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Post Office Box 1147 ●
Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945 ●
(781) 639-9709
“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
44 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
— and
their Institutional Memory — |
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CLT UPDATE
Sunday, December 23, 2018
A year
is a long time to dodge
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The Massachusetts Department of Revenue
today confirmed that the required revenue metrics have been
met to ensure the state’s Part B income tax rate will drop
on January 1, 2019 from the current 5.10% to 5.05%.
“A strong economy and careful management of
the Commonwealth’s finances have created the conditions for
Massachusetts taxpayers to get a much-deserved break,” said
Governor Charlie Baker. “We are pleased that next year we
will see taxpayers be able to keep more of their hard-earned
money.”
“Next year the income tax rate will be the
lowest it has been in decades, which will provide welcome
relief to workers across the Commonwealth,” said Lieutenant
Governor Karyn Polito. “Massachusetts taxpayers deserve the
boost that this rate reduction will deliver.”
A state law enacted in 2002 provides the
statutory mechanism to lower the Part B individual income
tax rate, based on certain revenue milestones. The
legislation replaced a tax rate reduction schedule that had
passed by ballot initiative in November 2000....
The state budget for Fiscal 2019 accounted
for the income tax rate change, which is projected to reduce
tax revenue by approximately $84 million in Fiscal Year 2019
and approximately $175 million in Fiscal Year 2020.
If revenues in 2019 are sufficient to
trigger a further rate reduction, the Part B income tax rate
will drop to 5% for the 2020 tax year.
Massachusetts Executive Office for
Administration and Finance
December 14, 2018
Income tax rate to drop to 5.05% on Jan. 1
Tax revenues sufficient to trigger automatic reduction
Some 30 years after state legislators passed
a temporary increase in the state’s income tax, the rate in
Massachusetts may return to 5 percent in 2020....
For veteran tax skeptics, the long journey
has been too long.
“Pardon us if we’re not popping the
champagne corks. 5.05 percent is a step in the right
direction, but it is too little much, much too late,” said
Chip Ford, executive director of Citizens for
Limited Taxation, in a written statement Monday....
In 2000, though, voters approved a ballot
question that called for reducing the state income tax rate
to 5 percent, with gradual reductions over the course of
three years. That referendum passed 57 to 39 percent.
The tax rate dropped to 5.3 percent in 2002
on schedule, but then the Legislature, at the behest of
then-House Speaker Thomas Finneran, passed a bill freezing
the rate at 5.3 percent. Ford, of Citizens for Limited
Taxation, on Monday called the 2002 bill a “middle-finger
salute” to voters.
The New Boston Post
Monday, December 17, 2018
Tiny Tax Cut Next Year Inching Toward Finish Line; Gratitude
Hard To Find
Even with a veritable statuary hall of
undesirables on Beacon Hill — three House speakers have
faced federal charges in recent memory, not to mention a
Senate president chased from office by a sexual harassment
scandal involving his husband — the real stake through the
heart of the Legislature’s credibility was driven by a vote
in 2002.
That’s when lawmakers sealed Massachusetts’
personal income tax rate at 5.3 percent — just two years
after voters had called for it to be lowered to an even 5
percent.
The good news is, come Jan. 1, 2019, the tax
rate will come closest it’s been to that mark in years,
falling to 5.05 percent. In fact, if forecasts hold up, it
could notch down to 5 percent by 2020, according to revenue
officials.
But don’t go breaking out the eggnog to
toast the state’s largess. Consider just how long it’s been
that Beacon Hill has ignored the will of the voters and held
onto more of our tax money than authorized — 18 years, or
enough time to raise an adult taxpayer.
“That fact that almost two decades later the
state is still not down to 5 percent is insulting,” Chip
Faulkner, spokesman for Citizens for Limited Taxation,
reminded us the other day, by way of Statehouse reporter
Christian Wade....
In a press release, Gov. Charlie Baker
celebrated careful financial management and the momentum of
a strong economy. Both of these are nice — and strict
budgeting is commendable — but it’s hard to muster much
appreciation over money we should’ve been getting all along.
