 |
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”
— and
their Institutional Memory — |
|
CLT UPDATE
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Speaker's $1.3 billion borrow-and-spend GreenWorks bill streaks
through House
|
The Massachusetts House crossed one of
Speaker Robert DeLeo's priority bills off its list Wednesday
with the unanimous passage of a bill to establish a new
grant program to help cities and towns confront climate
change impacts and to borrow more than $1 billion to pay for
it.
The bill (H 3987) would create the
GreenWorks infrastructure program under the Executive Office
of Energy and Environmental Affairs to help communities
address things like the threat of rising seas and
floodwaters, and the damage that's already been done. The
bill authorizes the state to borrow $1.3 billion and to dole
out $100 million for GreenWorks each year for a decade....
Despite the state's already high debt
levels, the House bill tacks the cost of the program onto
the state's credit card, rather than paying for it with a
tax increase, as Gov. Charlie Baker has proposed for a
similar program. The planned borrowing would also be
executed outside of the state's bond cap, under the bill.
Rep. David Vieira, the ranking minority member of the House
Bonding Committee and a member of the state's Capital Debt
Affordability Committee, has filed an amendment (#2) to
strip away the exemption and make the GreenWorks borrowing
subject to the state's debt limit.
"I would be comfortable allowing a general bond cap
exemption for up to a billion dollars here if we had an
identified revenue source for an additional billion
dollars," the Falmouth Republican said at a committee
hearing on the bill earlier this month. "Otherwise, I think
that we should authorize these programs but have them
subject to existing bond caps if we don't have the new
revenue identified." ....
The bill passed 157-0 and most every
representative who spoke from the podium on Wednesday
highlighted the fact that the bill provides opportunities
for communities of all sizes, geographies and financial
situations....
The bill now goes to the Senate for
consideration. Because he filed it with the Senate, Baker's
similar bill (S 10) could be bound for the Senate if it
emerges from committee.
State House News Service
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
House okays $1.3 Bil to address climate change impacts
The House and Senate are plodding closer to
their summer recess with a promised education funding bill
still in committee and negotiators so far unable to agree to
a bill targeting the cellphone-fueled distracted driving
crisis on Massachusetts roads.
Having sent Gov. Charlie Baker a $43.1
billion budget on Monday, and with Baker returning from
meetings this week with Republican governors in Colorado,
the House on Wednesday plans to pass a $1.3 billion bill (H
3987) to help communities confront climate change impacts,
including the damage that rising seas and floodwaters are
causing. The House faces decisions Wednesday afternoon on 43
amendments to that bill....
Despite already high debt levels, the House
bill tacks the cost of the 10-year GreenWorks infrastructure
program onto the state's credit card, rather than paying for
it with a tax increase, as Baker has proposed for a similar
program. The planned borrowing would be executed outside of
the state's bond cap, under the bill....
Second Assistant House Majority Leader Rep.
Paul Donato told the News Service on Tuesday that the House
hopes to wrap up formal business next week, before embarking
on the summer recess. In non-election years, the Legislature
usually resumes formal sessions in September and may hold
them until the third Wednesday in November.
The other wildcard is budget vetoes. Baker
has until Friday, Aug. 2 to take action on the budget and
while lawmakers can override vetoes in the fall, there may
be some vetoes that lawmakers want to override sooner.
State House News Service
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
House, Senate winding closer to summer recess
The Baker administration's budget chief is
dodging questions about a big revenue markup that the
Democrat-controlled Legislature embraced this week as part
of an effort to substantially drive up state spending.
The $43.1 billion fiscal 2020 budget filed
Sunday and approved by the House and Senate on Monday raised
spending by about $317 million more than either the House
budget that was approved in April or the Senate budget
passed in May. The bottom line is about $400 million more
than Gov. Charlie Baker sought in January.
With the revenue markup, the Legislature has
put before Baker a budget that raises spending by 4 percent,
a notable $1.6 billion increase heading into the 2020
election year....
