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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”
45 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
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their Institutional Memory — |
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CLT UPDATE
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Narrative Data Points
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Massachusetts state budget season has barely
begun and already signs are emerging that Gov. Charlie Baker
and his counterparts in the House and Senate are going to
have to rethink -- or at the very least scale back -- some
of their more expensive taxpayer-funded proposals.
Baker released his $42.7 billion fiscal 2020
spending plan last month, and among the key provisions were
$1 billion in added school spending, an excise-tax-funded,
$137 million-a-year commitment to help municipalities adapt
to climate change, and expanded access to Medicare.
Legislators, of course, have their own
priorities....
All that cash has to come from somewhere,
and while the state economy can still be considered strong,
there are troubling clouds on the horizon. January’s tax
collections, for example, fell almost $200 million short of
estimates. Coupled with a similarly dismal December, the
shortfall has left the state with a $403 million budget gap
halfway through the fiscal year.
While not declaring a state of emergency, a
leading nonprofit think tank said the news should be a
“yellow light” for those working on next year’s budget....
There are other troubling signs. The state’s
pension fund fell $4.5 billion in the fourth quarter of last
year, bringing it to $69.3 billion. Retirement funds for
state employees, teachers and dozens of municipal employee
groups are managed by the Pension Reserves Investment
Management Board....
To be sure, the situation is by no means
dire. But state leaders would do well to remember the
lessons of the Great Recession of 2008 and prepare for the
worst now, rather than assume the good times will continue
to roll.
A Salem News editorial
Monday, February 11, 2019
Time to plan for tough times is now
House Speaker Robert DeLeo walked out of a
caucus of his Democratic members on Thursday looking
pleased.
To his right was new Ways and Means Chairman
Aaron Michlewitz. To his left was new Ways and Mean Vice
Chairwoman Denise Garlick. And behind him stood Jennifer
Benson, the new chairwoman of the Committee on Health Care
Financing....
"It's not just about one position. It's
about all positions," DeLeo said, describing the "many
months, many hours of consideration" that went into
assembling a "team" of party leaders and committee chairs
for the young two-year session.
"I'm really, really excited about this
coming session with the folks we have put together," he
said....
Across the building, Senate President Karen
Spilka was doing the same thing. She tapped Westport Sen.
Michael Rodrigues to lead the Senate Ways and Means
Committee, and made a number of other choices that raised
some eyebrows...
Given the concentration of power in the
speaker and Senate president's offices, it easy to read too
much into the committee assignments. At the end of the day,
DeLeo is still making the final calls in the House and
Spilka in the Senate. But it can be informative to see who
they choose to have whispering in their ears....
But that may be getting too far ahead. In
the meantime, both Ways and Means chairs will have to get up
to speed fast on Gov. Charlie Baker's budget, and start
drafting their own spending plans for fiscal 2020. The hour
is later for Michlewitz, who needs to write a budget bill by
April, and the speaker said Thursday that budget hearings
will have to start "immediately."
Both Michlewitz and Rodrigues said they are
not closing the door on anything right now, including new
taxes or revenue streams to support investments in public
education, transportation or other priorities, but
progressive Democrats can't be optimistic.
Michlewitz is a team player, and if DeLeo is
still reluctant to pursue new revenues he's unlikely to push
that issue. Rodrigues, meanwhile, is self-described as being
comfortable in the "boring middle."
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who will chair the
Judiciary Committee in the new session and leads the Senate
Progressive Caucus, diplomatically avoided expressing any
disappointment he might have been feeling with Rodrigues'
elevation.
"I'm excited for him," Eldridge said. "I am
someone that is a very strong advocate to raise revenue and
I'll certainly be making my case to him that this session we
need to raise revenue and not just look to pass the
millionaire's tax in four years."
State House News Service
Friday, February 15, 2019
Weekly Roundup - Team Chemistry
Advocates for legislation to lift a cap on
family welfare benefits say they have secured the backing of
a majority of lawmakers in each branch as they press to
finish an effort that came close to the finish line last
session....
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill to
lift the benefits cap but it was vetoed by Gov. Charlie
Baker, who said he does not oppose the cap lift but wanted
it tied to changes to the way that aid to families is
calculated. Lawmakers sent the bill to Baker so late in the
2018 session that they didn't leave themselves time to
attempt a veto override.
In addition to a majority in the House and
Senate, supporters of lifting the cap also have the backing
of House Speaker Robert DeLeo this session. DeLeo said last
month that he supports lifting the cap "as the Legislature
did last year" and looks forward "to working with the bill
sponsors to examine whether we can make it retroactive."
State House News Service
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Veto-proof numbers could spell end to welfare cap
The size of Governor Charlie Baker’s
proposed tax increases has the head of the Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation concerned.
“I would say we’re not anti-tax, which is an
important distinction. But we do want to make sure that your
tax dollars are spent appropriately and efficiently. And I
have to say I was surprised by the size of the tax
increases. In total it’s about $600 million in new revenue
that’s proposed in the governor’s budget,” said Eileen
McAnneny, president of the pro-taxpayers organization,
during an appearance Sunday on Keller at Large on WBZ-TV
Channel 4 in Boston. “… These are $600 million in new taxes
that come on the heels of tax increases last year, as well.”
The New Boston Post
Monday, February 18, 2019
Governor’s Tax Increases Raise Eyebrows of
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Head
Massachusetts faces an $8.4 billion
shortfall in revenues needed to ensure that state roads and
bridges and MBTA infrastructure are in a state of good
repair over the next ten years, according to a new report,
which calls on the state to agree on an updated reform and
revenue plan for the next decade and beyond.
