Jobs & The Economy
ALL JOBS & THE ECONOMY REPORTS
Testimony in Opposition to H.1848 on Reclassifying Rideshare Drivers
MassBudget's written testimony submitted in opposition to H1848, An Act establishing rights and obligations of transportation network drivers and transportation network companies.
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Testimony in Support of Raising the Minimum Wage
MassBudget's Policy Director Phineas Baxandall urges the Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development to pass a bill to increase the minimum wage out of committee. The bill under discussion would raise the wages of almost 1 million workers.
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New Census Data Highlights Need for Family Tax Credits Waiting in State House
While the Massachusetts Legislature debates two versions of expanded tax credits to improve affordability for families, new census data dramatically show what a difference these credits make to reduce poverty, especially for children.
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How Many Massachusetts Low-Wage Workers Would be Helped by a Higher Minimum Wage?
What would be the impact if the wage floor was lifted to $20 an hour with a tipped wage increase to $12 an hour? How many people would receive a raise, what are the characteristics of these workers, and how large would their raises be?
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Debunking the Five Major Myths About Outmigration
Recently, multiple news articles, op-eds, and think tank reports have asserted that Massachusetts is suffering an exodus of households, particularly high-income households, fleeing to states with lower taxes. These claims about income migration are both overblown and based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the available data.
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Testimony to support employment of formerly incarcerated individuals and people on transitional assistance in microbusinesses
Policy Director Phineas Baxandall delivers testimony in support for H.2811, “An Act to establish the micro business employee training and workforce development program."
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Massachusetts Cash Assistance – A MassBudget Data Droplet
The cash assistance program was created to be a reliable back-up for the lowest-income families; today the program reaches only a small share of families in need. Cash assistance (Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children or TAFDC) provides a small monthly cash grant to families with children or to pregnant people only if they have little or no income. The amount of this grant is not enough to provide economic stability or help a family get back on its feet during hard times. Nor can this grant come even close to covering the costs of rent, diapers, school supplies, ...
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At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Executive Summary
At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts Executive Summary Read the full report here. PART 1: THE PROMISED DESTINATION. We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have ...
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At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts
We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have made long-standing racial and economic inequities worse.
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Testimony to expand the Earned Income Tax Credits for low-income households
To the Joint Committee on Revenue December 13, 2021 RE: Testimony in support of An Act to increase family stabilization through the earned income tax credit (H.2871/S.1841) and An act providing a minimum income to all Massachusetts families (S.1852). Chairman Hinds, Chairman Cusack, and distinguished members of the Joint Committee on Revenue: Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (“MassBudget”), in support of H.2871/S.1841: An Act to increase family stabilization through the earned income tax credit. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, or “MassBudget,” is a public policy think tank ...
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