Also Monday, the business-backed
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation checked in on the markup,
saying it had recommended a $455 million increase in the
projection, with just $113 million of that available for
spending in the budget.
"These more aggressive assumptions add risk
to the fiscal 2020 budget picture and raise the prospect of
midyear budget cuts if the assumptions do not prove valid,"
the foundation said, estimating appropriations in the
conference budget of $43.6 billion, not the $43.1 billion
claimed by legislators....
With the markup substantially altering the
budget picture, the News Service asked Baker budget chief
Michael Heffernan for his take on the maneuver. A Heffernan
spokeswoman said he wasn't available on Monday.
On Wednesday, the News Service renewed its
request to briefly discuss the revenue markup with
Heffernan, a former Citigroup and Salomon Brothers executive
who previously served as state revenue commissioner.
Julie Mehegan, communications director for
the Executive Office of Administration and Finance,
responded only by saying the budget is under review,
refusing to respond to the request about Heffernan's
availability.
State House News Service
Thursday, July 25, 2019
State budget chief unavailable on "most notable" part of
budget
|
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
On Monday I
wrote ("Budget
whizzes to Gov's desk"):
Tomorrow the
House will bring up and debate Speaker Bob DeLeo's
personal "GreenWorks" bill (H-3987)
advocating for "climate mitigation" or "climate
resiliency" or whatever we're calling it today. He
intends for the state to borrow $1.295 billion over
twenty years (apparently including the cost of interest)
to spend $1 billion. To accomplish this he intends
to suspend the state's debt ceiling.
What The
Speaker For Life wants so badly The Speaker For Life
will get. Expect a party-line vote at best with
all Democrats voting in lockstep with the Speaker as
usual, but don't be surprised or too disappointed if
many Republicans join in.
Speaker
DeLeo's bill streaked through the House yesterday
without opposition, 157-0. More than "many
Republicans" joined his parade. They all
did.
What The
Speaker For Life wants so badly The Speaker for Life
gets — without
opposition or dissent. Committee chairmanships and
other appointments, with accompanying lucrative
"stipends," rise or fall, come or go at his whim.
The State
House News Service reported yesterday:
The $43.1
billion fiscal 2020 budget filed Sunday and approved
by the House and Senate on Monday raised spending by
about $317 million more than either the House budget
that was approved in April or the Senate budget
passed in May. The bottom line is about $400 million
more than Gov. Charlie Baker sought in January.
With the
revenue markup, the Legislature has put before Baker
a budget that raises spending by 4 percent, a
notable $1.6 billion increase....
Also Monday,
the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers
Foundation checked in on the markup, saying it had
recommended a $455 million increase in the
projection, with just $113 million of that available
for spending in the budget.
"These more
aggressive assumptions add risk to the fiscal 2020
budget picture and raise the prospect of midyear
budget cuts if the assumptions do not prove valid,"
the foundation said, estimating appropriations in
the conference budget of $43.6 billion, not the
$43.1 billion claimed by legislators....
The "business-backed" Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation asserted that the reported $43.1
billion budget now on the governor's desk is actually
half a billion taxpayers' dollars more than claimed
— $43.6 billion.
This is the sort of accounting
revelation that MTF does well, though its history of
future revenue projections are less than reliable at
best, often well off the mark. Adding up budget
spending line items to reach a total is more
straightforward than prognosticating future economic
activity and predicting "anticipated revenue" using a
crystal ball, tea leaves, chicken bones, or whatever.
With over a billion dollars of revenue
"surplus" floating around on Beacon Hill, my money's on
the budget's bottom line being closer to MTF's
conclusion than that of the Legislature.
By the way, I get a tingle of
satisfaction whenever I now read the Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation preceded by the descriptor
"business-backed" in most news reports today.
Accomplishing that little victory was a long and dogged
battle for Citizens for Limited Taxation.
For too long both MTF and CLT were often
perceived as similar taxpayer advocates, without the
distinction that MTF was and remains concerned only with
what most benefits corporate Massachusetts, while CLT's
mission is and has always been the defense of and
advocacy for average "lunch bucket" taxpayers.
