THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT approved by voters in November establishes a 4 percent income tax surcharge on income over $1 million, and directs that the money should go to transportation and education.

But the amendment doesn’t say how the money should be split between transportation and education. Should it be 50-50 or something else?

Now that millions of dollars from the millionaire tax is starting to trickle in, it’s a question that needs answering. 

Doug Howgate, the president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says the law mentions only two pots for the money to go in. “The most straightforward way to do that is to distribute it 50-50,” he said.

Jim Aloisi, the former transportation secretary who serves on the board of TransitMatters, tends to agree.

“I suspect if you talk to anyone in the transportation advocacy community, they would support a 50-50 split,” he said. “That’s the only way the Legislature can keep faith with voters.”

But Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, views the situation differently. He says put the money where it’s needed, and don’t stick to rigid formulas.

“How troubled would I be if it was 80 percent education and 20 percent transportation?” he asks. “The answer is not troubled at all if that’s what the Legislature determines where the money needs to go.”

The Massachusetts Teachers Association spent tens of millions of dollars on the so-called Fair Share campaign to pass the millionaire tax. The union’s priorities for this legislative session are securing investments in public higher education, ending the MCAS high-stakes testing regime, winning the right to strike for teachers, and ensuring a “dignified retirement” for educators.

Some of those initiatives will cost money. “We assume that revenue from Fair Share can be applied, but there is no specific formula we suggest for how those revenues are used to address public education and transportation needs,” said Scott McLennan, a spokesman for the MTA.

At a legislative hearing earlier this week, top budget officials from the House, Senate, and Healey administration indicated they would abide by the will of the voters and appropriate money raised from the millionaire tax for transportation and education.

The Department of Revenue estimates the surtax will bring in between $229 million and $265 million between now and July and between $1.445 billion to $1.766 billion in fiscal 2024, which starts July 1.

But the legislative and Healey administration officials indicated they hadn’t decided how the money would be split up and didn’t know what the spending priorities would be. 

Sen. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the money would go for “new initiatives.”

One possibility would be to use the revenue stream from the millionaire tax to finance the issuance of bonds that could be used for capital projects. Gas tax money is currently used in this way for transportation initiatives.

If the Legislature controls the purse strings, that means a wide variety of groups are likely to lobby for a portion of the funding.

On Wednesday, the Board of Higher Education laid out two priorities for funding from the millionaire tax – additional grant money for about 100,000 students and elimination of family contributions for students whose family annual income is less than $125,000. The two initiatives combined would cost the state more than $300 million.

“The current system is not adequate to the goals we have,” said Chris Gabrieli, the chair of the higher ed board. “Let us not miss this moment of opportunity to make real change happen.”

BRUCE MOHL

NEW STORIES FROM COMMONWEALTH MAGAZINE

Build, baby, build: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivers her State of the City address, with a heavy focus on development, housing, and education. As she dismantles and reassembles the city’s development infrastructure, Wu is pressing for lots of new housing as she pushes for a sustainable city of 800,000 people, up well over 100,000 people from the current level.

– Wu introduces a new 13th year at Fenway High School in partnership with UMass Boston. High school students can spend an extra year taking college-level courses at no cost and then go on to obtain their degree in three instead of four years.

– Wu said she was asked by a Spanish-speaking third grader what it was like to be mayor and initially said “ocupada,” or busy. “But it’s so much more than that,” Wu told the audience at the MGM Music Hall in the Fenway. “It can feel surreal and stressful, exhausting and empowering. It feels like the most important work in the world. More than anything, it feels like a gift to be able to get up every day and go to work for the city I love with people who love it too.” Read more.

Healey out front: Gov. Maura Healey pops out of her office to kibbitz with Mothers Out Front, a group pushing an aggressive stance on climate change. Healey told the crowd that “far too many, for far too long, looked the other way, or allowed richer, more powerful interests to carry the day.” Read more.

OPINION

Goodbye standardized tests: Mary Churchill, an associate dean and professor at Boston University, says the SAT and ACT standardized tests are disappearing as college admission criteria. Read more.

STORIES FROM ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WEB

BEACON HILL

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce is backing legislation to study ways to reduce Boston area traffic, including introducing congestion pricing that would charge vehicles that enter the city at peak hours. (Boston Herald) 

A lawsuit seeks to force the state to find housing for people with disabilities. (GBH)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Boston City Council President Ed Flynn says he wants to tamp down the fireworks at the council’s weekly meeting by having the give and take between councilors largely take place at council hearings. (Boston Herald) 

Adam Reilly offers five takeaways from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the City address. (GBH) Scott Van Voorhis, in his Contrarian Boston newsletter, says Wu’s disparaging of Boston’s development process, which has brought thousands of new housing units in recent years that other mayors “would die for,” won’t be well received by the business community. 

Lawrence Police Chief Roy Vasque is placed on paid administrative leave amid an investigation being conducted by an outside firm. (Eagle-Tribune)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

To preview what may be coming, US Rep. Jake Auchincloss reads a speech on the House floor generated by the artificial intelligence chatbot called ChatGPT. (Associated Press)

EDUCATION

The Newton school system is facing an $8 million shortfall and may have to lay off teachers if it can’t be closed. The city is considering a property tax override and higher fees for transportation and sports. (WBUR)

TRANSPORTATION

The MBTA’s bus driver shortage is worse today than it was a year ago despite a concerted recruitment effort that included tuition reimbursement and $4,500 signing bonuses. (Boston Globe)  

The T will shut down a portion of the Orange Line over the weekend to address slow zones that were supposed to have been eliminated by the 30-day closure last year of the entire line. (Boston Globe) 

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

State regulators got an earful this week from Cape Cod homeowners concerned about costly septic system upgrades they may be forced to carry out. (Boston Herald) 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

The Globe reports that federal prosecutors are looking into the controversial case involving Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s handling of an alleged coverup by two Transit Police officers, but it’s not clear who is the focus of the probe.