A Better City, a group of business leaders
focused on the Boston region's economic health and
competitiveness, concluded in its 80-page report that the
funding shortfall at the MBTA between 2019 and 2028 is $1.9
billion while the biggest gap, $6.5 million, is at
MassHighway, which is responsible for state roads and
bridges....
While lawmakers over the past decade have
adopted reforms and new funding sources to bolster
transportation, the report concluded that Massachusetts
"still has not adequately addressed" the issued raised in a
landmark 2007 Transportation Finance Commission report,
which Silveira and Widmer helped to assemble.
Massachusetts has fully or partially
implemented 20 of 22 reforms recommended by the commission,
but while the commission's reforms came with a cost savings
estimate of $2.4 billion over 20 years, the report estimated
that savings to date from reforms at just $140 million.
On the revenue front, the report notes the
commission made six recommendations designed to raise $19
billion over 20 years, but revenues adopted by the
Legislature, including a 3 cents per gallon increase in the
gas tax, have "only resulted in approximately half of the
projected revenue needed." ...
The report points to a menu of
revenue-raising options to wipe out the gap, such as
increasing the gas tax, assessing the sales tax on gas
purchases, a regional carbon pricing program for
transportation, border tolls, expanded in-state tolling,
increasing current tolls, increasing Registry of Motor
Vehicles fees, increasing ride-for-hire fees, and
implementing a pricing system to discourage vehicle travel
during peak periods.
A vehicle miles traveled fee alone, the
report estimates, could raise $8.8 billion over the next
decade.
Whether business leaders and groups get
behind new revenue proposals, which always face a difficult
road in the Legislature due to financial impacts on
residents, is an open question.
State House News Service
Thursday. February 21, 2019
Report sounds alarm on Mass. transportation funding
The Massachusetts transportation system
needs an $8.4 billion infusion of new spending over the next
10 years to adequately fund repairs, according to a new
report published Thursday.
The report, from the Boston-based business
organization A Better City, concludes that the state will
likely need to raise new transportation revenue to maintain
the state’s highways, bridges, tunnels, and the MBTA....
The report found that the highway system is
responsible for the bulk of the shortfall — about $6.5
billion. While Governor Charlie Baker’s five-year, $8
billion spending plan on the MBTA is likely enough for now,
the agency will probably need to take on new debt after 2023
to pay for backlogged repairs.
That debt would create new costs in the
agency’s operating budget that would not be covered by fare
increases alone, according to the report....
Dimino’s group recommends the state find new
revenue sources for transportation projects, such as raising
fees on Uber and Lyft rides, increasing the gas tax,
charging motorists based on how many miles they drive,
installing new tolls on state highways, or selling permits
to fuel distributors based on pollution and investing the
proceeds in the transportation system.
Baker, in partnership with other governors
in the region, is considering the fuel distribution charge,
but has generally been reluctant about adopting other
transportation-related fees or taxes.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Mass. still short on transportation funding, report says
House Speaker Robert DeLeo proposed a
sweeping $1 billion environmental grant program Friday that,
over the next decade, would fund municipal efforts to build
renewable-energy infrastructure and invest in climate
resiliency programs.
DeLeo, speaking alongside members of the
Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy
after a tour of Somerville's GreenTown Labs, said the
funding will continue the state's dedication to combating
climate change while giving each city and town the
flexibility to make locally-driven decisions.
"I represent two coastal communities," DeLeo,
whose district covers Winthrop and parts of Revere, said.
"This isn't all just about the water situation, flooding and
all that. It deals with every single city and town, no
matter what their needs may be. There will be money to
address those needs."
The proposal, referred to as the GreenWorks
Resilient Communities Investment Plan, would allocate $1
billion over 10 years, or an average of $100 million each
year, which DeLeo said would be funded by borrowing....
Both the Legislature and the Baker
administration have made addressing climate change a
priority in recent years. In separate legislation (S 10),
Gov. Charlie Baker proposed calling an increase in
real-estate transfer taxes to raise $1 billion over the next
10 years for climate resiliency programs. Lawmakers have
filed several other bills on the topic, too, including one
that would require Massachusetts to use all renewable energy
for transportation, electricity and heat by 2045.
DeLeo said the GreenWorks plan "is not meant
to supplant any other ideas that are out there." ...
State House News Service
Friday, February 22, 2019
DeLeo lays our $1B plan to counteract climate change town by
town
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who hasn't moved
his State House office in more than 10 years, gave all
members of the Legislature something new to think about when
he rolled out a 10-year, $1 billion proposal to invest in
municipal efforts to counteract climate change. Reminiscent
of Gov. Deval Patrick's $1 billion life sciences initiative,
it would be a grant program covered by state borrowing.
The proposal, on the heels of Gov. Charlie
Baker's stepped up efforts to address climate change
impacts, reflects a bit of a shift on Beacon Hill, with the
House and the Corner Office taking a step closer to the
Senate, which for several years has been trying to advance a
bulked up clean energy and climate change adaptation agenda.
Baker this year has also proposed a $1 billion investment
over the next decade, but has proposed to pay for it with
increased real estate transfer fees....
State House News Service
Friday, February 22, 2019
Weekly Roundup - Political climate change
Taking a cue from President Trump,
Massachusetts Republican Party chief Jim Lyons slammed
Democrats for “pushing a socialist agenda” and called the
Democratic-controlled Legislature “corrupt” in a blistering
attack on the opposition party.
“We stand for freedom and individual
responsibility. On the other hand you’ve got the Democratic
Party who stands for a radical socialist agenda,” Lyons said
in an interview on Boston Herald Radio’s “Battenfeld” show.
Lyons last month took over the helm of the
state party, replacing the more moderate Kirsten Hughes, a
close ally of Gov. Charlie Baker.
The former Andover state legislator is a
staunch supporter of Trump, who has been harshly criticized
by Baker and other moderates in the state party....