A Salem News editorial
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Give us a break
State finance experts recommended last week
that Gov. Charlie Baker's administration could boost capital
borrowing by as much as $90 million and issue a total of
$2.43 billion in general debt next fiscal year.
The Capital Debt Affordability Committee
determined that Massachusetts can afford $2.43 billion of
bonding for capital spending in fiscal year 2020, an
increase of about 3.8 percent over the current year....
The committee, which made its non-binding
recommendation to the governor on Friday, said it defined
debt affordability as "the ability to sustainably meet
projected debt service within the budget without raising
taxes to uncompetitive levels or negatively impacting
critical public services" during its deliberations.
Since 1989, the state has had a statutory
limit in place to cap the total amount of outstanding direct
state debt.
The limit automatically increases by 5
percent each year and is fixed at $24.02 billion for the
current fiscal year.
As of Oct. 31, the state had approximately
$27.25 billion in outstanding direct debt, according to
state financial statements published last month, about
$21.37 billion of which is subject to the debt limit.
The debt ceiling will increase to $25.2
billion in fiscal 2020, which begins July 1, 2019.
State House News Service
Monday, December 17, 2018
Expert panel sees room for $90 Mil more in borrowing
Students, educators, parents and local
leaders with the Fund Our Future coalition on Tuesday
gathered at the State House to call on Gov. Charlie Baker
and the Legislature to invest $1.5 billion into
Massachusetts' public education system.
The coalition, which was started by the
Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA) and
unanimously supported by the Massachusetts Teachers
Association's board, launched its campaign earlier this
month, with the goal of passing legislation in 2019 that
would increase state funding for public higher education by
$500 million and public prekindergarten through grade 12
schools by $1 billion....
When asked whether the coalition has
proposed a plan on how to raise the necessary public funds
for the reinvestment, MEJA president and executive director
of Citizens for Public Schools Lisa Guisbond said that the
point of the campaign is to bring attention to underfunding
in public schools.
"We're not suggesting any specific way of
getting the revenue, obviously the revenue has to be
gotten," Guisbond said. "We trust the legislature can figure
out how to do that."
State House News Service
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Education campaign urges Legislature to come up with $1.5
Billion
Massachusetts is the fastest growing state
in the Northeast — with many of its newest residents coming
from other countries....
Galvin said the latest numbers from the U.S.
Census Bureau show Massachusetts is growing twice as fast as
it did in the previous decade....
He said while Massachusetts continues to
lose population by residents moving to other states, the
loss is offset by twice that number of people moving to the
state from other countries.
Associated Press
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Mass. fastest growing state in the Northeast
Population growth in Massachusetts is
outpacing that of other New England states, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau, and Secretary of State William Galvin is
now predicting that the state should be able to hold on to
all nine seats in Congress with an accurate head count in
2020.
New data released on Wednesday showed that
the population in Massachusetts grew by 38,903 people to 6.9
million between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018. The 0.6
percent growth rate equaled the population growth in the
country, and ranked Massachusetts 22nd among all other
states and first in New England.
Galvin said that while the state continues
to lose residents to other states, those loses are more than
offset by international immigration. "These numbers show how
important it is that we ensure every person in Massachusetts
is counted in the 2020 Census, whether or not they are
United States citizens," Galvin said.
After the 2010 Census, Massachusetts lost
one seat in Congress. Galvin said the state should be able
to avoid a repeat of that with an accurate population count.
"The population numbers make it clear that
Massachusetts should retain all of our congressional
representation, as long as we have a fair and accurate
count," Galvin said. "I will continue to pursue all legal
options to prevent the current administration from inserting
questions about citizenship status into the 2020 Census, in
their effort to shortchange states like ours by dissuading
our immigrant population from being counted."
State House News Service
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Bay State population growth tops in New England
According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
Massachusetts is the fastest growing state in the Northeast.
