Budget

While House leaders touted areas of investment, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation recently cautioned that a growing portion of state revenues are being consumed by a few priorities, leaving a lot less money for lawmakers to invest in programs important to their constituents.

The business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has said lawmakers should establish a contingency plan in case the income tax question is not passed and the sales tax question passes. The foundation said one important step would be to commit a large amount of money to the state's rainy day fund and put any surplus money from this year into the rainy day fund.

Health care spending is the leading culprit as to why the state budget has been so tight despite good economic times, according to Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny.