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their Institutional Memory — |
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CLT UPDATE
Monday, November 23, 2020
Senate Passes Its $46B Budget
—
TCI
Hit In New Study, Poll
Jump directly
to CLT's Commentary on the News
|
Most Relevant News Excerpts
(Full news reports follow
Commentary)
|
|
With a unanimous
vote, the Massachusetts Senate wrapped up its work late
Wednesday night on a roughly $46 billion state budget for
the fiscal year that began July 1.
"The budget, I
think, is a really strong, responsive budget to the
situation at hand and trying to really help the residents of
the commonwealth," Senate President Karen Spilka said after
the Senate adjourned around 10:30 p.m.
Earlier in the day
Wednesday, the Senate codified and expanded abortion access
rights in Massachusetts when it adopted an amendment based
on the so-called ROE Act that has been debated on Beacon
Hill for much of the session amid growing worries that a
conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority will erode or
overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Wednesday night,
the Senate turned to more of a potpourri of issues. Senators
rejected an amendment to legalize sports betting, approved
an increase in the fees charged to riders of services like
Lyft or Uber, and, like the House, did not take a vote on a
popular amendment that would have expanded access to
emergency paid sick time for employees.
The budget bills
produced by the House and Senate will soon be bound for a
conference committee. Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael
Rodrigues said Wednesday night he is hopeful the
negotiations will be quick and painless, but major issues
like policing reform, health care reform and climate change
policy have been stuck in conference committees without
signs of life since late July.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Senate Session Summary - Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020
Passes FY21 Budget 40-0
By Colin A. Young
Following two days
of deliberations, the Massachusetts Senate wrapped up its
work late Wednesday night on a roughly $46 billion state
budget for the fiscal year that began four and a half months
ago.
The vote to
approve the budget was unanimous, but the debate Wednesday
night revealed some of the friction that exists as lawmakers
seek to marshal state government to address economic and
societal problems the pandemic has highlighted. On issues
like transportation and economic development, senators
repeatedly said the Legislature needs to do more if
Massachusetts is to rebound after the pandemic and some
lamented the lack of significant action from Beacon Hill
during the extended session....
The budget will
soon head to a conference committee, a group of three
senators and three representatives who will meet behind
closed doors to hash out the differences between the two
budget bills and put a compromise version up for an
up-or-down vote of both branches.
Senate Ways and
Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said Wednesday night he is
hopeful the negotiations will be quick and painless, but
major issues like policing reform, health care reform and
climate change policy have been stuck in conference
committees without signs of life since late July....
As soon as the
overdue fiscal year 2021 budget is done, Rodrigues and his
House counterpart Rep. Aaron Michlewitz will turn their
attention to the fiscal year 2022 budget process, which
typically begins in December with a hearing on projected tax
collections and flows to a January agreement on the
consensus revenue figure and the late January filing of the
governor's budget proposal.
If talks drag on,
state government would need another temporary budget to pass
to keep services flowing and the state payroll funded. The
current interim budget includes about enough money to get
through November.
Earlier in the day
Wednesday, the Senate codified and expanded abortion access
rights in Massachusetts when it adopted an amendment based
on the so-called ROE Act that has been discussed for much of
the session amid growing worries that a conservative U.S.
Supreme Court majority will erode or overturn the 1973 Roe
v. Wade decision....
Senators adopted
an amendment from Transportation Committee Chairman Joseph
Boncore establishing a new structure of higher fees for
transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft.
"First, this new
fee structure attempts to address congestion and incentivize
public transit usage through fees targetted at consumer
behavior. Second, it redirects these funds directly to the
CTF, providing much-needed revenues to our anemic public
transportation system," Boncore said. He added, "Even after
the adoption of this language, there is still much work to
be done. We need a New Deal for transportation in this
commonwealth."
State House News
Service
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Senate Rejects Sports Betting, Adds TNC Fees to Budget
The budget also
includes an amendment that raises the current flat 20 cents
per ride tax paid by Uber, Lyft and other Transportation
Network Companies (TNCs) to a percentage of the cost of the
ride as follows: 3 percent of the costs of a pooled ride
that has more than one rider and 7 percent of a ride by a
single person. The 7 percent fee is reduced to 3 percent if
it is a zero emissions vehicle. All three fees can go up
another 3 percent if the ride is during rush hour. That
would bring the single ride up to 10 percent and the shared
ride and single ride of a zero emissions vehicle up to 6
percent.
Under current law,
the companies pay the tax and are prohibited from passing
the cost along to the rider. The amendment allows the cost
to be passed along to the rider....
There was no roll
call vote on the amendment. It was approved on a voice vote.
No members of either party stood to request a roll call
vote. It would have taken a total of only four members to
request a roll call....
“It’s noteworthy
that California voters just repealed further regulation of
ride-sharing services on the November 3 ballot by a 17
percent margin, while the Massachusetts Senate just imposed
further burdens on companies like Uber and their customers
with tax increases,” said Chip Ford, Executive
Director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “It’s
usually California that leads the way with nonsense while
Massachusetts soon follows in lockstep. When it comes to
taxing businesses and residents most, as always, Beacon Hill
legislators strive mightily to be number one. I guess we all
should just keep driving our own cars.” ...
“The state budget
was passed after the election, even though there was plenty
of time to debate the merits of the budget before the
election,” said Paul Craney, executive director of the
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, “This was done to protect
lawmakers from taking tough votes before voters go to the
polls. As we have seen with the budget, and this is just the
beginning, they want to raise taxes and the cost of living
and doing business in Massachusetts. The reason for this is
because they refuse to reduce their spending and think money
grows on trees. They continue to increase spending, borrow
money, and raise taxes and fees, leaving the next generation
on the hook for how to get out of this mess. Taxpayers
should be very careful.”
Beacon Hill Roll
Call
Volume 45 - Report No. 47
November 16-20, 2020
By Bob Katzen
Approve $46 Billion Fiscal 2021 State Budget (S-4)
Lawmakers will
shift their focus to reconciling key differences between the
House and Senate versions of their long-overdue budget over
the next two weeks after senators unanimously passed a $46
billion budget in a late-night session on Wednesday....
Now, all eyes turn
to the conference committee where the House and Senate
versions of the budgets will be reconciled — a process
Rodrigues said he hopes is “quick and painless” with
discussion on next year’s budget slated to start in January.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Massachusetts Senate unanimously passes $46B budget
So much for a
“narrow” budget.
When the House and
Senate Ways and Means committees released their fiscal 2021
budget proposals, both were relatively narrow with few
policy initiatives. Chairs Aaron Michlewitz and Michael
Rodrigues both stressed the need to adopt the budget on a
quick time frame, with the state’s temporary budget expiring
at the end of November and the fiscal year already five
months in. House Speaker Robert DeLeo said at a
Massachusetts Association of Health Plans conference that
the budget “is not an appropriate place for major policy
reform."
But through the
amendment process, lawmakers have now adopted numerous
significant policy proposals. Whether a conference committee
will be able to resolve differences quickly remains to be
seen. Gov. Charlie Baker has line item veto power over the
budget, so policy proposals could also die on his desk –
although Democrats, with a veto-proof majority in both
bodies, could override him.
CommonWealth
Magazine
Friday, November 20, 2020
From abortion to Uber fees, Senate budget adopts policy
proposals
The budget that
passed the Senate on Wednesday started out looking a lot
like the one that passed the House last week, but changed a
good deal over the course of two long days of deliberations
during which admonitions against adding too much policy went
out the window.