Since 2010, the population in the Bay State has grown by an
estimated 5.4 percent, making it the home to almost 7
million residents. Many of its newest residents come from
other countries.
A robust population brings many benefits,
but also many challenges along transportation and
infrastructure lines. Elected leaders must move forward with
improvements to public transportation and address the
housing crisis or like many other states, we could see the
population begin to trend in the other direction.
A Boston Herald editorial
Friday, December 21, 2018
Housing, transportation must keep up with growing population
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
 Greetings activists and supporters:
Merry Christmas to all
― as another year is coming
to an end. In a week 2018 will be retired to the
history books. CLT will soon have made it through
its 44th year as "The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers."
I'm getting settled into my new home, have the computer
and phone system fully functioning, but can't keep CLT
afloat out-of-pocket for much longer (e.g., our
subscription to the State House News Service alone
costs $160.33 every month we keep it), so we'll see what
the New Year brings. CLT will be mailing out a
poll to all members current and lapsed in the coming
month to gauge whether there's sufficient interest
― and support of course
― to rekindle the flame and
reignite the torch going into 2019
― or if there is not and all ongoing expenses
must be halted.
We start 2019 with an extremely
long-overdue and very small income tax cut, the rate
dropping from 5.1 to 5.05 percent. After the
news
release we issued last week, at least some in the media
are putting the rollback into its proper historic
perspective ― as The Salem
News noted in its editorial: "it’s hard to muster
much appreciation over money we should’ve been getting
all along." Appreciate and enjoy even small
victories while you can when you can. Let's hope
it finally hits its historic 5 percent and stays there
at least for a while, before the calls to hike it again
start echoing.
If the teachers union has its way that
won't last long. It's already pushing for a $1.5
Billion increase in spending on "education" (more
teachers, more union members, higher salaries and
benefits too, of course). It's already being sold
as "for the children," as always. Their "Fund Our
Future coalition" doesn't spell out who the "Our"
includes, but I think we all know.
State finance experts recommended last
week that Gov. Charlie Baker's administration could
boost capital borrowing by as much as $90 million and
issue a total of $2.43 billion in general debt next
fiscal year.
The Capital Debt Affordability Committee announced that
Massachusetts can afford to increase capital borrowing
by as much as $90 million in the upcoming budget.
That would bring it to "$2.43 billion of bonding for
capital spending in fiscal year 2020, an increase of
about 3.8 percent over the current year," according to a
State House News Service report. (The reason CLT
subscribes to the SHNS, by the way. Where else
could we learn that and pass it on to you?)
Secretary of State William Galvin is
giddy. "He said while Massachusetts continues to
lose population by residents moving to other states, the
loss is offset by twice that number of people moving to
the state from other countries."
He thinks this will help the Bay State
hang onto its nine U.S. Congressional seats despite the
mass exodus of former-taxpayers, replaced by immigrants
legal and otherwise. "I will continue to pursue
all legal options to prevent the current administration
from inserting questions about citizenship status into
the 2020 Census, in their effort to shortchange states
like ours by dissuading our immigrant population from
being counted," he vowed.
A net increase in warm bodies does not
equate with a net increase ―
or even a balance ― in
revenue coming into the state's coffers.
Just-defeated for re-election Rep. Jim
Lyons (R-Andover)
managed to pry from the Patrick administration's
clutching hands its accounting records that showed
Massachusetts taxpayers were spending "at least $93
million a year" on free health care for illegal aliens.
(CLT Update; Nov. 2, 2011, "$93M
for illegals' health care — 'the tip of the iceberg'")
Subsequent reports indicate that total taxpayer spending
on illegal aliens is actually over $2 billion a
year.
In its December 5 report ("Economists
warn state budget writers of slowdown on the horizon")
the State House News Service noted: "Despite a
strong economy, last year's $1 billion budget surplus
and revenue collections that are outperforming
expectations so far this year, the potential for an
economic slowdown and future recession loomed as the
budget-writing process for next fiscal year kicked off
on Wednesday."