Long ago I created a special section of the CLT website
dedicated to highlighting this distinction: "So-Called
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation: The Fat-Cats' Trojan
Horse." It provides MTF's background,
membership, history and track record, and focus.
It took over a decade to establish the difference and
see it gradually embedded into news reports.
MTF = "business-backed"
— CLT = "grassroots."
"[T]he House hopes to wrap up formal
business next week, before embarking on the summer
recess," the State House News Service reported.
"In non-election years, the Legislature usually resumes
formal sessions in September and may hold them until the
third Wednesday in November."
Not much will happen between now and the
Legislature's month or two of vacation that apparently
will commence next week. When "The Best
Legislature Money Can Buy" returns, legislators tanned
and rested up, be ready for a frenzy of activity
— including the promised
tax hikes. As
reported on July 19:
"Those
can all get added to the fall agenda when DeLeo has
promised a tax and transportation financing debate
that could be another all-consuming spectacle."
What The Speaker For Life wants The
Speaker for Life could well get, again. Take a
short breather, folks, but be ready to rock and roll
when the Legislature is done vacationing and returns to
work raring to tax more.
|
 |
 |
|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
|
|
|
State House News
Service
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
House okays $1.3 Bil to address climate change
impacts
By Colin A. Young
The Massachusetts House crossed one of Speaker
Robert DeLeo's priority bills off its list
Wednesday with the unanimous passage of a bill
to establish a new grant program to help cities
and towns confront climate change impacts and to
borrow more than $1 billion to pay for it.
The bill (H 3987) would create the GreenWorks
infrastructure program under the Executive
Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to
help communities address things like the threat
of rising seas and floodwaters, and the damage
that's already been done. The bill authorizes
the state to borrow $1.3 billion and to dole out
$100 million for GreenWorks each year for a
decade.
DeLeo, whose coastal district covers Winthrop
and parts of Revere, first pitched the program
in February during an event at Greentown Labs in
Somerville and had said he wanted the House to
vote on it before vacating Beacon Hill for the
traditional August break.
"GreenWorks builds on a long-standing House
approach to provide concrete tools directly to
cities and towns that result in both immediate
and long-lasting positive effects," DeLeo said
in a statement. "This forward-looking investment
helps Massachusetts cities and towns build
resilient communities, lower long-term operating
costs and cut greenhouse gases while creating
jobs for workers across the Commonwealth."
The bill establishes a competitive grant program
under which municipalities could apply each year
for funding for specific projects. Two or more
towns would be able to apply jointly for money
to pay for regional resilience efforts.
"GreenWorks was meant to be, and is, broad and
very flexible. It is to allow each community to
identify their problems and use GreenWorks
dollars to solve their issues and their
problems," Rep. Thomas Golden, chairman of the
Committee on Telecommunication, Utilities and
Energy and the bill's chief sponsor, said on the
House floor Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the state's already high debt levels,
the House bill tacks the cost of the program
onto the state's credit card, rather than paying
for it with a tax increase, as Gov. Charlie
Baker has proposed for a similar program. The
planned borrowing would also be executed outside
of the state's bond cap, under the bill.
Rep. David Vieira, the ranking minority member
of the House Bonding Committee and a member of
the state's Capital Debt Affordability
Committee, sought with an amendment to strip
away the exemption and make the GreenWorks
borrowing subject to the state's debt limit.
"To say that we are going to go out and bond a
billion dollars over 10 years, $100 million a
year, and actually exempt that billion dollars
from the bond cap, I think is going to raise
concerns with our bond rating agencies," he
said.
Vieira reminded his fellow reps that they "all
read the same articles that I did" when S&P
Global Ratings lowered its rating for
Massachusetts bonds to AA from AA+ in 2017,
citing the state's failure to follow its
policies for rebuilding its stabilization fund.
"So I felt that I would be remiss ... to not
come before the House and at least warn us that
if we are going to exempt a billion dollars
worth of bonded authorization from the Chapter
29 bond cap, that we may be reading another
article next year about the bond rating of this
commonwealth," the Falmouth Republican said.
