The resurfacing of the long-dormant tax cap after 35 years was enough to kill the Legislature’s $1 billion tax relief initiative. Now some are wondering whether the cap can also put a dent in the momentum behind a constitutional amendment appearing on the November ballot to create a millionaire tax. The tax cap limits how […]
Taxes and Budget Issues
Posted inState Government
Could tax cap influence fight over millionaire tax?
THE RESURFACING of the long-dormant tax cap after 35 years was enough to kill the Legislature’s $1 billion tax relief initiative. Now some are wondering whether the cap can also put a dent in the momentum behind a constitutional amendment appearing on the November ballot to create a millionaire tax. The tax cap limits how […]
Posted inState Government
Correction on tax cap giveback story
CommonWealth published a story Thursday evening incorrectly suggesting the tax cap giveback was not going to be as big as the Baker administration forecasted last week. The story was based on new revenue numbers released Thursday by the Department of Revenue. Those numbers for total tax revenue in fiscal year 2022 were lower than what […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Groggy lawmakers pull the plug on $1b tax package
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE and Senate pulled an all-nighter to push through approval of a wide assortment of bills before the legislative session ended but ultimately decided Monday morning to abandon an economic development bill containing a $1 billion package of permanent tax cuts and one-time payments to taxpayers. Legislators said it would […]
Posted inState Government
Mariano open to tinkering, scrapping, or postponing tax cap law
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano, clearly frustrated with Gov. Charlie Baker, suggested on Friday that the Legislature could modify, scrap, or delay the 1986 tax cap law that is expected to return roughly $3 billion to Massachusetts taxpayers. “It’s an option,” Mariano said. “Sure it’s an option, everything’s on the table. We could undo the law. […]
Posted inState Government
Baker says he’s leaving state in good shape financially
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday signed into law a $52.7 billion state budget for fiscal 2023, representing an unusually high 9.3 percent growth in spending over the prior year. The high growth was fueled by tax revenues coming in higher than expected and an influx in federal COVID recovery money. The budget includes higher spending […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Cap to give ‘north of $2.5b’ in excess tax revenue back to taxpayers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Thursday that he expects a law passed by voters in 1986 will require the state to return more than $2.5 billion to taxpayers in the coming year. The governor sounded definitive, but officials in his administration and from the Pioneer Institute think tank suggested the amount of money to be […]
Posted inState Government
Long-forgotten tax cap about to be triggered
WHILE LAWMAKERS scramble to put together a package of tax breaks in the final days of the legislative session, a little-known law from the mid-1980s is about to alter the Beacon Hill debate over tax relief. Record tax revenues in fiscal 2021 are expected to trigger the state’s tax cap for the first time in […]
Posted inState Government
State budget is a lot more than just a spending plan
FRAIDY REISS, who leads the New Jersey-based advocacy group Unchained At Last, has been fighting to end child marriage in Massachusetts for six years, lobbying lawmakers and testifying at hearings. Supporters created a coalition of 50 organizations opposed to child marriage, and there was no vocal opposition. The first legislative session Reiss was told it […]
Posted inState Government
Senate’s $4B economic development bill provides faster tax relief
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE released a $4 billion economic development bill on Monday that includes some key spending differences from a House bill in areas like education, human services, and housing. The House and Senate are largely in agreement on a $1 billion proposal to reduce a slew of taxes, but with two key differences, one […]