For media inquiries, contact Reginauld Williams at rwilliams@massbudget.org
HWM FY 2022 Budget Proposal Lacks Bold Investments to Build Racial and Economic Equity in the Commonwealth
Statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, President of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), on the House Ways and Means Committee’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Proposal …
Legislature will increase school funding next year
Colin Jones, senior policy analyst at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, said their analysis showed that if lawmakers based the Chapter 70 …
Increasing tax revenue, federal aid leaves Massachusetts in better financial condition – Boston …
Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget president, at the time warned it sets the state up for a “short-sighted recovery.” Baker’s budget relies on drawing …
Increasing tax revenue, federal aid leaves Massachusetts in better financial condition – Boston …
Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget president, at the time warned it sets the state up for a “short-sighted recovery.” Baker’s budget relies on drawing …
Climbing tax revenues, federal aid leave Massachusetts in improving financial place
Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget president, at the time warned it sets the state up for a “short-sighted recovery.” “The combination of action at the …
Climbing tax revenues, federal aid leave Massachusetts in improving financial place
Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget president, at the time warned it sets the state up for a “short-sighted recovery.” “The combination of action at the …
Beacon Hill’s “Double-Dip” Tax Break Misses the Mark for Struggling Communities, Families, and Small Businesses
Statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget President, on the PPP “double-dip” tax break “The Legislature’s decision yesterday on Emergency Paid Sick Time and Unemployment Insurance …
Massachusetts Should Prohibit “Double-Dip” Tax Break for Profitable Businesses
Click here for a PDF version of this statement. S.D. 172, “An act providing financial relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic”, is bad …
Governor’s FY 2022 Proposal: Short-Sighted Recovery Budget Leaves Opportunity to Chance for K-12, Transportation & More
Statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget President, on Governor Baker’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Proposal filed Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
Statement on Senate Ways and Means Committee’s FY 2021 Budget
Read the statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), on the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget.
Statement on Governor Baker’s Revised FY 2021 Budget Recommendation
Read the statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), on Governor Baker’s revised Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Recommendation.
Massachusetts could face a $5 billion budget hole; Baker administration takes tax hikes off the table for now
The Senate and House chairmen of their respective chambers’ budget committees, Michael J. Rodrigues and Aaron Michlewitz, prepared to host a virtual roundtable with experts to determine how dire Massachusetts’ financial picture is.
“There’s a budgetary crisis happening,” said Marie-Frances Rivera, president of … Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
Most Experts See Year-Over-Year Tax Revenue Decline
The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center decided not to prepare a revenue estimate number for this hearing, said its president, Marie-Frances Rivera, citing “all the uncertainty and variables.” In April, MassBudget said that if patterns from prior recessions hold and there is some limited growth, fiscal 2021 collections could land between $5 billion and $5.7 billion shy of the estimates budget writers agreed to in January.
“We think that there’s a budgetary crisis that’s happening and we all have to be just fully aware and eyes-open about that,” Rivera said Wednesday. “There’s danger because all of the public goods that we’re relying on to guide us through this public health economic crisis, whether it’s health care, whether it’s housing people, whether it’s educating our young people, a lot of these are in jeopardy and the needs are growing.”
Tax hikes should be last resort as state seeks revenue
According to the News Service, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a state finance think tank, says its time for lawmakers to consider other ways to fill budget gaps, other than borrowing money.
They include tapping into the state’s $3.5 billion reserves and adopting “new policies to increase revenue.”
Translation: raising taxes.
Outer Cape Workers Could Be Denied Unemployment This Winter
The original unemployment system was limited in various ways and covered only about half of the actual American workforce, according to Phineas Baxandall, a social insurance expert at the Mass. Budget and Policy Center. The expansion Congress passed during the shutdown made payments last longer, made them much more generous, and allowed more workers to qualify, including part-time workers, independent contractors, and the self-employed.