Lyons also singled out House Speaker Robert
DeLeo, saying he has rewarded allies with highly paid
committee chairmanships while keeping the rest of the
Democrats in the Legislature in tow.
“That Legislature is controlled from the top
down,” Lyons said. “DeLeo rules with an iron fist and he
cares only about his power structure. … Now he has all of
this extra money to sprinkle around and tell people to do
exactly as they’re told. It’s a disgrace.”
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Massachusetts GOP chief hits ‘socialist’ and ‘corrupt’
Democrats
FAIR SHARE AMENDMENT INFO SESSION: Rep.
James O'Day and Sen. Jason Lewis hold an info session on
their legislation that would amend the state constitution to
impose a surtax on incomes over $1 million to fund education
and transportation. Speakers include Massachusetts Budget
and Policy Center interim President Marie-Frances Rivera and
attorney Patrick Moore, a partner at Hemenway & Barnes who
formerly served as deputy legal counsel for Gov. Deval
Patrick and associate counsel for President Barack Obama.
(Tuesday, 11 a.m., Room 350)
State House News Service
Friday, February 22, 2019
Advances - Week of Feb, 2019
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
There's little to report on anything
actually happening on Beacon Hill, as so far little has.
The Legislature's two chieftains –
Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker-for-Life
Robert DeLeo – have finally
anointed their respective chosen few, rewarded their
most loyal followers with lucrative committee leadership
positions accompanied by rich salary increases
– insuring their continued
fealty.
Whoever said "crime doesn't pay" didn't
live in Massachusetts. Senate President Spilka
awarded the second-most highly paid position of Senate
Ways & Means chairmanship to Sen. Michael Rodrigues.
Those of us paying attention back in 2009 will remember
Michael Rodrigues (then a state
representative from Westport) most for voting to impose
the sales tax as well onto alcohol purchases, then being
caught red-handed on camera (the photos sent to us
by a CLT member) at a New Hampshire liquor store
loading his car's trunk with cases of tax-free booze.
The photos and news reports
went viral the next day, before "viral" was common.
Senator
Rodrigues's elevation to the coveted position of
chairman of the Ways & Means Committee brings his annual
salary and other compensation to about $150,000 annually
– second only to the Senate President and House Speaker,
the highest-paid in the nation.
Beyond committee
assignments there is little to see at the beginning of a
legislative year but narrative data points.
I call them "narrative data points"
because if connected soon enough they portend the
direction that state government will take. If one
follows political news and trends over time religiously,
eventually the subtle but evolving narrative becomes
obvious. The various dots begin to connect and a
direction is defined; goals materialize and the means
for achieving them emerge.
There are two opposing narratives today,
as in Massachusetts is often the case in leading to a
"consensus resolution." The first narrative is
that revenues (taxes) are not coming in as anticipated.
The second are proposals for yet more increased
"investments" (spending), despite declining revenue
(tax) receipts. Inevitably, in Massachusetts
compromise between the two narratives brings tax
increases to raise the revenue necessary to pay for
relentless spending increases –
despite an on-the-books state budget of now over $42
Billion and growing by a billion taxpayers' dollars
every year.
The Salem News editorial recognized:
"January’s tax collections, for example, fell almost
$200 million short of estimates. Coupled with a
similarly dismal December, the shortfall has left the
state with a $403 million budget gap halfway through the
fiscal year . . . The state’s pension fund fell $4.5
billion in the fourth quarter of last year, bringing it
to $69.3 billion."
"$600 million in new taxes [proposed in
Gov. Baker's budget] that come on the heels of tax
increases last year, as well,” noted Eileen McAnneny,
president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
Right on cue comes the usual validation
for tax hikes, a "the sky is falling" battle cry from a
"prestigious" source that announces impending disaster
and dire need for higher taxes. According to a
State House News Service report: "A Better City, a
group of business leaders focused on the Boston region's
economic health and competitiveness, concluded in its
80-page report that the funding shortfall at the MBTA
between 2019 and 2028 is $1.9 billion while the biggest
gap, $6.5 million, is at MassHighway, which is
responsible for state roads and bridges."
The Boston Globe added: "The
report, from the Boston-based business organization A
Better City, concludes that the state will likely need
to raise new transportation revenue to maintain the
state’s highways, bridges, tunnels, and the MBTA."
In another report the State House News
Service noted: "Both [House chairman of the Ways &
Means Committee] Michlewitz and [Senate chairman of the
Ways & Means Committee] Rodrigues said they are not
closing the door on anything right now, including new
taxes or revenue streams to support investments in
public education, transportation or other priorities."
It also reported a comment by Sen. Jamie
Eldridge: "I am someone that is a very strong
advocate to raise revenue and I'll certainly be making
my case to [Rodrigues] that this session we need to
raise revenue and not just look to pass the
millionaire's tax in four years."
Meanwhile, the spendthrifts in the
Legislature seek to roll back reforms and pile on more
unaffordable spending: "Advocates for legislation
to lift a cap on family welfare benefits say they have
secured the backing of a majority of lawmakers in each
branch as they press to finish an effort that came close
to the finish line last session. ... More than half the
members of both branches –
104 representatives and 27 senators
– have signed on in support
of a bill (HD 3043) to lift the limit that precludes
additional benefits for families that have another child
while already receiving aid."
Are the "narrative data points"
connecting for you as well?
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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The Salem News
Monday, February 11, 2019
A Salem News editorial
Time to plan for tough times is now
Massachusetts state budget season has barely
begun and already signs are emerging that Gov.
Charlie Baker and his counterparts in the House
and Senate are going to have to rethink -- or at
the very least scale back -- some of their more
expensive taxpayer-funded proposals.