Like the House,
the Senate added an expansion of abortion to the spending
bill that appears to be a sure bet to wind up on Gov.
Baker's desk. And the 33-7 veto-proof margin was even
stronger than it was in the House.
Baker has not yet
said how he will approach the abortion issue in the budget,
other than to say he wished it hadn't been added as a matter
of process. But Democrats sense a moment, and hope to seal
the deal more easily than they've been able to finalize any
of the five conference committee bills, including police
reform, that have been languishing since July.
Unlike the House,
the Senate also added measures like new fees on Uber and
Lyft rides, mail-in voting for all state and municipal
elections through June 31, 2021 and a directive for the MBTA
to reconsider service cuts, regardless of ridership levels,
if Congress delivers a new COVID-19 relief package.
Those budget
amendments could complicate efforts to quickly negotiate a
compromise budget with the House in the next couple of
weeks....
A total of
3,657,972 ballots were cast in Massachusetts, accounting for
76 percent of all registered voters in the state and blowing
past the previous record for raw votes set in 2016.
That turnout,
which is always higher in a presidential election year, made
this cycle a difficult one for Bay State Republicans, but
Rep. Shawn Dooley believes he might have done better had he
been at the helm of the MassGOP instead of his former
colleague Jim Lyons.
Dooley, of
Norfolk, announced this week that he would challenge Lyons
for the party chairmanship in January, and he might not be
the only one.
But Lyons says
he's proud of what Republicans were able to accomplish even
if they didn't pick up seats, laying the groundwork, he
believes, in districts around the state for a strong showing
in 2022.
State House News
Service
Friday, November 20, 2020
Weekly Roundup - Risky Business
Beacon Hill Agenda
The Legislature
heads into the final seven weeks of the 2019-2020 session
with an unfinished budget for the fiscal year that began
July 1 and nothing to show as far as new laws despite an
oft-touted spirit of bipartisanship, and both branches
having already gone on record in support of major bills
dealing with economic development, climate change, policing
reform, health care system changes, and transportation
spending.
Democrats who
control the five conference committees charged over the
summer with reaching accords have so far been unable to
bridge differences. In addition, negotiators have opted for
private talks only and ignored or deflected questions about
intra-party problems that are blocking progress, all at a
time of near-constant finger pointing at partisanship in
Washington.
While federal
officials aren't shy about airing their views about their
competing priorities, Beacon Hill leaders are laboring under
their own divisions but just prefer to keep all of their
infighting private.
In the week ahead,
a new conference committee will likely be appointed to hash
out final details of a $46 billion state budget. Under the
state's current interim budget, appropriations are due to
run out not long after Thanksgiving, so negotiators will
need to strike a quick deal or pass what would be the fourth
interim budget of fiscal 2021.
Will the
Legislature deliver on the promise of the other five
conference committees? The influences of the pandemic are
weighing on those talks and the answers largely depend on
the willingness of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate
President Karen Spilka to compromise. - Michael P. Norton
State House News
Service
Friday, November 20, 2020
Advances - Week of Nov. 22, 2020
Gov. Charlie Baker
said governors are re-evaluating support of a controversial
carbon tax designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions as
advocates renew calls for its passage.
“We’re living at a
point in time right now that’s dramatically different than
the point in time we were living in when people’s
expectations about miles traveled and all the rest were a
lot different,” Baker said Tuesday during a press conference
at the State House.
Baker said
analysts are looking at the costs and benefits of the
program in an era where travel patterns have shifted as many
people work from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Modeling, I
think, is an import part of figuring out how people feel
about the cost-benefit associated with the program and the
product and it’s certainly something that we think is an
important part of helping states make decisions,” he added.
Baker’s comments
came the same day that more than a dozen Massachusetts
environmental, health and transportation groups joined 200
organizations to renew calls in a letter to Northeast
governors — including Baker — to launch the ambitious
Transportation and Climate Initiative program....
Paul Craney, of
the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, called the
initiative “elitist” and said, “climate alarmists that are
still pushing the regressive TCI gas tax scheme need to
understand that the world we live in now is not the same
world we lived in when TCI was first introduced.” ...
The Transportation
Climate Initiative is a regional compact being between 11
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that would implement a gas
fee to reduce carbon emissions. Officials have estimated the
measure would raise gas prices between 5 and 17 cents a
gallon in the first year but it remains unclear how high
that cost could rise in subsequent years. An agreement is
expected by the year’s end, but support is waffling.
Governors in New
Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont have already cast a
shadow on the plan.
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Charlie Baker re-evaluating TCI in Massachusetts
amid pandemic as advocates urge support
A
new study of the cap-and-trade program under development
by Northeast states to reduce carbon emissions from cars and
trucks found that the program could be more than twice as
expensive for drivers than previously estimated, with the
pandemic potentially playing a major role in how effective
the Transportation Climate Initiative will be.
The Center for
State Policy Analysis (CSPA) at Tufts University concluded
that TCI would help reduce carbon emissions across the
region and generate significant revenue for participating
states to invest in clean energy alternatives and public
health.
The tradeoff,
however, would be increases in gasoline and diesel prices
from as little at 3 cents to as much as 38 cents per gallon
in 2022, according to the report released Thursday....
Gov. Charlie
Baker, who has been leading the push to establish the
regional TCI program, said this week that cooperating states
were taking a new look at the framework of the program in
light of the pandemic and how business restrictions have
impacted travel.
"I'm still very
much a fan, but as I said yesterday in answer to another
question, there's a lot that's changed about transportation
generally over the course of the past eight months, and that
stuff's got to get baked into the way people model what this
would mean and how it would work going forward for them,"
Baker said Wednesday.
In December 2019,
TCI states released their own study that estimated the
cap-and-trade program would add between 5 cents and 17 cents
to the price of a gallon of gasoline depending on whether
the coalition set a target of a 20 percent, 22 percent or 25
percent reduction in emissions by 2032.
The CSPA study,
however, calculated that under the middle emission reduction
scenario of 22 percent TCI would most likely add 24 cents to
the price of gas at the pump and generate $775 million for
Massachusetts to invest in clean energy and public health.
If the economy
stagnates due to the pandemic, the Tufts report estimated
that the price increase would decrease to 13 cents, but the
state would also collect just $406 million....
The Transportation
Climate Initiative started as a collaboration between 12
states and the District of Columbia, but the politics of
carbon taxing and the possibility of higher consumer prices
pushed New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu last year to
withdraw.
The remaining
states were due to release a memorandum of understanding
with the final framework for the cap-and-trade program this
spring, but the pandemic caused the states to adjust that
timeline. The group now anticipates a final MOU before the
end of the year for states that want to participate to sign.
In Massachusetts,
Gov. Baker has the authority to enter into a multi-state
carbon reduction pact on his own, but other governors will
need to seek Legislative approval.
State House News
Service
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Study Points to Greater Gas Price Impacts From Transpo Pact
Baker: Modeling Needs to Adjust For Pandemic
A regional effort
led by Gov. Charlie Baker to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by putting a price on the carbon in vehicle fuels is likely
to drive up the price of gasoline higher than earlier
projected, according to a report by the Center for State
Policy Analysis at Tufts University.
