The Department of Revenue is still counting, but the budget watchers at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation expect that the Legislature will have a surplus of $3.6 billion when the final accounting of the fiscal year that ended last week is complete. Through May, the state had collected $36.969…

Fiscal year 2023 began on July 1st, but policymakers have yet to close the books on FY 2022 which requires disposing of a significant budget surplus. This Brief provides an estimate of the surplus and examines how it fits in to the larger fiscal picture.

Governor Baker has put forward a $2.4 billion supplemental budget that uses $1.6 billion of the state’s fiscal year (FY) 2022 anticipated revenue surplus and several federal revenue sources to maintain and expand several COVID-19 related programs, cover ongoing public costs and increase funding for…

According to an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, much of the spending will be for healthcare at $946 million, housing at $624 million, infrastructure at $414 million, education at $389 million and economic development at $267 million. An additional $500 million was pumped into…

Massachusetts experienced a startling $4.5 billion surge in tax revenues in FY 2021 representing 15 percent growth in the midst of the pandemic. MTF projects that FY 2022 revenue growth will remain strong, reaching $37.2 billion or $2.9 billion above the current benchmark. What makes this even more…

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation executive vice president Doug Howgate said the number of earmarks in this item is not normal, but also not unheard of, especially in an arts, culture and tourism-related item. Earmarked items had been kept separately in the House and Senate version of the ARPA…

The spending itself is mostly concentrated on health care ($964 million), housing ($624 million), infrastructure ($414 million), education ($389 million) and economic development ($267 million), as well as on specific workforce issues ($500 million allotments for both premium pay awards and the…

The bill the Legislature sent Baker was packed with earmarks — 843 in total, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog. They funded everything from $500,000 for a rail trail in Lawrence to $300,000 for construction of a museum in Worcester to honor…

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the most notable difference between the House and Senate versions of the ARPA spending proposal was the proposed timeline and process for providing premium pay to essential workers. “Like the Senate version, the final language creates a Premium Pay…

According to a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis that highlights some of the bill's pressure points, the biggest buckets of money in the bill are for health care ($964 million), housing ($624 million), and $500 million allotments for both premium pay awards and the unemployment insurance…