Baker released his $42.7 billion fiscal 2020
spending plan last month, and among the key
provisions were $1 billion in added school
spending, an excise-tax-funded, $137
million-a-year commitment to help municipalities
adapt to climate change, and expanded access to
Medicare.
Legislators, of course, have their own
priorities. House Speaker Robert DeLeo will
surely share some of his later this week when he
speaks in Salem to the North Shore Alliance for
Economic Development. First-term Senate
President Karen Spilka, while offering few
specifics, has endorsed overhauling the
education funding system and reforming health
care. State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg is
looking for more money for the state’s school
building assistance program.
All that cash has to come from somewhere, and
while the state economy can still be considered
strong, there are troubling clouds on the
horizon. January’s tax collections, for example,
fell almost $200 million short of estimates.
Coupled with a similarly dismal December, the
shortfall has left the state with a $403 million
budget gap halfway through the fiscal year.
While not declaring a state of emergency, a
leading nonprofit think tank said the news
should be a “yellow light” for those working on
next year’s budget.
“With April being the largest month for tax
collections, it is unlikely policymakers will
have significantly more information about tax
revenue available before the House and Senate
budgets are published in the spring,” said
Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation. “As a cautionary measure,
budget writers may want to revisit the tax
growth assumptions before the fiscal 2020 budget
is adopted.”
Baker’s proposed budget assumes a 2.7 percent
increase in tax collections. It remains to be
seen how the state economy will perform in the
coming year. Business leaders across the North
Shore and the Merrimack Valley are nervous about
the impact of last year’s so-called “grand
bargain.” It remains to be seen how a five-year
runup of the minimum wage and the creation of an
expansive family leave program will affect small
businesses, which elected officials are fond of
calling the backbone of the economy.
There are other troubling signs. The state’s
pension fund fell $4.5 billion in the fourth
quarter of last year, bringing it to $69.3
billion. Retirement funds for state employees,
teachers and dozens of municipal employee groups
are managed by the Pension Reserves Investment
Management Board.
Pension fund Executive Director Michael Trotsky
said signs may be pointing to a contraction of
the national economy, which surely will have an
effect locally.
“While the U.S. is still relatively strong, but
slowing, Europe, China and Japan are slowing to
a point where we begin to worry about
contraction,” he said. “But even in the U.S.,
manufacturing is weakening -- a good economy has
more than twice the manufacturing production
increases that have been posted recently.
He continued, “Housing is weak, consumer
confidence is eroding from an 18-year high,
industrial material prices are weak and global
dollar liquidity is tight. There were
vulnerabilities in the global economy before
there were tariffs. Tariffs and trade
escalations are an additional negative for
global growth.” That’s not to mention the
turmoil in Washington, D.C., where the federal
government may be headed for another shutdown.
Trotsky was quick to point out that the pension
board has spent the past few years preparing for
such a contraction, in part by reducing its
global equity position. And at the state budget
level, Baker has correctly noted that lawmakers
have added, at least modestly, to the state’s
rainy day fund while the economy was humming
along.
To be sure, the situation is by no means dire.
But state leaders would do well to remember the
lessons of the Great Recession of 2008 and
prepare for the worst now, rather than assume
the good times will continue to roll.
State House News
Service
Friday, February 15, 2019
Weekly Roundup - Team Chemistry
Recap and analysis of the week in state
government
By Matt Murphy
House Speaker Robert DeLeo walked out of a
caucus of his Democratic members on Thursday
looking pleased.
To his right was new Ways and Means Chairman
Aaron Michlewitz. To his left was new Ways and
Mean Vice Chairwoman Denise Garlick. And behind
him stood Jennifer Benson, the new chairwoman of
the Committee on Health Care Financing.
"It's not just about one position. It's about
all positions," DeLeo said, describing the "many
months, many hours of consideration" that went
into assembling a "team" of party leaders and
committee chairs for the young two-year session.
"I'm really, really excited about this coming
session with the folks we have put together," he
said.
In many ways, Thursday's committee assignments
were the starting gun for the legislative
session, six weeks after lawmakers took their
oaths and said they're ready to get to work, and
several weeks after members filed thousands of
bills and co-sponsored thousands more.
Across the building, Senate President Karen
Spilka was doing the same thing. She tapped
Westport Sen. Michael Rodrigues to lead the
Senate Ways and Means Committee, and made a
number of other choices that raised some
eyebrows, including the removal of long-time
Education Committee Chairwoman Sonia Chang-Diaz
from her post.
Spilka never came out of her office to introduce
the team she had assembled, leaving it to them
to speak for themselves.
Given the concentration of power in the speaker
and Senate president's offices, it easy to read
too much into the committee assignments. At the
end of the day, DeLeo is still making the final
calls in the House and Spilka in the Senate. But
it can be informative to see who they choose to
have whispering in their ears.
The chairmanship of Ways and Means has
historically been a good jumping off point for
politicians who aspire to the top job in either
the House or Senate. The appointment of
Michlewitz, however, may carry slightly more
import.
While Spilka is just starting her first full
term as president in the Senate, DeLeo is
embarking on his sixth. The speaker has given no
indication that he's getting ready to move on,
and, in fact, has said he intends at the very
least to finish this two-year term. But there's
no denying that DeLeo is probably closer to the
end of his career in the Legislature than Spilka,
with no heir apparent.
Michlewitz, who previously worked in the
speaker's office as an aide to Sal DiMasi, is
now firmly planted in the conversation about
what happens in the House post DeLeo. But there
will be others, including women.
But that may be getting too far ahead. In the
meantime, both Ways and Means chairs will have
to get up to speed fast on Gov. Charlie Baker's
budget, and start drafting their own spending
plans for fiscal 2020. The hour is later for
Michlewitz, who needs to write a budget bill by
April, and the speaker said Thursday that budget
hearings will have to start "immediately."
