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…

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…

Budget conferees face a two-fold challenge as they hash out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2004 budget: minimizing the $300 to $500 million gap between proposed spending and on-going revenues in the two budgets; and preserving the impetus for reform of…

The Legislature's $23.1 billion budget for fiscal 2004 goes a long way toward closing an estimated $2.5 billion structural deficit, while taking meaningful steps toward governmental reform. However, the budget's reliance on $400 million of one-time revenues will make the job of balancing the state'…

According to a new analysis, the proposed 2004 budget recently adopted by the House -- like the Governor's budget -- fails to fully close the structural hole in the state's finances. Following almost $2 billion of spending reductions over the last two years, the deep cuts recommended in both…