The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation on Wednesday predicted the upcoming budget cycle will differ significantly from the last two, during which tax receipts shattered projections and enabled the state to bulk up its cash reserves, pass one-time investments, and push the state budget up to $43.3…

The analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation suggests that lawmakers may have to consider “tax increases or spending cuts” to balance the state’s $43 billion-plus budget. It would mark a stark reversal from recent years when officials’ primary money problem was jostling over ways to spend…

Tax revenues will increase by approximately $615 million, or 2.0 percent, to $31.06 billion in fiscal 2021 according to a new forecast released today by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation at the state’s annual consensus revenue hearing. The Foundation estimates capital gains tax revenues…

Wednesday's session did not unfold without tension. Rep. Maria Robinson filed an amendment that would have stripped a section of the bill that decouples Massachusetts from the federal tax code, citing a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis that the change could cause the state to forego up…

Though the Commonwealth’s fiscal year 2019 ended June 30th, decisionmakers must make several important choices before the final accounting of the state’s finances for the year can be completed. Most importantly, lawmakers will determine how to allocate the year-end budget surplus, which revised MTF…

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says it’s not really surprising that employers are worrying more about the end to a decade-plus of economic expansion. But there are mixed signals, still: She points to the latest jobs numbers from the Bureau of…

Though the Commonwealth’s fiscal year 2019 ended June 30th, decisionmakers must make several important decisions before the final accounting of the state’s finances for the year can be completed. Most importantly, lawmakers will determine how to allocate the year-end budget surplus, which MTF…

The Commonwealth Stabilization Fund, the state’s “rainy day” fund, is a critical component of the Commonwealth’s financial structure. For example, amid the Great Recession in fiscal 2009, budgeted tax revenue plummeted by nearly $2.7 billion compared to fiscal 2008. The Stabilization Fund was a key…

Governor Charlie Baker signed his fifth General Appropriations Act (GAA) on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, giving his approval to $43.6 billion in spending appropriations. While choosing not to exercise his veto authority to reduce spending, the Governor did veto line-item language in 7 spending…

Massachusetts legislators released their compromise plan for the fiscal 2020 budget, authorizing $43.6 billion in spending for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2019. The six-member budget conference committee reconciled the differences between the budget plans adopted by the House and Senate 21…