Both Michlewitz and Rodrigues said they are not
closing the door on anything right now,
including new taxes or revenue streams to
support investments in public education,
transportation or other priorities, but
progressive Democrats can't be optimistic.
Michlewitz is a team player, and if DeLeo is
still reluctant to pursue new revenues he's
unlikely to push that issue. Rodrigues,
meanwhile, is self-described as being
comfortable in the "boring middle."
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who will chair the
Judiciary Committee in the new session and leads
the Senate Progressive Caucus, diplomatically
avoided expressing any disappointment he might
have been feeling with Rodrigues' elevation.
"I'm excited for him," Eldridge said. "I am
someone that is a very strong advocate to raise
revenue and I'll certainly be making my case to
him that this session we need to raise revenue
and not just look to pass the millionaire's tax
in four years."
Spilka, actually, surprised a lot of people in
the building by turning to Rodrigues for Ways
and Means and bringing other senators like Sen.
Mike Rush and Sen. Joan Lovely from moderate
districts into her leadership team.
"The rumor on the street ... it was a little
different from what I expected and what I heard,
so it was interesting to see," House Majority
Leader Rob Mariano said.
Might these appointments someday be viewed as
the beginning of the thaw between the House and
Senate?
The Ways and Means appointments tend to
overshadow everyone else because of the volume
of legislation that moves through that
committee, or dies there, and the outsized
influence that chairmanship carries, but
Michlewitz and Rodrigues were certainly not the
only story out of assignment day.
Notably, the last session's two biggest
legislative failures – education funding and
health care reform – will have almost entirely
new faces running point for the House and
Senate.
Benson will be joined by Sen. Cindy Friedman as
co-chairs of the Committee on Health Care
Financing, replacing Sen. James Welch and Peter
Kocot, who passed away before the end of session
last year.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jason Lewis steps in for
Chang-Diaz at the Education Committee where Rep.
Alice Peisch remains on the House side.
Chang-Diaz's removal from Education went
unexplained by Spilka, but it's unlikely we've
heard the last of it with Chang-Diaz vowing to
remain involved in the debate.
In fact, there are so many changes, this list
could go on and on. But other things did, in
fact, happen this week.
For starters, General Electric – the white whale
that Gov. Baker reeled in to great fanfare in
2016 – has fallen on such hard times that they
announced they would be selling their Fort Point
property and using some of the proceeds to repay
the state's $87 million in tax incentives they
received to relocate to Boston and; GE will stay
in Boston, but won't build a tower it promised
and instead will lease a smaller space in the
buildings that are being sold to accommodate a
much smaller workforce.
At least they didn't pull out altogether, which
is what Amazon did to New York this week when it
broke up with the Big Apple on Valentine's Day
in a cautionary tale of what can happen when a
state falls too hard, too fast with a
corporation promising jobs that the the public
doesn't think are worth the hassle.
The Fort Point property will now be back on the
block for redevelopment, just like the former
site of the BaySide Expo Center, which the
University of Massachusetts announced it would
be leasing to Boston-based Accordia Partners for
$192 million to $235 million over the next 99
years.
Accordia says it wants to build a "mixed-use
urban innovation campus," which could become a
transformative project for the Columbia Point
neighborhood and the UMass Boston campus.
STORY OF THE WEEK: House and Senate team
captains name their varsity squads.
State House News
Service
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Veto-proof numbers could spell end to welfare
cap
By Colin A. Young
Advocates for legislation to lift a cap on
family welfare benefits say they have secured
the backing of a majority of lawmakers in each
branch as they press to finish an effort that
came close to the finish line last session.
More than half the members of both branches --
104 representatives and 27 senators -- have
signed on in support of a bill (HD 3043) to lift
the limit that precludes additional benefits for
families that have another child while already
receiving aid.
The Campaign to Lift the Cap on Kids said a
family of three with no other income receives
$593 a month in welfare benefits but would
receive just $491 if one of the children is
excluded by the existing state cap.
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill to lift
the benefits cap but it was vetoed by Gov.
Charlie Baker, who said he does not oppose the
cap lift but wanted it tied to changes to the
way that aid to families is calculated.
Lawmakers sent the bill to Baker so late in the
2018 session that they didn't leave themselves
time to attempt a veto override.
In addition to a majority in the House and
Senate, supporters of lifting the cap also have
the backing of House Speaker Robert DeLeo this
session. DeLeo said last month that he supports
lifting the cap "as the Legislature did last
year" and looks forward "to working with the
bill sponsors to examine whether we can make it
retroactive."
"As a commonwealth, we are compelled to support
the most vulnerable among us, particularly when
it comes to providing basic necessities for
children," the speaker said in a statement to
the News Service.
The New Boston Post
Monday, February 18, 2019
Governor’s Tax Increases Raise Eyebrows of
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Head
By NBP Staff
The size of Governor Charlie Baker’s proposed
tax increases has the head of the Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation concerned.
“I would say we’re not anti-tax, which is an
important distinction. But we do want to make
sure that your tax dollars are spent
appropriately and efficiently. And I have to say
I was surprised by the size of the tax
increases. In total it’s about $600 million in
new revenue that’s proposed in the governor’s
budget,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the
pro-taxpayers organization, during an appearance
Sunday on Keller at Large on WBZ-TV Channel 4 in
Boston. “… These are $600 million in new taxes
that come on the heels of tax increases last
year, as well.”
Some of the tax increases may make sense, she
said, mentioning a proposal to tax vaping
products at the same rate as cigarettes.
But others have drawn the ire of tax skeptics.
