The 2005 budget moved one step closer to its final form last week with Governor Romney's exercise of his veto power under the Massachusetts Constitution. With the Legislature scheduled to conclude formal sessions for the year before the end of July, lawmakers have less than a month to override-by…

While the strong revenue performance of recent months is welcome news, the state's budgetary difficulties are far from over. Even with the improving revenue picture, 2005 revenues will barely be sufficient to support ongoing spending in state programs.

Reflecting the reality of the state's ongoing fiscal crisis, Governor Romney's 2005 budget proposes the fourth straight year of spending cuts. While education is the budget's primary area of emphasis, the modest increases in local school aid and higher education funding recommended for 2005 do not…

In its annual review of state spending, the Taxpayers Foundation concludes that the fiscal 2005 state budget will require a fourth year of significant spending cuts to help close a $1.1 to $1.4 billion budget gap. The report, State Budget '04: The Long Road Back, warns that despite the improving…

At the annual consensus revenue hearing on Beacon Hill, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicted state tax revenue growth of slightly more than four percent in both fiscal 2004 and 2005, based on conservative assumptions about the pace of growth in both the national and state economies. The…

In the 33rd edition of its annual summary of trends in local revenue and spending, the Foundation concludes that deep cuts in state aid to cities and towns have produced significant increases in property taxes across the Commonwealth, including rising burdens for the state's poorer cities and towns…

The Commonwealth's vast system for purchasing human services needs major reform, according to a major new report prepared by MTF in collaboration with the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers and with major funding from The Boston Foundation. The study concludes that the burden of the…

The Commonwealth's vast system for purchasing human services needs major reform, according to this major new report prepared by MTF in collaboration with the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers and with major funding from The Boston Foundation. The study concludes that the burden of…

The Foundation's newly released analysis of the $23.1 billion state budget notes the great strides that the Commonwealth has made in closing a potential shortfall of $2.5 billion, but also underscores the failure to eliminate fully the structural gap in state's finances. Even with a rebound in the…