Productive taxpayers bailing out,
immigrants moving in at greater numbers, an economic
slowdown on the horizon. Am I the only one who
sees a connection between these uncomfortable facts?
Enjoy the holidays, folks, and the
coming income tax rollback, and pray we see it finally
drop to 5 percent in 2020 ―
thirty years behind The Broken Promise. A
year is a long time to dodge another insidious tax hike,
and 2019 doesn't arrive for another week.
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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Massachusetts Executive Office for
Administration and Finance
December 14, 2018
Income tax rate to drop to 5.05% on Jan. 1
Tax revenues sufficient to trigger automatic
reduction
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue today
confirmed that the required revenue metrics have
been met to ensure the state’s Part B income tax
rate will drop on January 1, 2019 from the
current 5.10% to 5.05%.
“A strong economy and careful management of the
Commonwealth’s finances have created the
conditions for Massachusetts taxpayers to get a
much-deserved break,” said Governor Charlie
Baker. “We are pleased that next year we will
see taxpayers be able to keep more of their
hard-earned money.”
“Next year the income tax rate will be the
lowest it has been in decades, which will
provide welcome relief to workers across the
Commonwealth,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn
Polito. “Massachusetts taxpayers deserve the
boost that this rate reduction will deliver.”
A state law enacted in 2002 provides the
statutory mechanism to lower the Part B
individual income tax rate, based on certain
revenue milestones. The legislation replaced a
tax rate reduction schedule that had passed by
ballot initiative in November 2000.
“I was pleased to receive confirmation from the
Department of Revenue that the revenue trigger
had been met. This reflects steady revenue
growth and a nice break for taxpayers,” said
Administration and Finance Secretary Michael J.
Heffernan.
The law provides that for each tax year in which
certain inflation-adjusted baseline revenue
growth requirements are met, the income tax rate
will be reduced by increments of 0.05 percentage
points until the rate reaches 5%.
Part B income includes wages, salary, and many
other forms of income, including self-employment
income; business, professional and farm income;
S corporation distributions; and rental income
from personal property. The rate associated with
Part B income is also applied to several other
income categories, including interest and
dividends and most long-term capital gains.
There are five revenue tests that determine
whether a rate reduction is required, beginning
with growth in revenue over the previous fiscal
year, and including a series of four additional
growth measures. If any one of the incremental
tests is not met, the rate reduction does not
proceed. With DOR’s certification of the most
recent revenue measure, all five tests in 2018
have now been met.
The rate reduction was last triggered on Jan. 1,
2016, when it dropped from 5.15% to 5.10%.
Previous reductions included:
● Jan. 1,
2012 (rate reduced from 5.3% to 5.25%)
● Jan. 1, 2014 (rate reduced from
5.25% to 5.2%)
● Jan. 1, 2015 (rate reduced from
5.2% to 5.15%)
The state budget for Fiscal 2019 accounted for
the income tax rate change, which is projected
to reduce tax revenue by approximately $84
million in Fiscal Year 2019 and approximately
$175 million in Fiscal Year 2020.
If revenues in 2019 are sufficient to trigger a
further rate reduction, the Part B income tax
rate will drop to 5% for the 2020 tax year.
###
The New Boston Post
Monday, December 17, 2018
Tiny Tax Cut Next Year Inching Toward Finish
Line; Gratitude Hard To Find
By Matt McDonald
Some 30 years after state legislators passed a
temporary increase in the state’s income tax,
the rate in Massachusetts may return to 5
percent in 2020.
Governor Charlie Baker announced that several
economic thresholds have been met as set forth
by state law to trigger an automatic reduction
in the state’s income tax rate from 5.1 percent
in 2018 to 5.05 percent in 2019, which begins in
two weeks.
While the incremental decrease is tiny, the
result is the lowest the state’s income tax rate
has been since 1988, when it was 5 percent. If
thresholds are met a year from now, the income
tax rate is set to drop to 5 percent in 2020
(and stay there).
