The following letter was sent by Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz to State Auditor Suzanne Bump taking issue with findings in the recently released report on welfare abuse. Dear Auditor Bump, I am writing to renew our request for the full information used to produce your most recent audit of the Department of […]
Economy
Posted inArts and Culture, Economy
Studio report lauds tax credit
The Hollywood movie studios that benefit financially from the Massachusetts film tax credit released a report on Wednesday indicating the economic gains for the state as a whole are greater than the estimates contained in earlier reports by the state Revenue Department. For 2011, the report said the film tax credit supported 2,220 full-time equivalent […]
Posted inEconomy
Senate budget plan adds 9 Gateway Cities
THE NUMBER OF GATEWAY CITIES in Massachusetts would expand by more than a third under a Senate budget proposal scheduled for debate this week. The budget plan, crafted by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, contains an outside section that would lower the population threshold for designation as a Gateway City from 35,000 to 20,000. […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Boston Fed chief Rosengren: Austerity hurts
Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, has rarely shied away from controversial issues, and he’s showing no sign of stopping now. In a speech today at a banking conference in Italy, Rosengren criticized federal spending cuts and tax increases. He said moving too aggressively to cut the budget could have a “dampening […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Politics, The Back Story
Artificial Preservation
A state law passed in 2012 bars the use of Community Preservation Act funds to purchase artificial turf for athletic fields, but municipalities are finding a way around the prohibition. The communities are using other funds to purchase the artificial turf itself and tapping their Community Preservation Act money for all the other work associated […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Harvard econ study debunked
Just how soporific is the US Senate primary that is coming to a head tomorrow? The Bay State showdown that’s getting national attention these days is not the sleepy Senate race but a juicy battle over debt ratios and Excel spreadsheet errors that pits economists at Harvard against fellow practitioners of the dismal science UMass […]
Posted inEconomy
House budget includes 3-step judicial pay raise
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE approved a three-step pay raise for judges and other court personnel in the budget it approved this week for the coming fiscal year. The raise, if it survives the legislative process, will be the first for court officials since 2006 and the second since 2000. The raise was contained in what the […]
Posted inEconomy
Cap on film tax credit voted down by House
The Massachusetts House rejected a bid to cap film tax credit expenditures at $40 million a year, with a top House leader saying a cap would end up killing the state’s fledgling film and television industry. Rep. Angelo Scaccia offered the cap as an amendment to the House budget on Monday. His proposal, which was […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Tax analysis misses competitive reality
I READ WITH INTEREST the cover story in Commonwealth magazine’s Spring issue titled “Fear and loathing on the tax trail.” This piece offers an interesting retrospective view on our state’s fitful relationship with tax burdens and perceptions. However, the centerpiece of its analysis, a chart that put Massachusetts in the average middle of the 50 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Economy
Court budget falls short, but reaction is muted
THE STATE’S COURT SYSTEM did not get a lot of loving in the House budget. The state’s trial court is asking for what it calls a “maintenance budget” of $589.5 million for the coming fiscal year, an increase of about $28.5 million over the current year’s spending level. The governor, in his budget proposal, offered […]