Under the
so-called transportation climate initiative, participating
states would set a limit on total carbon emissions from
vehicle fuels and then sell rights to market gas and diesel
fuel equal to that amount. The center’s analysis assumes the
cost of those rights would be incorporated into the price of
gasoline and the revenues gained would be used by states to
reduce emissions further.
Assuming moderate
growth in the economy, the center’s analysis estimates the
price of gasoline would rise 24 cents a gallon in 2022 if
the goal is to reduce emissions by 22 percent. The increase
would be 13 cents a gallon to attain the same result under a
low-growth scenario.
Both estimates are
higher than numbers modeled by the coalition of states
exploring the so-called transportation climate initiative.
The coalition estimated a 22 percent emissions reduction
would drive up the price of gasoline by 9 cents a gallon in
2022....
States are
expected to decide this year whether they want to
participate in the transportation climate initiative and
then next year fully design the program if they choose to
proceed. The program has been slated to start in 2022.
Baker has been a
strong advocate of the transportation climate initiative,
but earlier this week he said circumstances have changed
considerably since it was first proposed last year. “We’re
living at a point in time right now that’s dramatically
different than the point in time we were living in when
people’s expectations about miles traveled and all the rest
were a lot different,” Baker said Tuesday during a press
conference at the State House, according to the Boston
Herald.
CommonWealth
Magazine
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Climate initiative could push gas prices higher than
forecast
How much would the
Transportation and Climate Initiative carbon fee on fuel
cost Bay Staters at the pump?
A new report
suggests more than previously thought.
Initial estimates
said the TCI could add five to 17 cents per gallon onto the
cost of gasoline and diesel. That figure came from a study
conducted by the 12 states plus the District of Columbia
eyed as partners in the initiative, which is billed as
combating climate change.
However, The
Center for State Policy Analysis (CSPA) at Tufts University
says the actual cost increase could be more than double
that.
A recent study
found that by 2022, the carbon fee could increase the cost
of gas and diesel by 38 cents per gallon if enacted....
It’s a price the
National Federation for Independent Business Massachusetts
and the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance say is too high for
Bay Staters.
Both organizations
have opposed the TCI since last year — back when the
worst-case-scenario was thought to be less than half of the
cost Tufts projected.
Christopher
Carlozzi, the Massachusetts State Director of the National
Federation of Independent Businesses, said the higher cost
once again shows the negative consequences of the proposal.
“The notion of
adding 17 cents a gallon in TCI taxes to fuel costs was
frightening enough, but a whopping 38 cents would be
outright devastating,” Carlozzi told New Boston Post in an
email message. “Massachusetts small businesses have faced
every hurdle and obstacle imaginable in 2020 and this is
certainly not the time to dramatically increase the price of
fuel. If the cost of gasoline and diesel increases, it means
the price of goods and services will rise as well. New TCI
taxes won’t just impact small businesses attempting to
recover from the pandemic but also hurts those commuters and
working families who were forced to tighten their household
budgets too.”
Paul Craney,
spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said the
fuel fee would disproportionately affect lower-income
Massachusetts residents.
“TCI has always
been an elitist regressive gas tax scheme and the ultimate
winners would be unelected bureaucratic from MA,” Craney
told New Boston Post in an email message. “They would take
money away from working people to subsidize electric
vehicles, the vehicle of choice of the affluent. Today’s
study by CSPA shows the scheme comes at a very high economic
cost, and a similar study by the Beacon Hill Institute
showed it has almost no environmental benefit.
“The Reason
Foundation released their annual highway report today, and
found that Massachusetts’s highway system ranks 47 in the
nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition,” he
added. “This is a one-spot decline from 2019. It’s clear the
TCI scheme would subside MA transportation spending by other
states considering joining the scheme.”
Craney said the
state government should spend its highway and infrastructure
dollars more efficiently rather than extracting more money
from the taxpayers.
The New Boston
Post
Thursday, November 19, 2020
New Study Shows Transportation and Climate Initiative
Could Bump Gas Prices Up 38 Cents Per Gallon By 2022
There appears to
be widespread support for Gov. Charlie Baker’s desire to tap
the brakes on the multi-state TCI carbon tax, a new poll
shows.
The Fiscal
Alliance Foundation poll released Monday morning shows a
majority of Massachusetts residents surveyed back Baker’s
move to re-evaluate support for the program. The poll shows
66.8% support for taking another look at the gas tax....
But the MassFiscal
poll shows Democrats (60%), Republicans (75%) and
independents (69%) all back Baker’s shift to the slow lane
with TCI. The poll of 500 likely Massachusetts voters was
taken Thursday, Friday and Saturday by Advantage Inc, a
polling company in the Washington, D.C. area.
“He’s getting
strong majorities for his re-thinking of TCI,” said
MassFiscal spokesman Paul Diego Craney.
“A majority of
likely voters are strongly against TCI knowing it will
impact ‘essential’ workers the most—people who cannot simply
‘Zoom’ into work, but must continue to drive,” Craney added
when announcing the results of the poll Monday.
The Boston Herald
Monday, November 23, 2020
Poll shows strong support for Charlie Baker re-evaluating
TCI climate tax
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
This week the state Senate passed by 40-0
its version of a $46 Billion state budget for this fiscal year, now
almost five months late. Commonwealth Magazine on Friday noted ("From
abortion to Uber fees, Senate budget adopts policy proposals"):
When the House and Senate Ways and
Means committees released their fiscal 2021 budget
proposals, both were relatively narrow with few policy
initiatives. Chairs Aaron Michlewitz and Michael
Rodrigues both stressed the need to adopt the budget on
a quick time frame, with the state’s temporary budget
expiring at the end of November and the fiscal year
already five months in. House Speaker Robert DeLeo said
at a Massachusetts Association of Health Plans
conference that the budget “is not an appropriate place
for major policy reform."
But through the amendment process,
lawmakers have now adopted numerous significant policy
proposals. Whether a conference committee will be able
to resolve differences quickly remains to be seen. Gov.
Charlie Baker has line item veto power over the budget,
so policy proposals could also die on his desk –
although Democrats, with a veto-proof majority in both
bodies, could override him.
437 amendments were proposed in the Senate
on Tuesday. By the close of that day's session, The State House
News Service reported: "Senators had rejected or approved dozens
of measures in bundled mega-amendments. Many of the big-ticket items —
92 amendments — were withdrawn, with some senators holding out hope for
passage later on in the extended legislative session that ends Dec. 31.
. . . Most of the amendments adopted or rejected Tuesday were
dispensed with through the Senate's 'bundling' process, where a group of
amendments from the same categories receive a single 'yes' or 'no'
vote."
One of those amendments which was included
and passed, according to Beacon Hill Roll Call, would hike the tax on
transportation like Uber, Lyft "Transportation Network Companies"
(TNCs):
The budget also
includes an amendment that raises the current flat 20 cents per ride
tax paid by Uber, Lyft and other Transportation Network Companies (TNCs)
to a percentage of the cost of the ride as follows: 3 percent of the
costs of a pooled ride that has more than one rider and 7 percent of
a ride by a single person. The 7 percent fee is reduced to 3 percent
if it is a zero emissions vehicle. All three fees can go up another
3 percent if the ride is during rush hour. That would bring the
single ride up to 10 percent and the shared ride and single ride of
a zero emissions vehicle up to 6 percent. . . . Under current
law, the companies pay the tax and are prohibited from passing the
cost along to the rider. The amendment allows the cost to be passed
along to the rider."