The state’s income tax rate – which is flat,
meaning one rate for all levels over the
personal exemption – has been north of 5 percent
since 1989.
For veteran tax skeptics, the long journey has
been too long.
“Pardon us if we’re not popping the champagne
corks. 5.05 percent is a step in the right
direction, but it is too little much, much too
late,” said Chip Ford, executive director
of Citizens for Limited Taxation, in a
written statement Monday.
In July 1989, amid a budget shortfall,
legislators passed an unpopular bill raising the
income tax rate to 5.75 percent – a 15 percent
increase – in what was billed a temporary move
to fix an immediate problem. (“All of us in
state government have arrived at this unhappy
moment through a combination of miscalculations,
mistakes and misinformation,” then-Governor
Michael Dukakis on July 13, 1989, announcing
budget cuts that accompanied the tax increase.)
The measure increased the tax rate to 5.35
percent in 1989 and then 5.75 percent in 1990.
The temporary nature of the tax increase was
emphasized by most supporters of it on Beacon
Hill.
Here’s a header from a roll call chart The
Boston Globe ran on Friday, July 7, 1989, the
day after the Massachusetts House of
Representatives passed the tax increase.
Yet from that day to this, the income tax rate
has never returned to 5 percent.
The 1989 tax increase helped lead to Republican
victories in 1990 for governor and state
treasurer, although a statewide referendum that
year that would have rolled back taxes to 1988
levels, Question 3, failed 60-40. It was
criticized at the time for decreasing taxes too
quickly, which opponents said would require
harsh cuts in government services.
Later in the 1990s, legislators increased the
tax rate as high as 6.25 percent.
In 2000, though, voters approved a ballot
question that called for reducing the state
income tax rate to 5 percent, with gradual
reductions over the course of three years. That
referendum passed 57 to 39 percent.
The tax rate dropped to 5.3 percent in 2002 on
schedule, but then the Legislature, at the
behest of then-House Speaker Thomas Finneran,
passed a bill freezing the rate at 5.3 percent.
Ford, of Citizens for Limited Taxation,
on Monday called the 2002 bill a “middle-finger
salute” to voters.
The 2002 tax bill included built-in triggers
that would automatically reduce the income tax
rate by tiny fractions — .05 percent per year –
if they were met. The triggers include the
amount of tax revenue the state takes in during
the previous fiscal year.
During this decade, those 0.5 percent decreases
occurred in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016 (though
not in 2013 or 2017).
The Salem News
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
A Salem News editorial
Give us a break
Even with a veritable statuary hall of
undesirables on Beacon Hill — three House
speakers have faced federal charges in recent
memory, not to mention a Senate president chased
from office by a sexual harassment scandal
involving his husband — the real stake through
the heart of the Legislature’s credibility was
driven by a vote in 2002.
That’s when lawmakers sealed Massachusetts’
personal income tax rate at 5.3 percent — just
two years after voters had called for it to be
lowered to an even 5 percent.
The good news is, come Jan. 1, 2019, the tax
rate will come closest it’s been to that mark in
years, falling to 5.05 percent. In fact, if
forecasts hold up, it could notch down to 5
percent by 2020, according to revenue officials.
But don’t go breaking out the eggnog to toast
the state’s largess. Consider just how long it’s
been that Beacon Hill has ignored the will of
the voters and held onto more of our tax money
than authorized — 18 years, or enough time to
raise an adult taxpayer.
“That fact that almost two decades later the
state is still not down to 5 percent is
insulting,” Chip Faulkner, spokesman for
Citizens for Limited Taxation, reminded
us the other day, by way of Statehouse reporter
Christian Wade.
And it’s through no recent act of generosity
that we’ll get to 5.05 percent (or 5 percent, if
that actually happens). After the 2002 vote,
lawmakers deflected criticism for ignoring the
referendum with a law that automatically drops
the tax rate provided that the state hits
certain targets for revenue collection.
