Gov. Maura Healey has placed meaningful tax reform atop the policy agenda this session, with a $987 million package that was filed in conjunction with her inaugural budget. As we laid out in a recent report, significant tax relief is not only affordable, but even more critical than it was a year…

Gov. Maura Healey signed a supplemental budget for fiscal year 2023 Tuesday, just a few weeks after announcing her FY-2024 budget. As Doug Howgate of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation explains, this is normal and is essentially a way for the state to pay their bills. “The supplemental budget…

"Having a way to make sure we are reassessing elements of our tax code is always a good idea," said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "In some cases it makes sense to have a sunset date. The state can say let's try this for a few years, and see if it does what we…

Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, supported the governor's bill. In prepared testimony, he told Revenue Committee members that while the state's economic and policy landscape has changed in three key ways since the House and Senate walked away from last summer's…

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget development process is well underway, but with about 4 months remaining in FY 2023 this brief takes a fresh look at the state’s current fiscal picture. Based on current spending and revenue collections to date, the fiscal year appears in balance with an estimated…

Since December of 2021, the state has appropriated close to $8 billion in combined federal Fiscal Recovery Funds (FRF) and Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 and 2022 surplus resources to support a range of COVID recovery and economic development initiatives. Significant resources still remain, but tracking the…

Low wages for educators in the field have left many centers without adequate professional support. In turn, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the lack of qualified workers in areas of child care has cost Massachusetts families nearly $1.7 billion a year in lost wages.  

Low wages for educators in the field have left many centers without adequate professional support. In turn, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the lack of qualified workers in areas of child care has cost Massachusetts families nearly $1.7 billion a year in lost wages.

“We need to be thinking critically about the things that the state should be doing — but also very mindful that there is a state-federal partnership,” said Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog. “It’s not feasible for us to say, ‘We’re…

The Healey-Driscoll administration has released its inaugural budget, 8 weeks after being sworn into office. The $54.8 billion spending plan builds in ongoing tax relief, while making major new investments in several critical areas, and continues to build long-term reserves. It includes $1 billion…