The bill passed 157-0 and most every
representative who spoke from the podium on
Wednesday highlighted the fact that the bill
provides opportunities for communities of all
sizes, geographies and financial situations.
Rep. Theodore Speliotis said he believes
"stronger than anything else" that climate
change is the number one issue his constituents
care about.
"They care about their taxes, they care about
their roads, they care about many things; but
when you ask them or when I'm asked in my
district or here what are people talking about,
they're talking about the changes in our climate
and the effects -- and all in the negative," he
said on the floor Wednesday. "In the last month
we have been barraged to a point like never in
our lifetime -- people fearful of going to the
beaches, people fearful of their summer homes,
they're fearful of their own property -- and
each and every year we spend more time recouping
from the damages."
The bill now goes to the Senate for
consideration. Because he filed it with the
Senate, Baker's similar bill (S 10) could be
bound for the Senate if it emerges from
committee. Asked this month whether she favors
DeLeo's borrowing approach or Baker's tax hike
plan, Senate President Karen Spilka did not show
her cards.
"We will take a look, I will discuss this with
my chairs and the other senators," she said.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
House, Senate winding closer to summer recess
By Michael P. Norton
The House and Senate are plodding closer to
their summer recess with a promised education
funding bill still in committee and negotiators
so far unable to agree to a bill targeting the
cellphone-fueled distracted driving crisis on
Massachusetts roads.
Having sent Gov. Charlie Baker a $43.1 billion
budget on Monday, and with Baker returning from
meetings this week with Republican governors in
Colorado, the House on Wednesday plans to pass a
$1.3 billion bill (H 3987) to help communities
confront climate change impacts, including the
damage that rising seas and floodwaters are
causing. The House faces decisions Wednesday
afternoon on 43 amendments to that bill.
The bill establishes a competitive grant program
under which municipalities could apply each year
for funding for specific projects. Two or more
towns would be able to apply jointly for money
to pay for regional resilience efforts. Some of
the amendments proposed to the bill are earmarks
for local priorities.
Despite already high debt levels, the House bill
tacks the cost of the 10-year GreenWorks
infrastructure program onto the state's credit
card, rather than paying for it with a tax
increase, as Baker has proposed for a similar
program. The planned borrowing would be executed
outside of the state's bond cap, under the bill.
Rep. David Vieira, the ranking minority member
of the House Bonding Committee and a member of
the state's Capital Debt Affordability
Committee, has filed an amendment (#2) to strip
away the exemption and make the GreenWorks
borrowing subject to the state's debt limit.
"I would be comfortable allowing a general bond
cap exemption for up to a billion dollars here
if we had an identified revenue source for an
additional billion dollars," the Falmouth
Republican said at a committee hearing on the
bill earlier this month. "Otherwise, I think
that we should authorize these programs but have
them subject to existing bond caps if we don't
have the new revenue identified."
With the Senate in session on Thursday, the
branches this week may also return to Baker's
desk a bill that allows public-sector unions to
seek reimbursement from non-members for certain
services and representation. The House on Monday
voted 29-127 to reject an amendment that Baker
said would protect the privacy of employees'
personal contact information.
In their budget, which Baker is reviewing,
lawmakers approved a $269 million increase in
K-12 education funding, an allocation that
supporters are describing as a major downpayment
on what could be a multi-year plan to step up
investments.
It's been nearly a year since a House-Senate
conference committee failed to reach agreement
on a long-term education financing bill, and
progress on that issue last session has not
translated into action this session, despite
heavy lobbying by activists and a lawsuit filed
by those frustrated with the quality of
education.
The Education Committee continues to work on a
bill and its leaders won't say when they'll
unveil one.
The Massachusetts AFL-CIO indicated Tuesday that
it still wants the Legislature to pass an
education funding bill "before the Legislature
goes on recess in July," a goal that appears
increasingly unlikely, unless the Legislature
sacrifices part of its planned recess and
focuses with more urgency on passing
legislation.