When asked by Beacon Hill Roll Call to
comment on it I responded:
“It’s noteworthy that
California voters just repealed further regulation of ride-sharing
services on the November 3 ballot by a 17 percent margin, while the
Massachusetts Senate just imposed further burdens on companies like
Uber and their customers with tax increases,” said Chip Ford,
Executive Director of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
“It’s usually California that leads the way with nonsense while
Massachusetts soon follows in lockstep. When it comes to
taxing businesses and residents most, as always, Beacon Hill
legislators strive mightily to be number one. I guess we all
should just keep driving our own cars.”
Now the House's and Senate's hastily passed
budget versions, differing in many ways but the $46 Billion bottom line
and expanded abortion rights in common, has been sent to another
— the sixth —
conference committee to attempt a compromise agreeable to both chambers.
The best news last week is that Gov.
Baker's multi-state compact to hike gas taxes —
his Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) —
seems to be sputtering, running on fumes. Even the governor
himself seems to be having reservations.
The Boston Herald reported on Tuesday ("Charlie Baker
re-evaluating TCI in Massachusetts"):
Gov.
Charlie Baker said governors are re-evaluating support of a
controversial carbon tax designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions
as advocates renew calls for its passage.
“We’re living at a point in time right now that’s dramatically
different than the point in time we were living in when people’s
expectations about miles traveled and all the rest were a lot
different,” Baker said Tuesday during a press conference at the
State House.
Baker
said analysts are looking at the costs and benefits of the program
in an era where travel patterns have shifted as many people work
from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Modeling, I think, is an import part of figuring out how people
feel about the cost-benefit associated with the program and the
product and it’s certainly something that we think is an important
part of helping states make decisions,” he added.
Baker’s comments came the same day that more than a dozen
Massachusetts environmental, health and transportation groups joined
200 organizations to renew calls in a letter to Northeast governors
— including Baker — to launch the ambitious Transportation and
Climate Initiative program....
Paul
Craney, of the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, called
the initiative “elitist” and said, “climate alarmists that are still
pushing the regressive TCI gas tax scheme need to understand that
the world we live in now is not the same world we lived in when TCI
was first introduced.” ...
The
Transportation Climate Initiative is a regional compact being
between 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that would implement a
gas fee to reduce carbon emissions. Officials have estimated the
measure would raise gas prices between 5 and 17 cents a gallon in
the first year but it remains unclear how high that cost could rise
in subsequent years. An agreement is expected by the year’s end, but
support is waffling.
Governors in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont have already
cast a shadow on the plan.
It didn't help that last week The Center
for State Policy Analysis (CSPA) at Tufts University released a major
study ("Assessing
The Impact Of TCI").
The New Boston Post reported on Thursday ("New
Study Shows Transportation and Climate Initiative
— Could Bump Gas Prices Up 38 Cents Per Gallon By 2022"):
Initial estimates said the TCI
could add five to 17 cents per gallon onto the cost of
gasoline and diesel. That figure came from a study
conducted by the 12 states plus the District of Columbia
eyed as partners in the initiative, which is billed as
combating climate change.
However, The Center for State
Policy Analysis (CSPA) at Tufts University says the
actual cost increase could be more than double that.
A recent study found that by
2022, the carbon fee could increase the cost of gas and
diesel by 38 cents per gallon if enacted....
Christopher Carlozzi, the
Massachusetts State Director of the National Federation
of Independent Businesses, said the higher cost once
again shows the negative consequences of the proposal.
“The notion of adding 17 cents a
gallon in TCI taxes to fuel costs was frightening
enough, but a whopping 38 cents would be outright
devastating,” Carlozzi told New Boston Post in an email
message. “Massachusetts small businesses have faced
every hurdle and obstacle imaginable in 2020 and this is
certainly not the time to dramatically increase the
price of fuel. If the cost of gasoline and diesel
increases, it means the price of goods and services will
rise as well. New TCI taxes won’t just impact small
businesses attempting to recover from the pandemic but
also hurts those commuters and working families who were
forced to tighten their household budgets too.”
On Thursday CommonWealth Magazine reported
("Climate initiative could push
gas prices higher than forecast"):
Assuming moderate growth in the economy, the center’s analysis
estimates the price of gasoline would rise 24 cents a gallon in 2022
if the goal is to reduce emissions by 22 percent. The increase would
be 13 cents a gallon to attain the same result under a low-growth
scenario.
Both estimates are higher than numbers modeled by the coalition of
states exploring the so-called transportation climate initiative.
The coalition estimated a 22 percent emissions reduction would drive
up the price of gasoline by 9 cents a gallon in 2022....
States are expected to decide this year whether they want to
participate in the transportation climate initiative and then next
year fully design the program if they choose to proceed. The program
has been slated to start in 2022.
Baker
has been a strong advocate of the transportation climate initiative,
but earlier this week he said circumstances have changed
considerably since it was first proposed last year. “We’re living at
a point in time right now that’s dramatically different than the
point in time we were living in when people’s expectations about
miles traveled and all the rest were a lot different,” Baker said
Tuesday during a press conference at the State House, according to
the Boston Herald.
During last Monday's regular Zoom
conference meeting among the
anti-TCI coalition of taxpayer and free-market organizations in the
dozen states that would be affected there was a sense that the TCI
instigators were losing some steam, China Virus Pandemic-related or
otherwise. Internal polling by some of our anti-TCI coalition
shows little support for it when the costs are known by poll
respondents. The doubling of the "projected" price of TCI will
likely pull the rug out from under this abomination.
A just-released poll by Fiscal Alliance
Foundation shows "Democrats (60%), Republicans (75%) and independents
(69%) all back Baker’s shift to the slow lane with TCI. The poll
of 500 likely Massachusetts voters was taken Thursday, Friday and
Saturday by Advantage Inc, a polling company in the Washington, D.C.
area," according to today's Boston Herald ("Poll shows strong support
for Charlie Baker re-evaluating TCI climate tax"):
“He’s getting
strong majorities for his re-thinking of TCI,” said MassFiscal
spokesman Paul Diego Craney.
“A majority of
likely voters are strongly against TCI knowing it will impact
‘essential’ workers the most—people who cannot simply ‘Zoom’ into
work, but must continue to drive,” Craney added when announcing the
results of the poll Monday.
Even if TCI is put on hold by Gov. Baker
and the multi-state compact pushing it, it won't go away.
Progressives and liberals like Gov. Baker never back down or surrender.
The socialist-progressives and liberals just regroup, rebrand, and
charge on. A Graduated Income Tax in Massachusetts is a perfect
example. They have managed to put it on the ballot five times
(1962, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1994) and were defeated five times.
That hasn't stopped them from going for a sixth attempt, with their
so-called "Fair Share Amendment," aka, "The Millionaire's Tax."
|
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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Full News Reports Follow
(excerpted above) |
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State House
News Service
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Senate Rejects Sports Betting, Adds TNC Fees to Budget
Like House, Shelves Emergency Sick Time Proposal
By Colin A. Young
Following two days of deliberations, the Massachusetts
Senate wrapped up its work late Wednesday night on a roughly
$46 billion state budget for the fiscal year that began four
and a half months ago.
The vote to approve the budget was unanimous, but the debate
Wednesday night revealed some of the friction that exists as
lawmakers seek to marshal state government to address
economic and societal problems the pandemic has highlighted.
