LEGISLATIVE BUDGET writers vastly increased their estimate of how much tax revenue the state will get next year in order to fund the priorities of both the House and Senate in a $52.7 billion fiscal 2023 state budget that was released from conference committee Sunday evening. The House and Senate could vote on the budget […]
budget
Posted inUncategorized
House spending plan prioritizes investments, ignores tax relief
HOUSE LEADERS ON Wednesday laid out a budget proposal that would spend significantly more than Gov. Charlie Baker proposed, swapping out Baker’s tax cut plan in favor of more investments in early education, housing, services for people with disabilities, and criminal justice reform. In a major policy shift, the House budget would require jails and […]
Posted inThe Download
House not looking to budget for tax reform
THE CENTERPIECE OF Gov. Charlie Baker’s budget proposal in January was a bill to give Massachusetts taxpayers $700 million in tax breaks – with breaks for seniors, renters, low-income taxpayers, parents of dependent children, and anyone forced to pay the estate tax or tax on short-terms capital gains. Don’t expect the same when the […]
Posted inUncategorized
House not looking to budget for tax reform
THE CENTERPIECE OF Gov. Charlie Baker’s budget proposal in January was a bill to give Massachusetts taxpayers $700 million in tax breaks – with breaks for seniors, renters, low-income taxpayers, parents of dependent children, and anyone forced to pay the estate tax or tax on short-terms capital gains. Don’t expect the same when the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Walsh, council in budget showdown
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL and Mayor Marty Walsh are in a high-stakes budget standoff fueled by the pandemic, policing issues, and political positioning a year ahead of a mayoral election. The council is scheduled to convene on Wednesday for its final meeting before the city’s fiscal year ends on June 30, with some councilors threatening […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker tries to nudge House and Senate toward agreement
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER has seen House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s offer of a barebones closeout budget deal to break a logjam on Beacon Hill and, like any confident poker player, raised the stakes a bit to pay for priorities that aren’t strictly speaking deficiency spending. After a private meeting on Monday between Baker, DeLeo, Senate President […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo and Spilka on different pages
THE HOUSE AND Senate are circulating proposals for a compromise on an overdue spending bill, and the one idea that has had a public airing would leave out a $50 million infusion to the MBTA that both chambers have already agreed to. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who five months ago said the T was in […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers botch budget bill negotiations
BY FAILING TO reach agreement on a major spending bill before the winter break, legislative leaders have squandered much of their control over what goes into it, and they have courted more federal scrutiny of the state’s election process. In the wee hours of early Thursday morning, the House and Senate essentially threw in the […]
Posted inEducation
Late budget means late financial aid at UMass
THE LATE STATE budget has created downstream delays for the University of Massachusetts, postponing a tuition hike, which is expected to be 2.5 percent, and the delivery of financial aid packages, which are already around a month late. “We’re always advocating as hard as we can for more state dollars. At the same time, we […]
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DeLeo: There will be no budget filed Tuesday
THERE WILL BE no budget agreement filed Tuesday, two days into fiscal 2020, but House and Senate negotiators haven’t reached an impasse and are trading proposals back and forth, according to House Speaker Robert DeLeo. On his way into the State House with Rep. Paul Donato on Tuesday afternoon, DeLeo held out hope that a […]