The news, announced Friday afternoon, comes after the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reported that, based on spending rates in September, the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants, which were launched over the summer, would be spent down by...

“The net difference between where we thought we were going to be and where we are is literally billions of dollars,” said Doug Howgate, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Howgate said early in the pandemic,...

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...

In addition to other federal relief money, Massachusetts received $314 million in child care stabilization funds through the American Rescue Plan Act, according to a brief from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. States are required to spend 90...

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...

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...

Now, with a bill delegating how to spend nearly $4 billion in American Rescue Plan Act and state surplus funding sitting on his desk, Baker must put his signature on it quickly. He received the legislation Dec. 3 after it languished for months amid...

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...

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...

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the ARPA bill contains 843 earmarks for local projects and organizations, totaling $304.4 million, or 7.6 percent of the bill’s total spending. By contrast, earmarks account for 60 percent of arts funding...