The tax watchdog group Massachusetts Fiscal
Alliance, for instance, has heavily increased
the governor’s new proposal to increase by 50
percent the current state tax on real estate
deed transfers (meaning property sales). The
governor, a Republican who in the past has
campaigned against tax increases, has said the
money is needed for a state fund that will help
address problems state officials project will be
caused by climate change.
McAnneny didn’t focus on the deeds excise tax,
but she highlighted new state taxes enacted last
year. She noted that property owners who offer
short-term rentals through Airbnb will be hit
with a new tax they haven’t had to pay before
thanks to a bill the governor signed in late
December 2018, and that the new paid family and
medical leave program approved in June 2018
comes with a new payroll tax increase to pay for
it.
Since mid-December lawmakers on Beacon Hill and
the governor have proposed (all told among them)
at least eight new taxes, which are described in
a January 27 story in New Boston Post.
One of them is the so-called Millionaires’ Tax,
which would add a 4 percent surtax to individual
incomes more than $1 million a year. The
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court shot down a
proposed ballot question last year on
constitutional grounds, but supporters of the
idea have crafted a new proposal that might pass
court muster. The earliest it could go to voters
in a statewide referendum is November 2022.
Supporters say the surtax would generate $2
billion that state government needs to provide
vital services, and that it’s fair to hit rich
people harder than everyone else. Opponents say
the surtax would harm the economy by driving
rich people and their money out of the state,
and that a flat tax is fairer than a graduated
income tax.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has
opposed the Millionaires’ Tax in the past, and
Keller asked McAnneny if she still has a problem
with it. She responded by pointing out practical
problems with the tax.
“We do continue to have a problem with it,”
McAnneny said. “And the reality is that a lot of
the money that would be coming in from that
income surtax is derived from capital gains and
dividends, and all the things that are cyclical
and tied to the stock market. And so they’re not
a great revenue source to build a budget on, and
we’re concerned about that. And that we may be
double counting it – because a lot of that money
is right now targeted to go into the
stabilization fund, which is the state’s savings
account.”
Earlier in the interview Keller asked McAnneny
about slowing tax revenue in Massachusetts.
McAnneny said she agrees with economists who see
an economic slowdown on the horizon.
“It’s really important to remember that we’re at
the late stages of the economic recovery. By
historic standards we’re on borrowed time. We
seeing signs that we’re in the late phases of
that,” McAnneny said.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is a
nonpartisan organization that provides research
and analysis on state and local tax policy with
an eye to promoting good financial practices and
a strong economy. The interview was broadcast
Sunday, February 17.
State House News
Service
Thursday. February 21, 2019
Report sounds alarm on Mass. transportation
funding
By Michael P. Norton
Massachusetts faces an $8.4 billion shortfall in
revenues needed to ensure that state roads and
bridges and MBTA infrastructure are in a state
of good repair over the next ten years,
according to a new report, which calls on the
state to agree on an updated reform and revenue
plan for the next decade and beyond.
A Better City, a group of business leaders
focused on the Boston region's economic health
and competitiveness, concluded in its 80-page
report that the funding shortfall at the MBTA
between 2019 and 2028 is $1.9 billion while the
biggest gap, $6.5 million, is at MassHighway,
which is responsible for state roads and
bridges.
The projected funding gap does not account for
the lack of funding committed to popular
expansion projects, including commuter rail to
the South Coast, the Allston Interchange
project, an east-west high speed rail service,
expansion of South Station, the North-South Rail
Link, the Red-Blue Line Connector, Southeast
Expressway capacity improvements, Cape Cod Canal
transportation plans, and expanded water
transportation.
With support from the University of
Massachusetts Donahue Institute, the report was
put together by A Better City project staff Tom
Ryan and Kathryn Carlson, with consulting
provided by Marc Cutler and outside advisors
Terry Regan, Steve Silveira, and Mike Widmer,
the former president of the Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation.
While lawmakers over the past decade have
adopted reforms and new funding sources to
bolster transportation, the report concluded
that Massachusetts "still has not adequately
addressed" the issued raised in a landmark 2007
Transportation Finance Commission report, which
Silveira and Widmer helped to assemble.
Massachusetts has fully or partially implemented
20 of 22 reforms recommended by the commission,
but while the commission's reforms came with a
cost savings estimate of $2.4 billion over 20
years, the report estimated that savings to date
from reforms at just $140 million.
On the revenue front, the report notes the
commission made six recommendations designed to
raise $19 billion over 20 years, but revenues
adopted by the Legislature, including a 3 cents
per gallon increase in the gas tax, have "only
resulted in approximately half of the projected
revenue needed."
"Continued underfunding of the state’s
transportation network diminishes the progress
that has been achieved through transportation
reforms, improved management practices, and
expanded oversight," the report says, adding
that "absent adequate funding" the years ahead
will feature increased borrowing, deteriorating
service, a drop in state of good repair
spending, and further delays of modernization
and expansion projects.
Gov. Charlie Baker has pointed to plans to spend
$8 billion over the next five years to bolster
the MBTA and improve service, and the report
describes that spending as a "reason for
optimism." However, researchers say that the
historic funding level is only possible because
the Green Line Extension and purchases of new
Red and Orange Line vehicles "are largely funded
by the Commonwealth's borrowing or through
federal funds." After 2023, when the projects
are completed and one-time sources of funding
are spent, the MBTA faces ten more years of
increased capital spending and growing deficits
if it has to increase its borrowing, the report
says.
"The operating budget deficit would reach $142
million in 2024 and more than $300 million in
2028, even when assuming regular fare increases
and favorable borrowing conditions," according
to the report.
The state's highly touted Accelerated Bridge
Program, funded through about $3 billion in
borrowing, led to a significant decline in
structurally deficient bridges, but program
borrowing costs are coming due, according to the
report, and there's insufficient funds to
address 482 bridges that remain structurally
deficient.