The rate has fallen incrementally in 2012, 2014,
2015 and 2016. Strong growth in state revenues
over fiscal 2018 mean the rate will again fall,
representing a $175 million tax cut
collectively.
In a press release, Gov. Charlie Baker
celebrated careful financial management and the
momentum of a strong economy. Both of these are
nice — and strict budgeting is commendable — but
it’s hard to muster much appreciation over money
we should’ve been getting all along.
State House News Service
Monday, December 17, 2018
Expert panel sees room for $90 Mil more in
borrowing
By Colin A. Young
State finance experts recommended last week that
Gov. Charlie Baker's administration could boost
capital borrowing by as much as $90 million and
issue a total of $2.43 billion in general debt
next fiscal year.
The Capital Debt Affordability Committee
determined that Massachusetts can afford $2.43
billion of bonding for capital spending in
fiscal year 2020, an increase of about 3.8
percent over the current year.
The panel includes representatives of the
Executive Office of Administration and Finance,
the Treasury, the comptroller, the Department of
Transportation, an outside capital planning
expert and others. It determined that setting an
administrative bond cap of $2.43 billion "allows
for investments in the Commonwealth’s
infrastructure while keeping growth in debt
service and outstanding principal within
long-term revenue growth projections."
The committee, which made its non-binding
recommendation to the governor on Friday, said
it defined debt affordability as "the ability to
sustainably meet projected debt service within
the budget without raising taxes to
uncompetitive levels or negatively impacting
critical public services" during its
deliberations.
Since 1989, the state has had a statutory limit
in place to cap the total amount of outstanding
direct state debt.
The limit automatically increases by 5 percent
each year and is fixed at $24.02 billion for the
current fiscal year.
As of Oct. 31, the state had approximately
$27.25 billion in outstanding direct debt,
according to state financial statements
published last month, about $21.37 billion of
which is subject to the debt limit.
The debt ceiling will increase to $25.2 billion
in fiscal 2020, which begins July 1, 2019.
State House News Service
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
Education campaign urges Legislature to come up
with $1.5 Billion
By Chris Triunfo
Students, educators, parents and local leaders
with the Fund Our Future coalition on Tuesday
gathered at the State House to call on Gov.
Charlie Baker and the Legislature to invest $1.5
billion into Massachusetts' public education
system.
The coalition, which was started by the
Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA)
and unanimously supported by the Massachusetts
Teachers Association's board, launched its
campaign earlier this month, with the goal of
passing legislation in 2019 that would increase
state funding for public higher education by
$500 million and public prekindergarten through
grade 12 schools by $1 billion.
The campaign comes on the heels of failed
attempts from the Legislature to both raise
money for education and pass bills designed to
fill funding gaps.
When asked whether the coalition has proposed a
plan on how to raise the necessary public funds
for the reinvestment, MEJA president and
executive director of Citizens for Public
Schools Lisa Guisbond said that the point of the
campaign is to bring attention to underfunding
in public schools.
"We're not suggesting any specific way of
getting the revenue, obviously the revenue has
to be gotten," Guisbond said. "We trust the
legislature can figure out how to do that."
Malden Public Schools Superintendent John Oteri
and Juan Cofield, president of the New England
Area Conference of the NAACP, are among those
behind the campaign.
"Twenty-five years ago, education reform paired
new funding for local schools with strict
accountability measures. Teachers, students and
school districts have responded to those
requirements for years, but the state hasn't
lived up to its end of the bargain with adequate
funding," said Oteri. "We live in a different
world than we did 25 years ago, and the
challenges our schools deal with have only
grown."
Students from the public school system echoed
Oteri's sentiments. Timmy Sullivan, a student at
UMass Amherst, said that he has seen 19 of his
friends drop out of UMass in the last year due
to rising costs.
"Right now, our elected officials on Beacon Hill
aren't working for us," Sullivan said. "Instead,
they're forcing us to go into massive debt just
to get the college education we need to
participate in this economy, that we need to
participate in a healthy democracy and that we
deserve because we know that education is a
fundamental right for all and not a privilege
for the wealthy few."
