All Research
REPORT CATEGORIES
ALL REPORTS
Testimony in support of An Act significantly alleviating poverty (H.5085/S.3095)
June 23, 2026 The Honorable Robyn Kennedy, Chair The Honorable Jay Livingstone, ChairJoint Committee on Children, Families, Joint Committee on Children, Families, and and Persons with Disabilities ...
Read More →
MassBudget Statement on the FY 2027 Conference Committee Budget Proposal
Last night, the Conference Committee released their proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. The six-member committee, three from the House of Representatives and three from the Senate, reconciled differences between the House’s $63.4 billion and the Senate’s $63.4 billion FY 2027 budget proposals. The Conference budget proposal outlines a plan to spend over $63.4 billion for the upcoming fiscal year beginning today, July 1. Statement from Viviana Abreu-Hernández, Ph.D., MassBudget President “As we have consistently said, the Fair Share surtax has been vital in sustaining and expanding investments in public education and transportation programs and infrastructure across our state. ...
Read More →
SEIU 32BJ & MassBudget release health coverage study on effects of racialized extreme inequality
Despite the region’s remarkable prosperity, study shows, affordable quality healthcare is out of reach for many Massachusetts workers View the full report here! Press Release from SEIU 32BJ on June 18, 2026: On the eve of Juneteenth, over a hundred security officers, Logan Airport workers, community activists, elected officials, and others will gather in Copley Square to release a report entitled “Healthcare – Who Can Afford It?” Co-produced by 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), the report examines Greater Boston’s extreme racialized inequality that has led to a healthcare crisis. ...
Read More →
MassBudget responds to SJC Decision to Bar Income Tax Ballot Initiative from Ballot over Inaccurate and Insufficient Summary
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a significant and definitive decision today, preventing the income tax ballot initiative from going before voters in November due to an inaccurate and insufficient summary of the proposed question’s effects on residents. The ballot initiative proposed cutting the state’s income tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent, which would impact long-term capital gains collections. Long-term capital gains are the profits from selling assets held for more than a year, all of which are heavily concentrated in the highest-income, predominantly white, households. However, the summary of the question, which was shared with signers ...
Read More →
Conference Committee Preview: Comparative Analysis of the House & Senate FY 2027 Budget Proposals
This analysis represents the next step in the FY 2027 state budget creation process. Both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate have put forward their respective budget proposals for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 that starts July 1. The Conference Committee, consisting of six members, three from the House of Representatives and three from the Senate, will work to reconcile the differences between the House’s (HB5501) $63.4 billion and the Senate’s (SB3100) $63.4 billion budget proposals. These proposals include $2.7 billion in revenue from the Fair Share surtax, the voter-approved ballot initiative that enacted a surtax on the highest ...
Read More →
Enrollment Decline and Fiscal Pressure in Massachusetts Public Schools: A Focus on English Learners
This report is accompanied by a 2-page Summary Report, included within the PDF download. A parent or guardian bringing their child to school may not mind seeing fewer kids in the classroom. Smaller class sizes can sound like a good thing. But the statewide decline in school enrollment poses a big challenge. For public school districts, declining enrollment creates financial pressure because schools are largely funded based on the number of students they serve. Still, buildings require electricity and maintenance, and teachers still need salaries and benefits. As enrollment falls, but fixed costs1</ rise, districts are left with many of ...
Read More →
MassBudget Preliminary Analysis of Senate Ways and Means FY 2027 Budget Proposal
This analysis represents the next step in the FY 2027 state budget creation process. The Senate Ways and Means (SWM) Committee’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget proposal, released on May 5, allocates approximately $63.3 billion in spending for the Commonwealth. This proposal includes $2.7 billion from the Fair Share surtax, the voter-approved ballot initiative that enacted a surtax on the highest incomes in Massachusetts. This is the next step in the FY 2027 state budget cycle, after the House finalized its FY 2027 budget proposal on April 29. The SWM proposed budget follows a similar approach to the governor’s proposal, ...
Read More →
MassBudget Statement on Senate Ways and Means FY 2027 Budget Proposal
Today, the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means (SWM) committee released their proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. This follows the House of Representatives finalizing their FY 2027 budget proposal last week. The SWM proposal outlines a plan to spend over $63.3 billion for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1, of which $2.7 billion is revenue from the Fair Share surtax. The Senate passed a FY 2026 supplemental budget last month, which included $1.38 billion in Fair Share surtax funds. Taken together with the FY 2027 SWM budget proposal, the Senate would invest $4 billion in new Fair Share ...
Read More →
MassBudget In-Depth Analysis of House FY 2027 Budget Proposal
This analysis represents the next step in the FY 2027 state budget creation process. The House of Representatives budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 is the first annual state budget offered by the Legislature since the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act (OB3) was passed by the United States Congress on July 4, 2025. The past year has raised alarms over deep federal spending cuts, raised tariffs, foreign wars, intensified immigration enforcement, and other unprecedented federal threats and disruptions. On top of these threats, two proposed ballot initiatives in Massachusetts, if passed, would deeply curtail the Commonwealth’s ability to ...
Read More →
MassBudget Preliminary Analysis of House Ways and Means FY 2027 Budget Proposal
House Ways and Means’ (HWM) proposed budget follows a similar approach to the governor’s proposal, bracing for difficult times ahead while making ample use of the Fair Share surtax. The House Ways and Means (HWM) committee’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget proposal, released on April 15, allocates approximately $63 billion in spending for the Commonwealth. This proposal includes $2.7 billion from the Fair Share surtax, the voter-approved ballot initiative that enacted a surtax on the highest-income earners in Massachusetts. This is the next step in the FY 2027 state budget cycle, after Governor Maura Healey released her FY 2027 budget ...
Read More →