On issues like transportation and economic development,
senators repeatedly said the Legislature needs to do more if
Massachusetts is to rebound after the pandemic and some
lamented the lack of significant action from Beacon Hill
during the extended session.
"The budget, I think, is a really strong, responsive budget
to the situation at hand and trying to really help the
residents of the commonwealth," Senate President Karen
Spilka said after the Senate adjourned around 10:30 p.m.
The budget will soon head to a conference committee, a group
of three senators and three representatives who will meet
behind closed doors to hash out the differences between the
two budget bills and put a compromise version up for an
up-or-down vote of both branches.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said
Wednesday night he is hopeful the negotiations will be quick
and painless, but major issues like policing reform, health
care reform and climate change policy have been stuck in
conference committees without signs of life since late July.
"I think we realize that we need to get it done. It is the
middle of November and we have six or seven weeks left in
the session," Spilka said when asked what gives leadership
confidence it can resolve the budget while other major
matters are left unresolved. "I believe we will get it
done."
As soon as the overdue fiscal year 2021 budget is done,
Rodrigues and his House counterpart Rep. Aaron Michlewitz
will turn their attention to the fiscal year 2022 budget
process, which typically begins in December with a hearing
on projected tax collections and flows to a January
agreement on the consensus revenue figure and the late
January filing of the governor's budget proposal.
If talks drag on, state government would need another
temporary budget to pass to keep services flowing and the
state payroll funded. The current interim budget includes
about enough money to get through November.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, the Senate codified and
expanded abortion access rights in Massachusetts when it
adopted an amendment based on the so-called ROE Act that has
been discussed for much of the session amid growing worries
that a conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority will erode
or overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Wednesday night, the Senate turned to more of a potpourri of
issues ranging from small business relief and sales tax
modernization to sports betting and airplane noise.
Sen. Diana DiZoglio of Methuen made several impassioned
speeches Wednesday night as she sought adoption of
amendments that she said were essential to easing the
pandemic's toll on bars, pubs and other small businesses,
like waiving the remittance of excise tax for meals for a
period of months.
Most were rejected, though DiZoglio pressed for the Senate
to take recorded votes on many of them.
Throughout her remarks, DiZoglio expressed frustration with
the slow pace of action from the Legislature to address
businesses that have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic
and government mandates. She said she could not wait for the
conference committee that has been negotiating similar
issues since July as part of a stalled economic development
bill to reach a compromise and risk not getting relief for
businesses in her district done by the end of the year.
"I know, Mr. Chairman, that we're not interested in passing
a lot of outside sections in this budget, but I challenge
this membership to think about what our response is going to
be after we take this vote, and our local pub owners and
their families, our local bar owners and their families, and
their employees who have been out of work for months, come
to us and ask why we didn't take a vote when we had the
chance," DiZoglio said. She added, "We're going to say, well
we didn't think it was the right time? That we prefer not to
do these things in a budget? We had an opportunity to
discuss some of these things in economic development, and we
didn't. We had an opportunity to do these things for months.
Where is the restaurant relief? Where is the small business
relief? Tied up in conference committee? Still?"
When DiZoglio asked Rodrigues, who is one of three senators
privy to the months-long private talks, if he could
guarantee that an economic development conference bill would
be voted on before the end of the year, Rodrigues leaned on
a Beacon Hill tradition of not discussing negotiations
publicly.
"As we all know, we cannot comment on deliberations within
conference committees," he said, adding that the conference
committee is still negotiating.
An amendment from Minority Leader Bruce Tarr to legalize
sports wagering in Massachusetts was rejected without a roll
call vote. The amendment would have allowed casinos,
racetracks and online operators to apply for a license to
take bets on sports, and Tarr said his amendment would have
designated the revenue from initial application fees for a
new economic recovery fund.
He and other senators talked about the importance of
capturing revenue from an activity that nearby states have
already authorized. Sen. Patrick O'Connor called it
"basically free money" and Sen. Marc Pacheco said
Massachusetts is "losing all of this revenue that we are
going to need" as residents find other states that will take
their bets.
Estimates for annual revenue from sports betting in
Massachusetts have ranged from about $20 million to $35
million. The state's two casinos and slots parlor bring in a
cumulative average of about $21 million each month. The
House legalized sports betting in its economic development
bill but the Senate has appeared far less interested in
authorizing sports betting.
"If we don't do it in this bill, we should absolutely get to
work before we end this year to make sure this is done,"
Pacheco said. "I am very concerned that we are going to be
missing the boat on this."
After the session, Spilka was non-committal when asked if
there was a chance the Senate would take sports betting back
up before the session ends in early January.
"Right now, the focus is going to be on conference
committees, resolving the budget, and COVID. We'll see
though," she said.
Senators adopted an amendment from Transportation Committee
Chairman Joseph Boncore establishing a new structure of
higher fees for transportation network companies like Uber
and Lyft.
"First, this new fee structure attempts to address
congestion and incentivize public transit usage through fees
targetted at consumer behavior. Second, it redirects these
funds directly to the CTF, providing much-needed revenues to
our anemic public transportation system," Boncore said. He
added, "Even after the adoption of this language, there is
still much work to be done. We need a New Deal for
transportation in this commonwealth."
The Senate also adopted an amendment from Sen. John Velis of
Westfield that would provide $200,000 for the creation of an
ombudsman's office at the Holyoke Soliders' Home, where more
than 75 veterans died of COVID-19 amid an outbreak at the
state-overseen facility.
"This home is unique and can continue to be a place of
solace if we ensure they have the necessary resources for
quality care. We have also seen there is not enough support
for residents and families, nowhere for them to turn, no
mechanism if problems arise before they grow. This amendment
aims to fix that, or begin to fix that," Velis said.
As was the case last week when the House debated its budget,
an amendment that would expand access to emergency paid sick
time did not get a vote. Sen. Jason Lewis, who filed the
amendment with the support of at least 13 other senators,
withdrew the amendment before it was considered but asked to
speak to its importance.
Lewis said the Senate would not be adopting his amendment
but that an identical proposal was pending before the Senate
Ways and Means Committee as a standalone piece of
legislation and said he hoped that would advance.
— Sam Doran contributed
reporting.
Beacon Hill
Roll Call
Volume 45 - Report No. 47
November 16-20, 2020
By Bob Katzen
Approve $46 Billion Fiscal 2021 State Budget (S-4)
Senate 40-0, approved an estimated $46 billion fiscal 2021
state budget that uses $1.5 billion from the state’s Rainy
Day Fund to help cover expenses. The budget increases
spending by 5.5 percent over last fiscal year’s 2020 budget.
The Senate added $36.1 million in additional spending during
two days of debate. The package also includes a
controversial amendment that would allow abortions after 24
weeks in the case of lethal fetal anomalies and lower the
age from 18 to 16 that a minor can choose to have an
abortion without parental or judicial consent.
The budget also includes an amendment that raises the
current flat 20 cents per ride tax paid by Uber, Lyft and
other Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) to a
percentage of the cost of the ride as follows: 3 percent of
the costs of a pooled ride that has more than one rider and
7 percent of a ride by a single person. The 7 percent fee is
reduced to 3 percent if it is a zero emissions vehicle. All
three fees can go up another 3 percent if the ride is during
rush hour. That would bring the single ride up to 10 percent
and the shared ride and single ride of a zero emissions
vehicle up to 6 percent.
Under current law, the companies pay the tax and are
prohibited from passing the cost along to the rider. The
amendment allows the cost to be passed along to the rider.
