By Sam Drysdale, February 18, 2026
Gov. Maura Healey on Sunday warned that a proposed ballot measure to lower the state’s income tax rate would result in sweeping cuts to education funding, saying voters would see “65% of all funding for education go away” if the measure is approved. Healey, who is against the ballot question, presented the figure during an appearance on WCVB’s “On the Record.” “You’re going to see 65% of all funding for education go away. You’re going to see all the funding that we give to cities and towns be significantly reduced. It’s going to be very, very harmful,” she said. The News Service asked the governor’s office how it calculated the 65% reduction, and Healey spokesperson Karissa Hand said the figure represents a comparison between projected tax revenue loss and the size of the Chapter 70 school funding account. “According to DOR testimony at the FY27 Consensus Revenue Hearing, the income tax reduction could take up to $5 billion out of the state budget. Ch. 70 school aid totals $7.6 billion in House 2. $5 billion is ~65% of $7.6 billion,” Hand said. Hand did not reply to a follow-up question about whether the governor was suggesting that her administration would apply the entire revenue reduction to school aid, should the income tax cut pass and she be reelected in November. Revenue reductions are typically offset against the budget broadly. Tax policy think tank MassBudget speculated that balancing the state budget with about $5 billion less tax revenue “would require deep cuts to a wide range of public programs and infrastructure investments, such as local aid, higher education, health care, and public safety.”