In 2015, a state commission found that the
formula used to determine the amount of state
aid a school district receives does not
adequately account for costs of health insurance
and educating low-income students, English
language learners and special education
students. The House and Senate this session both
agreed on the need to pass legislation to
address the problem, but failed to reach common
ground on disparate bills that attempted to fund
those costs.
Meanwhile, last month, the Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education recommended its fiscal
2020 budget priorities to Education Secretary
James Peyser, saying education aid should be
funded "at the highest level possible based on
available revenues."
The Fund Our Future coalition hopes to include
the funding in the next academic year's budget
in order for it to be in time for public college
students to avoid tuition and fee hikes in the
fall of 2019.
At a Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
meeting in Malden Tuesday, Education
Commissioner Jeff Riley expressed a need to
"stay up on" efforts to address the school
funding formula. He pointed to a supplemental
budget Gov. Charlie Baker signed in October that
included, among other spending items, $7.5
million for a grant program for mental health
services in schools. The bill Baker had
originally filed in July funded the same line
item at $40 million.
"I know many people are hopeful this is going to
be fixed in this coming session, but I would say
after this summer when the supplemental budget
was greatly reduced for education, for things
like mental health services, that was in a time
of abundance," Riley said. "I would just say
that we need to be more vigilant and stay on top
of that to make sure that that does go forward
this spring."
―Katie Lannan
contributed reporting
Associated Press
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Mass. fastest growing state in the Northeast
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts is the fastest
growing state in the Northeast — with many of
its newest residents coming from other
countries.
That's according to Massachusetts Secretary of
State William Galvin, the state's official 2020
census liaison.
Galvin said the latest numbers from the U.S.
Census Bureau show Massachusetts is growing
twice as fast as it did in the previous decade.
Since the last census, the population in
Massachusetts has increased by an estimated 5.4
percent, reaching almost 7 million residents.
Galvin said that according to the new numbers,
the driving factor behind Massachusetts'
population growth appears to be international
immigration.
He said while Massachusetts continues to lose
population by residents moving to other states,
the loss is offset by twice that number of
people moving to the state from other countries.
State House News Service
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Bay State population growth tops in New England
By Matt Murphy
Population growth in Massachusetts is outpacing
that of other New England states, according to
the U.S. Census Bureau, and Secretary of State
William Galvin is now predicting that the state
should be able to hold on to all nine seats in
Congress with an accurate head count in 2020.
New data released on Wednesday showed that the
population in Massachusetts grew by 38,903
people to 6.9 million between July 1, 2017 and
July 1, 2018. The 0.6 percent growth rate
equaled the population growth in the country,
and ranked Massachusetts 22nd among all other
states and first in New England.
Galvin said that while the state continues to
lose residents to other states, those loses are
more than offset by international immigration.
"These numbers show how important it is that we
ensure every person in Massachusetts is counted
in the 2020 Census, whether or not they are
United States citizens," Galvin said.
After the 2010 Census, Massachusetts lost one
seat in Congress. Galvin said the state should
be able to avoid a repeat of that with an
accurate population count.
"The population numbers make it clear that
Massachusetts should retain all of our
congressional representation, as long as we have
a fair and accurate count," Galvin said. "I will
continue to pursue all legal options to prevent
the current administration from inserting
questions about citizenship status into the 2020
Census, in their effort to shortchange states
like ours by dissuading our immigrant population
from being counted."
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that Nevada and
Idaho were the fastest growing states at 2.1
percent, while nine states lost population,
including New York, Illinois, West Virginia,
Louisiana, Hawaii, Mississippi, Alaska,
Connecticut, and Wyoming.
In New England, New Hampshire grew at a 0.5
percent clip, followed by Maine and Vermont at
0.3 percent and Rhode Island at 0.1 percent.
Connecticut lost 1,215 people, essentially
stagnant from the previous year. |
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
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