Currently, the state distributes to cities and towns 50
percent of the revenue, based on the number of rides from
the previous calendar year that originated within that city
or town, to address the impact of TNCs on municipal roads,
bridges and taxis. It also uses the same formula to give 25
percent to local small businesses operating in the taxicab,
livery or hackney industries. The remaining 25 percent is
kept by the state in the Commonwealth Transportation Fund
that is used for transportation projects and needs across
the state.
The amendment lowers from 50 percent to 25 percent the
percentage of revenue that goes to cities and towns; triples
the state’s share from 25 percent to 75 percent and
eliminates the 25 percent given to local small businesses
operating in the taxicab, livery or hackney industries.
There was no roll call vote on the amendment. It was
approved on a voice vote. No members of either party stood
to request a roll call vote. It would have taken a total of
only four members to request a roll call.
Supporters said the increased revenue is needed in order to
help improve and modernize the state’s infrastructure and
transportation system, including the MBTA.
“While the pre-pandemic needs of the MBTA may be different
than they are during this public health crisis, we must
ensure that the we continue to adopt long-term policies that
will make our transit system safe, accessible, and
reliable,” said the amendment’s sponsor Sen. Joe Boncore
(D-Winthrop). “The Senate took a holistic in moving forward
policy that will alleviate congestion, reduce emissions, and
direct more revenue to our transportation system.”
“The language adopted in the Senate budget modernizes the
fee structure for TNCs,” continued Boncore. “Massachusetts
was among the first states in the country to regulate TNCs.
By updating these policies, we can help direct more funding
to public transit through the Commonwealth Transportation
Fund and by generating revenue directly to municipalities.”
“It’s noteworthy that California voters just repealed
further regulation of ride-sharing services on the November
3 ballot by a 17 percent margin, while the Massachusetts
Senate just imposed further burdens on companies like Uber
and their customers with tax increases,” said Chip Ford,
Executive Director of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
“It’s usually California that leads the way with nonsense
while Massachusetts soon follows in lockstep. When it comes
to taxing businesses and residents most, as always, Beacon
Hill legislators strive mightily to be number one. I guess
we all should just keep driving our own cars.”
Sen. Mike Rodrigues (D-Westport), the chair the Senate Ways
and Means Committee is proud of the $46 billion budget.
“Under difficult circumstances because of the COVID-19
pandemic, I am proud of the Senate’s ability during these
last two days to meet the moment, engage in respectful
debate, take action to protect our most vulnerable and set
the commonwealth on a path toward an equitable recovery,”
said Rodrigues. “The Senate has taken important steps this
week to confront the unprecedented challenges brought on by
this public health crisis and pass a fiscally responsible
budget plan that further protects access to childcare,
health care, housing, public transportation and economic
opportunity.”
“The state budget was passed after the election, even though
there was plenty of time to debate the merits of the budget
before the election,” said Paul Craney, executive director
of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, “This was done to
protect lawmakers from taking tough votes before voters go
to the polls. As we have seen with the budget, and this is
just the beginning, they want to raise taxes and the cost of
living and doing business in Massachusetts. The reason for
this is because they refuse to reduce their spending and
think money grows on trees. They continue to increase
spending, borrow money, and raise taxes and fees, leaving
the next generation on the hook for how to get out of this
mess. Taxpayers should be very careful.”
The Boston
Herald
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Massachusetts Senate unanimously passes $46B budget
By Erin Tiernan
Lawmakers will shift their focus to reconciling key
differences between the House and Senate versions of their
long-overdue budget over the next two weeks after senators
unanimously passed a $46 billion budget in a late-night
session on Wednesday.
“This is a budget that we can all be incredibly proud of,”
Senate President Karen Spilka said before the final roll
call on Wednesday. “At a time where the pandemic has hit so
many families, so many businesses, and impacted just our way
of life here in Massachusetts, we have really taken this to
heart and I believe our budget will make a positive
difference in the lives of all of the residents of the
Commonwealth.”
Top Republican Sen. Bruce Tarr called the budget
“sustainable and balanced.”
Legislators earlier this month set a goal to get a spending
plan on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk by the end of November
after delaying delivery for more than five months while the
dust settled on the financial storm stirred up by the
coronavirus pandemic.
“What a long strange trip it’s been — but, we did it,” said
Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues.
The Fall River Democrat said he was “glad” senators had
finished trucking through the 10-month-long budget process —
one he estimated to be the longest in Senate history.
Now, all eyes turn to the conference committee where the
House and Senate versions of the budgets will be reconciled
— a process Rodrigues said he hopes is “quick and painless”
with discussion on next year’s budget slated to start in
January.
It’s all but certain abortion access will see an expansion
in Massachusetts after both branches passed budget
amendments amid looming “threats” the right could be struck
down on a federal level.
Senators — like members in the House — passed a measure that
will enshrine the right to abortion in state law as well as
expand access to abortions after 24 weeks in cases of fatal
fetal anomalies — not just when necessary to save a woman’s
life. It also removes parental consent for people over 16.
“I believe in an affirmative right to choose, but this right
now hangs in the balance. Those of us who remember the days
before legal abortion and contraception must unite with
those of us who never knew those dark times to protect this
right at all costs,” said Sen. Harriette Chandler, who
authored the Senate amendment.
Senators also passed $36.1 million in targeted investments
to local aid and other programs.
Another amendment extends current mail-in ballot measures
expanded amid the pandemic through June 30 of next year.
While the bottom lines appear the match, and as Rodrigues
said last week — “there are more similarities than
differences” — disparities in investments to housing and
food security, mental health and substance use treatment,
education and other investments must be reconciled.
CommonWealth
Magazine
Friday, November 20, 2020
From abortion to Uber fees, Senate budget adopts policy
proposals
By Shira Schoenberg
So much for a “narrow” budget.
When the House and Senate Ways and Means committees released
their fiscal 2021 budget proposals, both were relatively
narrow with few policy initiatives. Chairs Aaron Michlewitz
and Michael Rodrigues both stressed the need to adopt the
budget on a quick time frame, with the state’s temporary
budget expiring at the end of November and the fiscal year
already five months in. House Speaker Robert DeLeo said at a
Massachusetts Association of Health Plans conference that
the budget “is not an appropriate place for major policy
reform."
But through the amendment process, lawmakers have now
adopted numerous significant policy proposals. Whether a
conference committee will be able to resolve differences
quickly remains to be seen. Gov. Charlie Baker has line item
veto power over the budget, so policy proposals could also
die on his desk – although Democrats, with a veto-proof
majority in both bodies, could override him.
The most obvious example is a provision expanding abortion
access, which was passed in similar forms by the House and
Senate. Senate Republican Leader Bruce Tarr objected to
having a major policy proposal taken up in a lame duck
budget session, as did Baker – though the governor did not
say whether he would veto it.
But that was far from the only policy change, with several
more added during this week’s Senate budget debate. The
Senate adopted an amendment introduced by Sen. Ryan Fattman,
a Sutton Republican, to let hemp products be sold in
marijuana dispensaries - a potentially significant change
that could let smokable hemp flower, hemp-derived vapes, and
more CBD-infused food and beverages become available to
consumers.
The Senate also adopted a proposal by Sen. Joseph Boncore, a
Winthrop Democrat who chairs the transportation committee,
to raise fees on ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
Unlike previous proposals by Baker and the House, the fee
would be a percentage of the ride’s cost rather than a flat
fee hike, with higher fees for single rides and rides during
rush hour.
