For months now, pressure has been building on Beacon Hill lawmakers to provide some form of tax relief to residents. Republicans pushed repeatedly for a gas tax holiday as prices […]
Taxes and Budget Issues
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Momentum building for some form of tax relief
FOR MONTHS NOW, pressure has been building on Beacon Hill lawmakers to provide some form of tax relief to residents. Republicans pushed repeatedly for a gas tax holiday as prices […]
Posted inOpinion
A strategy for tackling housing, climate crises simultaneously
TWO CRISES are bearing down on our state. There’s the critical shortage of affordable housing, which leaves ever more of our neighbors unable to keep a roof over their heads. […]
Posted inUncategorized
With tax revenues soaring, Spilka calls for relief package
MASSACHUSETTS TAX revenues continued to soar in April, astonishing experts who track the numbers and prompting Senate President Karen Spilka to announce that she intends to push for some sort […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
House Democrats refuse to budge on tax relief
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE DEMOCRATS kicked off debate Monday on a nearly $50 billion state budget bill by rejecting Republican-led efforts to weave tax relief into the annual spending […]
Posted inThe Download
Mass. farmers raise concerns about millionaire tax
Polling suggests the millionaire tax is popular with voters because it targets the uber-wealthy — after all, someone earning so much money should be able to afford paying an extra […]
Posted inPolitics
Mass. farmers raise concerns about millionaire tax
POLLING SUGGESTS the millionaire tax is popular with voters because it targets the uber-wealthy — after all, someone earning so much money should be able to afford paying an extra […]
Posted inHealth Care
State seeks $600m in Robin Hood Medicaid plan
EVEN AS DEBATE continues in the Legislature over how best to help community hospitals in the long term, a technical provision included in Gov. Charlie Baker’s state budget proposal could […]
Posted inThe Download
Bond rating firm not alarmed by gas tax suspensions
In Connecticut, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democrat-controlled legislature responded to the sharp runup in fuel prices by passing a law suspending the state’s 25-cent excise tax on gasoline […]
Posted inTransportation
Bond rating firm not alarmed by gas tax suspensions
IN CONNECTICUT, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democrat-controlled legislature responded to the sharp runup in fuel prices by passing a law suspending the state’s 25-cent excise tax on gasoline […]
Posted inOpinion
Awash in revenue, Beacon Hill says no to gas tax relief
THE NEW YORK STATE Assembly last week introduced their annual budget which included a state gas tax suspension. The New York proposal pushes for a portion of the state’s gas […]
Posted inOpinion
Suspending the gas tax doesn’t make sense
WITH GAS PRICES recently soaring as a result of unscrupulous foreign oil cartels, greedy oil companies, and a bloodthirsty Russian autocrat, the Massachusetts GOP has a solution for Massachusetts drivers: […]
Posted inTransportation
Ct. suspends gas tax; Mass. Senate rejects the idea
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS MOMENTUM GROWS around the country for the suspension of state gas taxes, the state Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican-led push to pause gas tax […]
Posted inOpinion
PILOT payments should be standardized statewide
A correction has been added to this commentary, correcting the payment amount of Harvard University. “It’s about fairness. It’s about how do you want to participate in this city that […]
Posted inOpinion
ARPA money needed for nature, open space
LAST FALL, the Massachusetts Legislature invested $4 billion of state and federal funds in a COVID recovery. The lawmakers’ priorities – support for essential workers, investments in housing and healthcare […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Record gas prices spur calls for tax relief
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COST OF GAS in Massachusetts set a record Monday as the average price per gallon soared to $4.16, with drivers on the Cape and islands […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker: Tax breaks affordable, needed to make state competitive
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER told lawmakers on Tuesday that Massachusetts can easily afford his package of $700 million in tax cuts, and the state needs some of the changes benefitting higher-income […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker seeks to dole out extra state cash
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH TAX COLLECTIONS running nearly $1.5 billion ahead of expectations, Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday filed a spending bill that seeks to spend $1.6 billion in state funds […]
Posted inUncategorized
Cost of welfare benefits skyrockets during pandemic
USE OF VARIOUS welfare assistance programs skyrocketed amid the pandemic, particularly as federal unemployment benefits dried up, according to new data provided by the Department of Transitional Assistance. The higher […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker vetoes ‘unrealistic’ deadlines in supp budget
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Saturday signed into law a $101 million supplemental budget bill that puts money toward increasing COVID-19 testing, buying masks, doing vaccine outreach, and recapitalizing a COVID-related […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker budget includes $700m tax break proposal
IN HIS FINAL budget proposal before leaving office, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday included nearly $700 million worth of tax cuts for Massachusetts residents, setting up a debate over tax policy with […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker pushes tax breaks, trust
IN HIS SEVENTH and final State of the Commonwealth speech, Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday night tried to encapsulate his political philosophy, extolling the fiscal discipline that enabled him to propose […]
Posted inPolitics
Costly ballot fights ahead on gig economy, income tax amendment
A BALLOT QUESTION that would classify Uber and Lyft workers as independent contractors while granting them certain workplace benefits is shaping up to be the biggest and most expensive fight […]
Posted inUncategorized
State budget writers forecast continued growth in tax revenues
STATE REVENUES keep rolling along. Budget officials on Friday revised upward their revenue forecast for the current fiscal year by $1.5 billion and then projected the state’s tax take would rise 2.7 percent in the next fiscal […]
