In The News

Baker filed a funding bill in January that would have increased state aid to districts by $460 million, according to an estimate by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. The nearly $1 billion gap between his bill and the measure passed by the Senate underscores the tensions that are emerging between the administration the Legislature over the sweeping legislation.

About 90,000 children in Massachusetts are growing up in neighborhoods where 30 percent of more of the population is living in poverty, according to local researchers who drew their conclusions from recently released U.S. Census Bureau data. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center said Tuesday that the neighborhoods featuring “concentrated poverty” are mostly in “gateway cities” and in Boston.Center officials describe growing up in a high-poverty area as “one of the greatest risks to child development” and said the latest data shows more than 8.5 million U.S. children live in such settings.

“Growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods has long-term impacts on our kids,” MassBudget President Marie-Frances Rivera said in a statement. “All children and families deserve quality education, housing and access to opportunity. Investing in solutions that uplift children in poverty will create the change needed for everyone in the Commonwealth to thrive.”

“Growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods has long-term impacts on our kids,” said Marie-Frances Rivera, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a nonpartisan research group in Boston, in a statement.

The data snapshot was released by KIDS COUNT, a project of the foundation intended to track the status of children in the United States and provide data on children’s well-being to enrich policy discussions. MassBudget is the foundation’s KIDS COUNT partner for Massachusetts.

Colin Jones of the liberal-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center applauded the bill, calling it “a very significant move forward,” but added that the idea that there will be no need for new revenue over seven years to pay for it is “a lot to assume.”
While Worcester, for example, would have been required to increase its local education spending by $3 million under the Promise Act, it would have received $74 million in addition state aid, according to the Mass. Budget and Policy Center.

“They’ll make that trade easily,” said Jones, the Mass. Budget and Policy Center analyst. “They’re lining up for that.”

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated this month that there are about 185,000 undocumented immigrants currently residing in the state.

According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), an independent group that researches and analyzes the state’s finances, Massachusetts’ business tax levels rank in the bottom fifth of all 50 states. “Massachusetts currently has a favorable business tax environment, despite regular claims to the contrary,” writes MassBudget President Marie-Frances Rivera in the report. She adds that two specific business tax provisions “appear outdated, ineffective, and unnecessarily costly to the Commonwealth.”

The first provision, called the “single sales factor,” is tailored to multi-state corporations in the theory that it would increase manufacturing employment in the state. Instituted in 2000, MassBudget notes that the state lost 40 percent of its manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2014 and there has been no resurgence since. The tax break has not come close to doing what it was intended to do, and according to MassBudget, will cause the state to lose $400 million in revenue in Fiscal Year 2020. A tax break this ineffective and costly cannot be justified.

Cabral hosted a caucus briefing where Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center analyst Colin Jones laid out the facts of competing school funding proposals and the challenges he sees as inherent in striking a deal.

Supporters of the legislation argued at the hearing that it would make the roads safer for everyone and ease the stress on the state’s roughly undocumented immigrants – many of whom already drive without a license, training or insurance. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated last week that there are 185,000 undocumented immigrants in the state.

"Allowing immigrants the right to drive is good for the economy and for your pocket," said Ben Echevarria, Executive Director of The Welcome Project. "The recent MassBudget study shows this bill would add about $6 million to state revenue and would lower individual's annual insurance rates by roughly $20. It's good for our economy and makes our roads safer."

In anticipation of the hearing, Rep. Barber also spoke at a Labor Day Rally in support of the bill, and at a Press Conference to release a report from MassBudget that shows the positive impact this bill would have on our Commonwealth.

Supporters of the legislation argued Wednesday that it would make the roads safer for everyone and ease the stress on the state's undocumented immigrants — many of whom already drive without a license, training or insurance. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated Wednesday that there are 185,000 undocumented immigrants in the state.

Passing the legislation would likely generate $6 million in state revenue over the first three years and lower each Massachusetts driver's insurance premium by about $20 per year, which Rivera pointed out is enough to buy flowers on Mother's Day. It would also generate an additional $62 million in revenue for insurance companies, the report found.

An estimated 185,000 undocumented immigrants stand to benefit from this bill if it becomes law, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. Currently, residents need to show a work permit or other proof of legal status to be eligible for a driver's license.