An adopted amendment by Sen. Brendan Crighton, a Lynn
Democrat who chairs the housing committee, would seal
eviction records and prevent negative credit impacts for
tenants facing eviction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An amendment introduced by Sen. John Velis, a Westfield
Democrat, would create a new ombudsman’s office for the
Holyoke Soldiers’ Home.
The Senate also included in the budget several provisions of
its mental health bill, which has not yet been taken up by
the House. MassLive reported that these provisions include
banning extra charges for same-day physical and behavioral
health services, requiring a universally accepted set of
credentialing forms for mental health providers and setting
aside $3.5 million for a pilot program to provide students
with behavioral health services over the phone through their
schools.
During last week’s House debate, that body adopted several
proposals to address education problems created or
exacerbated by the pandemic - including an amendment
inspired by the tragic death of David Almond requiring
better tracking of school attendance records for kids with
Department of Children and Family cases.
Several proposed policy changes were not adopted. Hotel
workers, who used the budget to seek the right to be rehired
into their old jobs should they reopen, did not get those
protections. Lawmakers also declined to use the budget to
implement sports betting. The State House News Service
reported that Sen. Diana DiZoglio, a Methuen Democrat,
introduced multiple amendments aimed at helping bars, pubs
and restaurants recover from the pandemic, but most were
rejected.
Some of these proposals could be revived in either an
economic development bill that remains before a conference
committee or in standalone legislation.
State House
News Service
Friday, November 20, 2020
Weekly Roundup - Risky Business
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
By Matt Murphy
One hundred and seventy six years ago Lydia Maria Child sat
down and wrote an endearing and enduring poem about the
excitement of going to grandfather's house, in Medford no
less, to celebrate Thanksgiving.
But in 2020, even over the river and through the wood might
be too far to travel. Especially if it's to see grandfather
and grandmother. They are in a high risk category, after
all.
As families debate how to handle the holidays in the midst
of a raging global pandemic, public officials are
increasingly urging people to skip the out-of-state travel
and big dinners and celebrate the holiday at home, with only
those who live there.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo reduced the social gathering
limit size in her state to the number of people in any given
household. And in Massachusetts where the indoor limit sits
at 10, Gov. Charlie Baker said residents should think hard
about expanding their circle beyond the household for next
week's holiday.
"Any group gathering beyond this poses a significant chance
of spreading the virus," he said.
But Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest travel
days of the year, and officials know that many people,
including college students, will be heading home for the
holiday anyway. So Massachusetts joined with other states in
the region to press colleges and universities to make
testing available for anyone planning to leave campus.
The request was one of several that came from a group of
governors working to coordinate their messaging this week as
the resurgence of COVID-19 across the region threatens to
undermine the economic and educational progress made over
the summer.
Baker did not take part in a virtual summit convened over
the weekend by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to discuss
coronavirus response strategies with neighboring governors,
but his name was on a joint statement later in the week
defending in-person schooling as a safe activity even in
states with high transmission rates.
The statement came out as New York City moved to shutter its
school buildings as the positive test rate there rose above
3 percent. Meanwhile in Boston where schools have already
gone almost fully remote, Mayor Marty Walsh allowed four
schools to open this week for high-needs students.
And Massachusetts announced that in December it would deploy
the first batch of the more than 2 million Abbott BinaxNOW
rapid antigen tests to 134 school districts, charter schools
and special education collaboratives. The COVID-19 tests can
deliver results in as little as 15 minutes, and are intended
to be used for students and staff who begin to exhibit
symptoms while at school.
Since last Thursday, the estimated number of active cases of
COVID-19 in Massachusetts grew by 8,463 people to 34,664 and
hospitalizations crept upward toward the 1,000 mark, which
would still be just a quarter of what the health care system
dealt with during the worst of the spring surge.
There's also other reasons for hope.
Pfizer said it would apply Friday to the FDA for emergency
use authorization for its COVID-19 immunization. If
approved, the first vaccine could become available as soon
as next month.
Baker was one of 10 governors on the National Governors
Association executive committee that met virtually with
President-elect Joseph Biden on Thursday to discuss how
states and the federal government can work together to fight
the coronavirus, which will become exceedingly important as
vaccines become available.
Legislators can't rely on vaccines just yet, though. So
Senate leaders used rapid antigen testing as a protection
against the virus as some senators and staff returned to the
State House this week to debate a $46 billion state budget.
The precaution was taken after two House members that took
part in that branch's budget debate tested positive, and
more cases among staff continue to crop up.
The budget that passed the Senate on Wednesday started out
looking a lot like the one that passed the House last week,
but changed a good deal over the course of two long days of
deliberations during which admonitions against adding too
much policy went out the window.
Like the House, the Senate added an expansion of abortion to
the spending bill that appears to be a sure bet to wind up
on Gov. Baker's desk. And the 33-7 veto-proof margin was
even stronger than it was in the House.
Baker has not yet said how he will approach the abortion
issue in the budget, other than to say he wished it hadn't
been added as a matter of process. But Democrats sense a
moment, and hope to seal the deal more easily than they've
been able to finalize any of the five conference committee
bills, including police reform, that have been languishing
since July.
Unlike the House, the Senate also added measures like new
fees on Uber and Lyft rides, mail-in voting for all state
and municipal elections through June 31, 2021 and a
directive for the MBTA to reconsider service cuts,
regardless of ridership levels, if Congress delivers a new
COVID-19 relief package.
Those budget amendments could complicate efforts to quickly
negotiate a compromise budget with the House in the next
couple of weeks.
What was uncomplicated was the confirmation of Kimberly Budd
to become the next chief justice of the Supreme Judicial
Court. Budd was unanimously confirmed by the Governor's
Council to become the first Black woman to lead the
328-year-old court. And Appeals Court Justice Dalila Argaez
Wendlandt could have a similarly easy path to confirmation
if her hearing was any indication.
"You're one of the most remarkable nominees I've ever seen
here in my short six years here," Councilor Joe Ferreira
told Wendlandt at her hearing, where she recommended
mandatory racism training for all judges to address the
systemic racism in the justice system.
Wendlandt would become the first Latina to sit on the SJC,
if confirmed next week, and would still have seniority over
Boston Municipal Court Judge Serge Georges, Jr., who Baker
made his final pick this week to round out a court going
through a transition as a result of death and retirement.
As for people waiting in the wings for their seniors to
retire, U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark was among the Democrats
trying to put a shine this week on the prospects for a
post-election stimulus deal on Capitol Hill. Senate
Republicans remain wary of a large spending package and the
White House is an unreliable partner as its focus seems
trained on convincing judges and the public that the
election was marred by voter fraud.
Clark's ability to influence the direction of negotiations,
however, got stronger Thursday when her colleagues chose her
over Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline to become the next
assistant speaker of the House.
Her ascension in leadership bumps her up two slots, and
makes her the fourth highest ranking Democrat in the House,
adding to the clout of delegation already flush with power
brokers.
Clark is getting ready to begin her fourth full term in the
U.S. House, propelled to victory earlier this month by
record turnout that Secretary of State William Galvin
certified this week. A total of 3,657,972 ballots were cast
in Massachusetts, accounting for 76 percent of all
registered voters in the state and blowing past the previous
record for raw votes set in 2016.
