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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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Free Buses Advance Equity
Transit fares deepen existing income inequalities and racial disparities. Transit riders tend to have lower-than average incomes, especially bus riders. Black and Latinx residents are …
The Dollars & Sense of Free Buses
There are many reasons to eliminate transit fares, especially on buses. In addition to advancing equity and reducing climate change emissions, fare-free service is more …
Freeing the Climate: Environmental Benefits of Eliminating Transit Fares
In addition to being more efficient and equitable, eliminating bus fares would benefit the climate. The transportation sector is the biggest and fastest-growing source of …
Choosing Equity: Options for Affordable Public Higher Education in Massachusetts
This page presents a preview excerpt that explains the problem in public higher education. Click here to view the full report.
Beacon Hill’s “Double-Dip” Tax Break Misses the Mark for Struggling Communities, Families, and Small Businesses
Statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget President, on the PPP “double-dip” tax break “The Legislature’s decision yesterday on Emergency Paid Sick Time and Unemployment Insurance …
Massachusetts Should Prohibit “Double-Dip” Tax Break for Profitable Businesses
Click here for a PDF version of this statement. S.D. 172, “An act providing financial relief to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic”, is bad …
Testimony before the Health Equity Task Force on the importance of work and family mobility for all, regardless of immigrant status
Testimony by Monique Ching, Senior Policy Analyst at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, for the Health Equity Task Force public hearing on February 8, …
Governor’s FY 2022 Proposal: Short-Sighted Recovery Budget Leaves Opportunity to Chance for K-12, Transportation & More
Statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, MassBudget President, on Governor Baker’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Proposal filed Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
How will the state government pave our way to an equitable recovery? What to watch this FY 2022 budget season.
1. How will the state generate enough revenue to meet everyone’s needs? Before state lawmakers even begin creating a budget, they need to determine how …
The Pandemic Persists: Pain Points for the Children of Massachusetts
Policymakers have the responsibility and an opportunity to make smart and fair policy choices that will support children and families. This is particularly true now …
Unemployment Insurance Saved the Massachusetts Economy. How Can We Ensure It Will Be Strong for the Future?
Many Massachusetts businesses today owe their survival in part to UI sustaining customers’ demand for products and services. Over the years, even though the UI …
Statement on Senate Ways and Means Committee’s FY 2021 Budget
Read the statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), on the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Budget.
Raising Rates on Unearned Income: An Equitable Way to Avoid Cuts and Support a Robust and Just Recovery
As a Commonwealth, we must respond to these intertwined health and economic crises in ways that acknowledge and correct for these deep-seated and longstanding inequities. …
Statement on Governor Baker’s Revised FY 2021 Budget Recommendation
Read the statement by Marie-Frances Rivera, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget), on Governor Baker’s revised Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Recommendation.
Testimony for the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees, the Joint Committee on Revenue, and the Executive Office of Administration and Finance Economic Roundtable
We’re clearly in a budget crisis. Which is extremely troubling at this time, when we need real, comprehensive relief for families and individuals — so many of our neighbors, young and old, are struggling with accessing basic necessities and keeping healthy and well.
Our Commonwealth’s budget – how we raise revenue through taxes and fees, and how we spend that revenue – is the clearest picture of our shared values. Considering the revenue side picture is crucial, but the other side of the ledger is just, if not more important.