The report points to a menu of revenue-raising
options to wipe out the gap, such as increasing
the gas tax, assessing the sales tax on gas
purchases, a regional carbon pricing program for
transportation, border tolls, expanded in-state
tolling, increasing current tolls, increasing
Registry of Motor Vehicles fees, increasing
ride-for-hire fees, and implementing a pricing
system to discourage vehicle travel during peak
periods.
A vehicle miles traveled fee alone, the report
estimates, could raise $8.8 billion over the
next decade.
Whether business leaders and groups get behind
new revenue proposals, which always face a
difficult road in the Legislature due to
financial impacts on residents, is an open
question.
"The business leaders of A Better City and the
major business organizations throughout the
state have
identified major improvements in the
transportation system as their number one
priority," Douglas McGarrah, chairman of A
Better City’s Board and partner at Foley Hoag
LLP, said in a statement.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Mass. still short on transportation funding,
report says
By Adam Vaccaro
The Massachusetts transportation system needs an
$8.4 billion infusion of new spending over the
next 10 years to adequately fund repairs,
according to a new report published Thursday.
The report, from the Boston-based business
organization A Better City, concludes that the
state will likely need to raise new
transportation revenue to maintain the state’s
highways, bridges, tunnels, and the MBTA.
The report serves as an update to a 2007 state
review that found the transportation network
needed a major increase in spending and a series
of reforms to be properly funded. Rick Dimino,
the group’s president, said there has been some
progress since then, but the state still needs
to identify how it will pay for improvements to
an increasingly gridlocked system.
“We think the transportation system has made a
lot of progress. We think the managers of the
transportation system have made a lot of
progress. But there’s still a lot of work left
to do,” he said. “We continue to kick the can
down the road.”
The report found that the highway system is
responsible for the bulk of the shortfall —
about $6.5 billion. While Governor Charlie
Baker’s five-year, $8 billion spending plan on
the MBTA is likely enough for now, the agency
will probably need to take on new debt after
2023 to pay for backlogged repairs.
That debt would create new costs in the agency’s
operating budget that would not be covered by
fare increases alone, according to the report.
Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Stephanie
Pollack said the state officials have not had
time to fully review the report, but noted that
the transportation department and MBTA plan to
invest $17 billion over the next five years to
maintain and modernize the system.
The MBTA, she added, is taking a full assessment
of how much it needs to spend each year to
eliminate its repair backlog by 2032. State
officials have previously said it would cost
more than $1 billion a year to reach that goal.
Pollack also singled out one issue with the
organization’s report: it lists a series of
projects as unfunded even though the state has
no plans to undertake many of them, such as a
Blue Line extension to Lynn, anytime soon.
The report, however, is primarily focused on
repair and modernization work, and cites state
documents to support its conclusions. For
example, one document forecasts that the
condition of highway pavement and bridges will
worsen unless spending increases.
The report doesn’t account for several big but
unfunded projects in the works, such as lowering
the Massachusetts Turnpike near Boston
University, rebuilding the road network along
the Cape Cod Canal, and building a new commuter
rail line to New Bedford and Fall River.
Dimino’s group recommends the state find new
revenue sources for transportation projects,
such as raising fees on Uber and Lyft rides,
increasing the gas tax, charging motorists based
on how many miles they drive, installing new
tolls on state highways, or selling permits to
fuel distributors based on pollution and
investing the proceeds in the transportation
system.
Baker, in partnership with other governors in
the region, is considering the fuel distribution
charge, but has generally been reluctant about
adopting other transportation-related fees or
taxes.
In 2018, Baker appointed a commission to study
the future of transportation in Massachusetts.
The group came back with a report in December,
saying Massachusetts should emphasize public
transit and move toward electric vehicles to
reduce pollution.
But for the most part, the report did not
grapple with questions of funding or costs,
except to say the state must develop a long-term
financial plan.
State House News
Service
Friday, February 22, 2019
DeLeo lays our $1B plan to counteract climate
change town by town
By Chris Lisinski
House Speaker Robert DeLeo proposed a sweeping
$1 billion environmental grant program Friday
that, over the next decade, would fund municipal
efforts to build renewable-energy infrastructure
and invest in climate resiliency programs.
DeLeo, speaking alongside members of the Joint
Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and
Energy after a tour of Somerville's GreenTown
Labs, said the funding will continue the state's
dedication to combating climate change while
giving each city and town the flexibility to
make locally-driven decisions.
"I represent two coastal communities," DeLeo,
whose district covers Winthrop and parts of
Revere, said. "This isn't all just about the
water situation, flooding and all that. It deals
with every single city and town, no matter what
their needs may be. There will be money to
address those needs."
The proposal, referred to as the GreenWorks
Resilient Communities Investment Plan, would
allocate $1 billion over 10 years, or an average
of $100 million each year, which DeLeo said
would be funded by borrowing. Legislation will
need to pass to authorize the program, and the
speaker said he hopes to see that vote this
session. A spokeswoman for DeLeo said Friday
evening the bill had not yet been filed, but did
not say when to expect a formal proposal to be
offered.
If approved, communities could apply for grants
through the Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs to fund installation of
solar grids, electric vehicle charging stations,
resiliency infrastructure and more.
"We believe that these concrete local
investments can make a difference in the real
world," DeLeo said. "Our cities and towns know
their unique needs and areas of opportunity the
best."
Both the Legislature and the Baker
administration have made addressing climate
change a priority in recent years. In separate
legislation (S 10), Gov. Charlie Baker proposed
calling an increase in real-estate transfer
taxes to raise $1 billion over the next 10 years
for climate resiliency programs. Lawmakers have
filed several other bills on the topic, too,
including one that would require Massachusetts
to use all renewable energy for transportation,
electricity and heat by 2045.
