as well as a briefing on the Governor’s FY 2022 budget proposal. Re-watch the briefing here.
Two weeks ago, the Executive Office of Administration and Finance (ANF) provided updated revenue projections for the current fiscal year (FY21). ANF now estimates an FY21 tax revenue shortfall of $3.6 billion. This new estimate resets the baseline from which the Governor and Legislature must build their respective FY21 budget proposals. Drawing on a variety …
For more information, view the presentation slides here. *** The Envisioning Equity Series: Fall 2020 – MassBudget hosted a series of community conversations examining how our state budget can help build economic and racial justice in Massachusetts. The three sessions looked at K-12 education (Sept 22), housing (Oct 6) and the criminal …
Envisioning Equity Part III: Reimagining Our Criminal Legal System Read More »
Watch the full recap to learn the housing policy challenges existing at the national, state, regional, and local levels and to explore ways that antiracist policy choices can help build housing for a just recovery.