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MassBudget elects civic leaders, Segun Idowu and Imari K. Paris Jeffries, to its Board to advance antiracist policy in the Commonwealth
For Immediate Release Contact: Reginauld Williams, Communications Director 617-426-1228, x 102, rwilliams@massbudget.org BOSTON — February 22, 2021 — The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a …
Testimony before the Health Equity Task Force on the importance of work and family mobility for all, regardless of immigrant status
Testimony by Monique Ching, Senior Policy Analyst at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, for the Health Equity Task Force public hearing on February 8, …
How will the state government pave our way to an equitable recovery? What to watch this FY 2022 budget season.
1. How will the state generate enough revenue to meet everyone’s needs? Before state lawmakers even begin creating a budget, they need to determine how …
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The Pandemic Persists: Pain Points for the Children of Massachusetts
Policymakers have the responsibility and an opportunity to make smart and fair policy choices that will support children and families. This is particularly true now …
Unemployment Insurance Saved the Massachusetts Economy. How Can We Ensure It Will Be Strong for the Future?
Many Massachusetts businesses today owe their survival in part to UI sustaining customers’ demand for products and services. Over the years, even though the UI …
Raising Rates on Unearned Income: An Equitable Way to Avoid Cuts and Support a Robust and Just Recovery
As a Commonwealth, we must respond to these intertwined health and economic crises in ways that acknowledge and correct for these deep-seated and longstanding inequities. …
Making sense of the Governor’s revised FY 2021 budget proposal
This was a presentation to a coalition of policy advocates, social service providers, and academics, to give members an overview of the Baker Administration’s revised …
Testimony for the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees, the Joint Committee on Revenue, and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance Economic Roundtable
We’re clearly in a budget crisis. Which is extremely troubling at this time, when we need real, comprehensive relief for families and individuals — so many of our neighbors, young and old, are struggling with accessing basic necessities and keeping healthy and well.
Our Commonwealth’s budget – how we raise revenue through taxes and fees, and how we spend that revenue – is the clearest picture of our shared values. Considering the revenue side picture is crucial, but the other side of the ledger is just, if not more important.
State Borrowing is No Substitute for New Revenue in Dealing with the COVID-19 Economic Downturn
States rely on borrowing to manage their finances in good times and bad. Yet borrowing is not a substitute for raising the revenue needed for an economic recovery. Policymakers should look to raising progressive new revenues paired with limited borrowing to avoid cuts to critical public spending.
Bruised Budgets: A Higher Education Funding History Lesson For An Antiracist Future
A well-funded public higher education system has the power to open up countless opportunities for low-income students and families of all races and backgrounds. For …
Supporting Racial Equity and a Robust Recovery with a Corporate Income Tax Rate Increase
By returning the state corporate income tax to pre-2010 rates, the Commonwealth could raise $375 million to $500 million a year to help fund a racially equitable, economically just, and robust recovery.
Bringing in the Relief Part II: The Census Counts for Equity
More than $3.3 billion in CARES Act funding comes to our Massachusetts communities based on population estimates from the census. Learn how the Commonwealth can get its fair share of power and money through a complete, accurate 2020 Census count in our latest report.
Municipal Budgets, Local Aid, and Property Taxes Amid COVID-19
As a result of the pandemic, municipalities face increased spending needs and declining revenues. Many have the ability to raise property taxes, though others are constrained by Proposition 2 1/2. Moreover, property taxes tend to fall hardest on those with lower incomes. Without sufficient municipal aid, cities and towns may be forced to make public cuts which would slow the economic recovery.
Road to Recovery: How to Safely Reopen Early Education in Massachusetts
As the Commonwealth’s early education and care sector reopens, many providers are at risk of closing permanently unless there is a significant new source of funding. Learn more about COVID-19’s impact on early education in our latest report, and what it will take to safely reopen.
Mass. Raised Revenue in Last Three Recessions, Reducing Cuts
Cutting budgets and failing to invest in communities hardest hit by the pandemic perpetuates the deep racial inequities built into the current system. Learn more about how the Commonwealth has solved the challenges of past economic recessions in our latest report.
Tens of thousands of undocumented, essential workers at risk of lost jobs, lost pay, exposure to COVID-19
Immigrants without status form the backbone of Massachusetts — producing our food, tending to our loved ones, and stocking our supermarkets. But the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread business closures mean many of these undocumented workers have found themselves at risk of losing their jobs, losing income, or being exposed to the virus.
Unemployment Assistance in a Time of COVID-19
The Commonwealth has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences by implementing several bold new federal unemployment policies that are also supported with federal funds. These have provided crucial protection to many workers and the economy, though undocumented workers have been excluded. Since late April, the greatest volume of unemployment claims have been for a new program for workers traditionally ineligible for unemployment insurance. Without new federal legislation, this program will expire at the end of the year. The federally-funded $600 enhancement to weekly benefits will expire at the end of July. The loss of these benefits would hurt many workers and slow the state’s economic recovery.
Testimony Supporting Act to Provide Equal Stimulus Checks to Immigrant Taxpayers
Testimony supporting legislation for state stimulus checks for taxpayers excluded from federal benefits because they pay taxes with an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) instead of a social security number.