DeLeo said the GreenWorks plan "is not meant to
supplant any other ideas that are out there."
"It's a great opportunity to give our local
communities from whatever part of the state the
tools they need to address some of these serious
issues that we're facing in front of us over the
next generation," said new House Ways and Means
Chair Aaron Michlewitz. "The time is now, and I
think this is a great opportunity to do so."
Rep. Thomas Golden, who chairs the Joint
Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and
Energy, described the Legislature's work on
climate change as "absolutely epic" and forecast
a "green shockwave" following announcement of
the GreenWorks proposal.
Another benefit of the program, DeLeo said,
would be economic growth thanks to financial
investment and the creation of green jobs. He
likened it to an environmental version of
MassWorks, a multimillion-dollar state
infrastructure grant program.
Advocacy groups praised the idea on Friday,
describing the funding as a needed investment.
Sue Coakley, executive director of Northeast
Energy Efficiency Partnerships, said in DeLeo's
press release that the emphasis on supporting
community priorities "is a smart and powerful
solution."
Massachusetts Climate Action Network Executive
Director Carol Oldham said in an interview that
the proposal "sounds fantastic." She hopes to
see a significant portion of funding go toward
mitigation plans.
"One of the issues that I know a lot of us in
the environmental community and the climate
community have been talking about is that
resilience is going to be very expensive for a
lot of communities in Massachusetts over the
next decade," she said. "It has to be done. It's
not optional, but it's not going to be cheap."
State House News
Service
Friday, February 22, 2019
Weekly Roundup - Political climate change
By Matt Murphy
Snow. Melt. Repeat.
The traditional week of February school
vacations brought a lull to an already sleepy
State House as winter reared its head in fits
and starts and minor snow piles were washed away
by warming spring-like temperatures.
It was around these snow squalls and the Monday
President's Day holiday that the new chairmen of
the House and Senate Ways and Means committees
and their staffs sought to acclimate themselves
to the new roles and plot a course for budget
hearings, expected to start soon.
It wasn't quite Allston Christmas, but vacation
week also allowed time for legislators not named
Aaron Michlewitz and Michael Rodrigues, but
still taking on new committee assignments and
chairmanships, to pack up their old offices and
move into their new digs.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who hasn't moved his
State House office in more than 10 years, gave
all members of the Legislature something new to
think about when he rolled out a 10-year, $1
billion proposal to invest in municipal efforts
to counteract climate change. Reminiscent of
Gov. Deval Patrick's $1 billion life sciences
initiative, it would be a grant program covered
by state borrowing.
The proposal, on the heels of Gov. Charlie
Baker's stepped up efforts to address climate
change impacts, reflects a bit of a shift on
Beacon Hill, with the House and the Corner
Office taking a step closer to the Senate, which
for several years has been trying to advance a
bulked up clean energy and climate change
adaptation agenda. Baker this year has also
proposed a $1 billion investment over the next
decade, but has proposed to pay for it with
increased real estate transfer fees. ...
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Massachusetts GOP chief hits ‘socialist’ and
‘corrupt’ Democrats
By Joe Battenfeld
Taking a cue from President Trump, Massachusetts
Republican Party chief Jim Lyons slammed
Democrats for “pushing a socialist agenda” and
called the Democratic-controlled Legislature
“corrupt” in a blistering attack on the
opposition party.
“We stand for freedom and individual
responsibility. On the other hand you’ve got the
Democratic Party who stands for a radical
socialist agenda,” Lyons said in an interview on
Boston Herald Radio’s “Battenfeld” show.
Lyons last month took over the helm of the state
party, replacing the more moderate Kirsten
Hughes, a close ally of Gov. Charlie Baker.
The former Andover state legislator is a staunch
supporter of Trump, who has been harshly
criticized by Baker and other moderates in the
state party.
Lyons said U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other
Democratic presidential candidates, as well as
Democratic state lawmakers, have lurched so far
to the left that they risk alienating
independents and moderates.
“They are pushing a socialist agenda,” Lyons
said. “Socialism is not a free society and yet
that is what these people are pushing. They
believe in control of what we do from the time
we get up to the time we go home at night.”
Lyons also singled out House Speaker Robert
DeLeo, saying he has rewarded allies with highly
paid committee chairmanships while keeping the
rest of the Democrats in the Legislature in tow.
“That Legislature is controlled from the top
down,” Lyons said. “DeLeo rules with an iron
fist and he cares only about his power
structure. … Now he has all of this extra money
to sprinkle around and tell people to do exactly
as they’re told. It’s a disgrace.”
Democratic Party leaders fired back at Lyons on
Tuesday, calling him a “hypocrite” who is “out
of touch” with most Massachusetts voters.
“While he was in the State House, Lyons sought
to strip critical protections from women,
members of the LGBTQ community, and working
families,” state Democratic chairman Gus
Bickford said. “Now he is remaking the
Massachusetts GOP in the model of Donald Trump,
using fear-mongering and bigotry to achieve his
partisan goals.”
Since he took over as chairman, Lyons has
already taken the GOP on a more aggressive path,
and says he will try to build the party by
grassroots efforts and reaching out to
independents.
After former Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld
announced he was forming a presidential
exploratory committee to take on Trump, Lyons
blasted Weld, comparing him to Revolutionary War
traitor Benedict Arnold.
“What does Bill Weld want to be?” Lyons said in
the Herald Radio interview. “He’s a Libertarian
one day, a supporter of Democrats another day.
Why should any Republican take him serious?
“I think it’s time for Bill to recognize it’s
time to get off the stage. As Dandy Don used to
say, turn out the lights, Bill, the party’s
over.”
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