"We appreciate the positive work of the
legislature on preK-12 school funding in this
budget, but we know there is much more do in
order to achieve fully-funded schools and
colleges for all," American Federation of
Teachers Massachusetts President Beth Kontos
said in a statement. "Educators will continue to
organize and advocate until our students, from
pre-school through college, receive the
resources they need to thrive."
Writing that "another July is coming to a close
without a long-term fix to a more than $1
billion hole in our public education budget,"
Massachusetts Teachers Association President
Merrie Najimy this week added, "After last
year’s failure to pass a foundation budget bill,
legislative leaders promised that they would
pass one this year that fulfills the
recommendations of the FBRC. They have thus far
failed to do so."
This week, both chairs of the distracted driving
conference committee, Sen. Joseph Boncore and
Rep. William Straus, told the News Service that
they remain in talks about a compromise version
of the bill, which would update state laws
banning texting while driving to extend to
virtually all mobile device use behind the
wheel.
Neither chair would say whether they plan to
file a final bill before the summer recess. "It
will take as long as it takes to ensure this
all-important bill to ensure public safety on
the roadways of the commonwealth is fully
vetted," Boncore said.
Second Assistant House Majority Leader Rep. Paul
Donato told the News Service on Tuesday that the
House hopes to wrap up formal business next
week, before embarking on the summer recess. In
non-election years, the Legislature usually
resumes formal sessions in September and may
hold them until the third Wednesday in November.
The other wildcard is budget vetoes. Baker has
until Friday, Aug. 2 to take action on the
budget and while lawmakers can override vetoes
in the fall, there may be some vetoes that
lawmakers want to override sooner.
— Colin A. Young
and Chris Lisinski contributed to this report.
State House News
Service
Thursday, July 25, 2019
State budget chief unavailable on "most notable"
part of budget
By Michael P. Norton
The Baker administration's budget chief is
dodging questions about a big revenue markup
that the Democrat-controlled Legislature
embraced this week as part of an effort to
substantially drive up state spending.
The $43.1 billion fiscal 2020 budget filed
Sunday and approved by the House and Senate on
Monday raised spending by about $317 million
more than either the House budget that was
approved in April or the Senate budget passed in
May. The bottom line is about $400 million more
than Gov. Charlie Baker sought in January.
With the revenue markup, the Legislature has put
before Baker a budget that raises spending by 4
percent, a notable $1.6 billion increase heading
into the 2020 election year.
Marie-Frances Rivera, president of the
independent Massachusetts Budget and Policy
Center, on Monday called the revenue markup "the
most notable feature" of the entire budget.
"Though these additional investments are
welcome, it is possible that this revenue growth
will not last forever," Rivera said. "While
revenue growth estimates remain strong for the
coming fiscal year, expectations are that the
national and state economies will slow
eventually and state revenue collections will
follow suit. A few, unexpected 'boom years' do
not change the underlying fact that
Massachusetts has a long-term problem with
inadequate revenues."
Also Monday, the business-backed Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation checked in on the markup,
saying it had recommended a $455 million
increase in the projection, with just $113
million of that available for spending in the
budget.
"These more aggressive assumptions add risk to
the fiscal 2020 budget picture and raise the
prospect of midyear budget cuts if the
assumptions do not prove valid," the foundation
said, estimating appropriations in the
conference budget of $43.6 billion, not the
$43.1 billion claimed by legislators.
With the markup substantially altering the
budget picture, the News Service asked Baker
budget chief Michael Heffernan for his take on
the maneuver. A Heffernan spokeswoman said he
wasn't available on Monday.
On Wednesday, the News Service renewed its
request to briefly discuss the revenue markup
with Heffernan, a former Citigroup and Salomon
Brothers executive who previously served as
state revenue commissioner.
Julie Mehegan, communications director for the
Executive Office of Administration and Finance,
responded only by saying the budget is under
review, refusing to respond to the request about
Heffernan's availability.
|
| |
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
BACK TO CLT
HOMEPAGE
|
