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Memo to Governor Healey on Ways to Ensure Effective Implementation of the Fair Share Amendment
As Massachusetts voters have amended the state constitution to include a 4 percent surtax on taxable income over $1 million, MassBudget would like to offer policy suggestions to assist the Commonwealth in protecting this revenue and ensuring that it is directed to education and transportation, as specified in the amendment.
Letter to Governor-elect Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Driscoll on a Family Tax Credit
A letter to Governor-elect Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Driscoll on a consolidating different family tax supports into one simpler, fully refundable Family Tax Credit.
Massachusetts Capital Budget 101
The capital budgeting process takes place largely out of the public eye but is responsible for building and maintaining critical state infrastructure. Learn more about it here.
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Massachusetts Poverty Rate and Median Income Improved in 2018, but Not by Enough
The United States is in the midst of the longest economic expansion in its history, following the Great Recession with sustained recovery. Massachusetts’ economy today exemplifies this, highlighted by continued job growth and a very low unemployment rate that is consistently below the national level. If a rising tide lifts all boats, we should see all Massachusetts residents benefiting, but this isn’t the case.
Credit Where Credit is Due: The EITC and CTC – two proven tools to keep low-paid workers out of poverty
One of the most successful ways to lift people out of poverty is through tax credits targeted to low- and moderate-income families. Families use these credits to reduce their income taxes or receive a refund check. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) are two widely successful tax credit programs for improving family economic security and well-being — combined, the credits lift more people out of poverty than any other federal program except Social Security. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to make these programs even better.
Wrong on Schedule: How Unstable Scheduling Hurts Massachusetts Workers and their Families
Over the next several years, Massachusetts will see more job openings in hourly retail and food service positions (salespersons, cashiers, fast food workers, and wait staff) than in almost any other occupation. For workers paid by the hour, time, as the saying goes, is money — literally. That means they need to count on stable, sufficient, and predictable schedules, which allow them to earn a decent living, and have time to take care of themselves and their families.
Shifting the Balance: How a Massachusetts “Fair Workweek” Law Can Protect Workers and their Families from Unstable Schedules
As laid out in a companion report, Wrong on Schedule: How Unstable Scheduling Hurts Massachusetts Workers and their Families, employers in low-wage service industries like …
The Pros and Cons of Higher Gas Taxes, and How They Could be Offset for Lower-Income Families
As the Commonwealth seeks to improve our aging transportation system, policy makers have considered raising the gas tax. This paper assesses the gas tax along several well-established criteria for evaluating taxes: efficiency, fairness, and reliability. Based on these criteria, the gas tax receives mixed grades. Offsetting the tax with low-income tax credits could help.
Making Every Student Count
Accurately counting low-income and English Language Learner students, who are more likely to require a diverse array of academic and social resources to succeed in school, is important to ensure that school districts receive the funding necessary to support all of their students. Communities with large numbers of immigrants are often disproportionately affected by the challenges of obtaining an accurate count of low-income students.
Infographic: Celebrating Latinx Heritage Month
In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, also known as #LatinxHeritageMonth (running Sept. 15-Oct. 15), our infographics analyze the number of eligible Hispanic tax filers per county that could or already benefitting from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
Concentrated Poverty Snapshot
Nearly 90,000 children in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are living in concentrated-poverty. What is the long-term effect on our children and our communities? Read the full snapshot, and stay tuned for our upcoming analysis on the issue.
Infographics: Labor Day on EITC and CITC
Infographics showing who would benefit from the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) here in Massachusetts.
