For media inquiries, contact Reginauld Williams at rwilliams@massbudget.org
President Trump Takes Executive Action On Coronavirus Relief, Bypassing Congress
Bypassing Congress on Saturday, President Trump issued a set of executive orders and memoranda to deliver emergency pandemic aid. The actions are ambiguous and raise a lot of questions. We break down what they mean for Massachusetts with Marie-Frances Rivera, President at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
We also hear from Michael Capuano, former Massachusetts Congressman and now the public affairs director for Foley and Lardner, and from WBUR legal analyst Nancy Gertner. She’s a retired federal judge and a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School.
Short-term budgets keep state afloat
“Baker and legislative leaders have agreed to maintain level spending for local aid and Chapter 70 funding this fiscal year, but that doesn’t protect against cuts to other agencies and programs.
‘If there are cuts to public programs it would be the worst thing for deepening our recession, because this is money that wouldn’t be spent in state,” said Phineas Baxandall, a senior policy analyst with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. “We need commitments to protect those programs.'”
State school aid level-funded
Commonwealth Magazine, July 30, 2020
But Colin Jones, senior budget analyst for the liberal-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, said it is a “complex” question to figure out how much money schools need compared to how much they will get from state and federal funding.
“What we were going to do was $300 million to do inflation and (Student Opportunity Act), and we didn’t have COVID costs to worry about,” Jones said.
Now, schools have added expenses for masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning equipment, to retrofit spaces and improve ventilation. They must figure out how to incorporate remote and in-person learning and how to run less crowded buses.
“What would it take to make Lynn, Chelsea, Holyoke and Boston’s facilities, rooms and buses ready for that?” Jones asked. “That number conceptually we don’t know, but it’s much more probably than what we’re getting and what’s available now.”
Immigrant driver’s license bill stalls in House
WHDH, July 28, 2020
Close to 200,000 undocumented immigrants live in Massachusetts, of which 41,000 to 78,000 would qualify and likely apply for licenses within three years of the bill’s implementation, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
Malden resident Nichole Mossalam challenges in 35th Middlesex District race
Wicked Local Medford, July 27, 2020
Mossalam points to research by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center which found that cuts to the personal income tax since the late 1990s cost the state $4 billion annually.
Trump seeks to squeeze immigrants out of apportionment
The Salem News, July 22, 2020
There are approximately 185,000 undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated last year.
Trump targets those in US illegally from reapportionment
Worcester Telegram, July 21, 2020
Approximately 185,000 undocumented immigrants are in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated last year.
’Everyone deserves to be counted’: Massachusetts advocates push back against president’s memo excluding undocumented immigrants from census count
MassLive, July 21, 2020
It’s unclear exactly how many immigrants without legal status live in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated last year that 185,000 undocumented immigrants call the Bay State home.
Massachusetts immigration bill’s biggest hurdle may be timing as it advances at end of legislative session, lawmakers say
MassLive, July 20, 2020
Massachusetts is home to an estimated 185,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a liberal think tank. More than one-third have lived in the U.S. for five years or more.
The number of immigrants without legal status could be higher, but an exact count does not exist.
Immigrant rights groups push for driver’s license amendment to Massachusetts Senate police reform bill
MassLive, July 18, 2020
It is unclear how many immigrants without legal status live in Massachusetts, nor is it known how many of them are of legal driving age. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimates 185,000 undocumented immigrants would benefit if the bill became law.
Such a law would also benefit immigrants with temporary permission to live in the U.S., such as those with Temporary Protected Status. TPS offers some foreign-born residents work permits for two years due to natural disasters, civil strife or other crises in their home countries.
Groups seek to add immigrant driver’s license authorization to police bill
Commonwealth Magazine, July 17, 2020
Estimates from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center put the number of undocumented immigrants that reside in Massachusetts at 185,000, though the number could be far higher. Advocates say that 41,000 to 78,000 drivers could obtain licenses within the first three years of a change in state law to permit that. About 16,000 undocumented immigrants are estimated to be currently driving without licenses, including to health care and grocery store jobs deemed essential during the coronavirus pandemic.
Guest columnist Jeremy Gantz: The end of child care as we know it
Daily Hampshire Gazette, July 17, 2020
Exactly how many preschools and child care facilities will close absent adequate federal support is hard to say exactly. But the best estimates to understand what’s at risk are very depressing. In late April, a Center for American Progress analysis found that about half of all child care slots in the country — 4.5 million — could disappear after being closed for more than two weeks without government aid. In late June, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated that $690 million in aid is needed just to help early education centers in the state successfully reopen over the next five months.
Burlington day care owner says strict rules a challenge; state discusses funding
Wicked Local Burlington, July 16, 2020
The left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated that early education and family day care homes will need $690 million over the next five months to successfully reopen, cautioning that child care is a key foundation for virtually all other economic sectors because it enables parents to work.
Districts expecting less state education money
Bay State Banner, July 1, 2020
“We shouldn’t keep passing the buck,” said Colin Jones, senior policy analyst at Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. “It makes no sense for individual districts and child care providers to be going into a completely out-of-control market for PPE and equipment individually.”
Commissioner: Fed aid won’t solve child care system woes
Daily Hampshire Gazette, July 1, 2020
Last week, the left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimated that early education and family day care homes will need $690 million over the next five months to successfully reopen, cautioning that child care is a key foundation for virtually all other economic sectors because it enables parents to work.
