"The House Ways and Means fiscal 2008 budget, which will be debated by the full House beginning April 23, has a bottom line that is very similar to the Governor's budget proposal but rejects most of his specific initiatives. The House proposes to spend $29.16 billion in fiscal 2008, an increase of…

Governor Patrick's fiscal 2008 state budget includes a proposed spending increase of 3.8 percent. Tables 1 and 2 summarize his recommendations by category and track spending from 2001 to 2008. After adjusting for inflation, proposed 2008 spending is less than 2001 for almost all categories except…

Tax revenues will grow much more slowly in 2007 and 2008 than they did the past two years, according to a forecast released today by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

The overall municipal financial picture stabilized in 2006. Nevertheless, most communities continue to face a fiscal squeeze as underlying costs grow faster than revenues, according to the Foundation's 36th annual analysis of local revenues and spending. Total local revenues rose 4.7 percent in…

In its annual review of state finances, the Foundation cautions that while the Commonwealth is in its third year of financial recovery, the state's leaders now face the challenge of choosing from a long list of competing funding priorities that far exceed the state's ongoing fiscal capacity.

In a new analysis of the Commonwealth's financial situation, the Foundation focuses on a mounting appetite for new initiatives that threatens to overwhelm the state's ongoing fiscal capacity.

In its annual review of state finances, the Foundation cautions that while the Commonwealth is in its third year of financial recovery, the state's leaders now face the challenge of choosing from a long list of competing funding priorities that far exceed the state's ongoing fiscal capacity.

In its new analysis of Governor Romney's proposed 2007 budget, the Foundation highlights the budget's focus on restoring local aid to cities and towns and providing financial support for health care reform. At the same time, however, the more than $1 billion of new expenditures recommended by the…

Tax revenues will increase roughly five percent per year in 2006 and 2007-down from the almost seven percent average pace of the last two years-as the state's workforce continues to expand at less than half the national rate, according to a forecast released today by the Massachusetts Taxpayers…

In order to help address the "relentless squeeze" on municipal finances in Massachusetts, the state should dedicate 40 percent of tax revenues to local aid and develop a new system for benchmarking local costs, according to the Foundation's 35th annual analysis of local revenues and spending. In…