“These lower appropriation levels address the need for continuing government operations while adjusting for lower tax revenue collections, but even this reduced spending could prove to be overly optimistic should federal assistance levels fall short,...

Unlike Congress, state lawmakers need to pass a balanced budget every year. Money is tight, to say the least: The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation recently estimated that state tax revenue in the next fiscal year will drop by $6 billion,...

In its updated economic outlook released in late May, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a leading Beacon Hill watchdog organization, already predicted the state could face a roughly $6 billion budget shortfall this year. ...

MTF projected before the pandemic hit that the state faced a revenue shortfall of up to $800 million this fiscal year. Even then, the Beacon Hill watchdog group suggested putting off the phase-in of the Student Opportunity Act or hold off spending in...

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation in a recent report also praised the work of the control board, but pointedly said the impact of COVID-19 has put the T in a worse financial position today than when it was formed in 2015 in the wake of a...

“Prior to COVID-19, education finance reform was on track to be the centerpiece of the fiscal 2021 budget,” MTF President Eileen McAnneny wrote in a letter to lawmakers. She added, “After the fiscal impact of COVID-19, however, policymakers may need...

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicts a $6 billion drop in tax revenues for the state due in part to mandated business closures during the pandemic. ...

The Commonwealth has not formally revised its January 2020 consensus revenue forecast for fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 in light of the coronavirus-driven recession now underway, with a new forecast likely to emerge from fiscal 2021 budget...

“After the fiscal impact of COVID-19 … policymakers may need to modify the implementation schedule for this new law,” Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny wrote to lawmakers in late April. “For example, lawmakers may...

As recently as late May, the watchdog group Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicted the state could lose up to $6 billion in tax revenue for fiscal 2021. Mass.gov lists the original benchmark for tax revenue for FY 2020 at slightly more than $30...