Three years ago, deliberations on the fiscal year 2021 budget stretched into December while state government grappled with pandemic upheaval. But other than that outlier, overdue budget talks until this year had not stretched past July 23 in more...

The longer the state goes without a plan in place, the more it impacts the ability to implement new programs or expand existing ones, said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and former senior policy advisor to Senate...

Health and human services’ current structure does have advantages, said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonprofit budget watchdog. The marginalized communities the office is most likely to serve tend to need...

Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation think tank, said the escalating credits designed to prime housing development take aim at the lack of affordable housing strangling many Bay Staters. “This has a significant cost...

As states across the country, including Massachusetts, are facing workforce shortages, employers are struggling to hire the talent they need to succeed and remain competitive in the marketplace. While there are many reasons behind the shortages, a...

“House and Senate conferees have the opportunity to negotiate a compromise tax relief bill that adheres to these principles, includes all of the proposals put forward by both branches, and remains within the $600 million set aside for FY 2024,” MTF...

The House and Senate have both unanimously passed major tax relief legislation in the last two months and a Conference Committee has been appointed to resolve differences. While both bills share many major elements, the bills differ in scope,...

“We think you can have an inclusionary tax relief proposal and still stay within that $600 million envelope for fiscal 2024,” said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, previewing the theme of a report the group is...

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released a study in April that said the agency must hire 2,800 workers in the next 12 months for the system to be fully operational. According to a Federal Transit Administration report last summer, inspectors’...

Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 is just over two weeks away and House and Senate budget negotiators are in the process of reconciling countless spending, policy, and technical differences between the two bills. This year, the always complex budget negotiation...