Fiscal year (FY) 2019 begins on July 1st and budget conferees in both the House and Senate are working to complete their compromise budget in time for the start of the year. This brief outlines several of the issues that are being negotiated and examines challenges that complicate resolution.

Fiscal year (FY) 2018 ends in less than a month and final action to officially close out the year will likely occur before legislative session ends at the end of July. For the first time in several years, the year will end with tax revenues that significantly exceed expectations. This brief takes a…

“Today is a great day for all Massachusetts taxpayers because the court has upheld the time-honored constitutional principle that limits the initiative process. By rejecting the notion that a small special interest group can usurp legislative power by including unrelated tax and spending provisions…

We conclude that the initiative petition should not have been certified by the Attorney General as "in proper form for submission to the people," because, contrary to the certification, the petition does not contain only subjects "which are related or which are mutually dependent," pursuant to art.

The Senate has concluded its FY 2019 budget debate. Over three days, the Senate considered 1,196 amendments, adding $75.5 million in new spending and 125 policy sections to the original Senate Ways and Means (SWM) proposal. The final Senate budget includes $46.02 million in total spending, $21.6…

The Senate Ways and Means Committee (SWM) released its $45.95 billion budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2019 today. This brief provides an overview of the major policy and spending provisions proposed by SWM and compares it with the FY 2019 plans put forward by the Administration and the House.…

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means will release its budget recommendations this week. To preview some of the most important issues that budget will address, MTF is revisiting ten key budget and policy questions that will impact the FY 2019 budget.

This week, the House deliberated on its fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget, taking four days to consider and dispose of 1,400 amendments. Upon completion, the House adopted more than 500 amendments, in whole or in part, which added $79.6 million in additional spending and 67 policy sections to the HWM…