That turnout, which is always higher in a presidential
election year, made this cycle a difficult one for Bay State
Republicans, but Rep. Shawn Dooley believes he might have
done better had he been at the helm of the MassGOP instead
of his former colleague Jim Lyons.
Dooley, of Norfolk, announced this week that he would
challenge Lyons for the party chairmanship in January, and
he might not be the only one.
But Lyons says he's proud of what Republicans were able to
accomplish even if they didn't pick up seats, laying the
groundwork, he believes, in districts around the state for a
strong showing in 2022.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Large family gatherings have always been
fraught affairs, but not like this year.
State House
News Service
Friday, November 20, 2020
Advances - Week of Nov. 22, 2020
Thanksgiving is coming, and this year the traveling
associated with that holiday is being portrayed not as a
tribute to the family and friends that form our lifelines,
but as an act of selfishness with potentially deadly
consequences. "I'm scared to death about Thanksgiving. I
mean, I'm not kidding when I say that," Gov. Charlie Baker
told business executives during a Zoom call on Friday, Nov.
13.
The governor said he understands how "incredibly
off-putting" it is for people to hear him urge them to stay
home on the cherished holiday, but pointed to an explosion
of people in Canada requiring hospital care for COVID-19 two
weeks after residents of that country gathered to celebrate
its version of Thanksgiving on Oct. 11.
AAA on Nov. 12 said they expected 50 million to travel on
Thanksgiving, down from 55 million in 2019. That's only a
projected 10 percent drop, but still the largest decrease
since the 2008 recession.
Soaring COVID-19 numbers across the country are already
straining hospitals and in the absence of stronger federal
restrictions, a patchwork of state-by-state actions
continues, with many believing a lockdown or something
approaching that may be around the corner.
Beacon Hill Agenda
The Legislature heads into the final seven weeks of the
2019-2020 session with an unfinished budget for the fiscal
year that began July 1 and nothing to show as far as new
laws despite an oft-touted spirit of bipartisanship, and
both branches having already gone on record in support of
major bills dealing with economic development, climate
change, policing reform, health care system changes, and
transportation spending.
Democrats who control the five conference committees charged
over the summer with reaching accords have so far been
unable to bridge differences. In addition, negotiators have
opted for private talks only and ignored or deflected
questions about intra-party problems that are blocking
progress, all at a time of near-constant finger pointing at
partisanship in Washington.
While federal officials aren't shy about airing their views
about their competing priorities, Beacon Hill leaders are
laboring under their own divisions but just prefer to keep
all of their infighting private.
In the week ahead, a new conference committee will likely be
appointed to hash out final details of a $46 billion state
budget. Under the state's current interim budget,
appropriations are due to run out not long after
Thanksgiving, so negotiators will need to strike a quick
deal or pass what would be the fourth interim budget of
fiscal 2021.
Will the Legislature deliver on the promise of the other
five conference committees? The influences of the pandemic
are weighing on those talks and the answers largely depend
on the willingness of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate
President Karen Spilka to compromise. - Michael P. Norton
Latest Budget in Modern History
As the Senate budget debate drew to a close Wednesday night,
Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues observed that
fiscal 2021 "might be the longest budget process in the
history of the Senate."
Indeed, it might -- at least for recent history. Since the
Legislature in 1995 created self-imposed end-dates for
formal sessions, this is the third time they've suspended
that rule to consider a months-late budget.
In 1999, the fiscal 2000 budget was stuck in private
conference talks as separate negotiations "consumed the bulk
of debate for months" on topics like tax cuts, MBTA
finances, and prescription drug relief. Gov. Cellucci said
budget talks had stalled because Speaker Thomas Finneran and
President Thomas Birmingham were micromanaging the private
conversations, and with no budget in sight in late October,
Cellucci said, "Maybe the dog ate it." Finneran called
Cellucci's remarks "childish." Conferees filed their $20.87
billion conference report the morning of Nov. 10, 1999, and
it was sent to Gov. Cellucci's desk at 11:58 p.m. that
night.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the dot-com bubble
burst, in 2001 the budget was held up as revenues declined
and lawmakers decided on spending cuts and reserve
withdrawals. The $22.25 billion fiscal 2002 spending bill
was filed by conferees at 11:58 p.m. on Nov. 20, 2001, and
sent to Acting Gov. Swift's desk at 9:47 p.m. on Nov. 21 --
the day before Thanksgiving. It imposed $650 million in
spending cuts and drew $700 million from reserves.
Swift blasted it as "sloppy" and a "flawed product" and said
it was more than $100 million out of balance; Birmingham
responded that her budget advisors had "breathtaking
incompetence." As the conference report came to the Senate
floor less than a day before Thanksgiving dinner, Minority
Leader Brian Lees said that the White House had its turkey,
presumably referring to the annual turkey pardon, "and this
is ours." - Sam Doran
The Boston
Herald
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Charlie Baker re-evaluating TCI in Massachusetts
amid pandemic as advocates urge support
By Erin Tiernan
Gov. Charlie Baker said governors are re-evaluating support
of a controversial carbon tax designed to limit greenhouse
gas emissions as advocates renew calls for its passage.
“We’re living at a point in time right now that’s
dramatically different than the point in time we were living
in when people’s expectations about miles traveled and all
the rest were a lot different,” Baker said Tuesday during a
press conference at the State House.
Baker said analysts are looking at the costs and benefits of
the program in an era where travel patterns have shifted as
many people work from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Modeling, I think, is an import part of figuring out how
people feel about the cost-benefit associated with the
program and the product and it’s certainly something that we
think is an important part of helping states make
decisions,” he added.
Baker’s comments came the same day that more than a dozen
Massachusetts environmental, health and transportation
groups joined 200 organizations to renew calls in a letter
to Northeast governors — including Baker — to launch the
ambitious Transportation and Climate Initiative program.
The letter lays out “strong safeguards and guarantees for
overburdened and underserved communities,” which would
become key beneficiaries of the proposed Transportation and
Climate Initiative cap-and-invest program to modernize
transportation in the region. Last week the MBTA announced a
set of sweeping cuts to the state’s regional rapid transit
system.
Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts,
said the program would “address climate change and improve
the quality of life of Massachusetts residents.”
Paul Craney, of the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal
Alliance, called the initiative “elitist” and said, “climate
alarmists that are still pushing the regressive TCI gas tax
scheme need to understand that the world we live in now is
not the same world we lived in when TCI was first
introduced.”
Past studies have shown transportation accounts for more
than 40% of Massachusetts’s greenhouse gas emissions and is
the largest source of air pollution, but those figures are
being “reprogrammed” amid pandemic changes in commuting and
travel, Baker said.
The Transportation Climate Initiative is a regional compact
being between 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that
would implement a gas fee to reduce carbon emissions.
Officials have estimated the measure would raise gas prices
between 5 and 17 cents a gallon in the first year but it
remains unclear how high that cost could rise in subsequent
years. An agreement is expected by the year’s end, but
support is waffling.
Governors in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont have
already cast a shadow on the plan.
State House
News Service
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Study Points to Greater Gas Price Impacts From Transpo Pact
Baker: Modeling Needs to Adjust For Pandemic
By Matt Murphy
A
new study of the cap-and-trade program under development
by Northeast states to reduce carbon emissions from cars and
trucks found that the program could be more than twice as
expensive for drivers than previously estimated, with the
pandemic potentially playing a major role in how effective
the Transportation Climate Initiative will be.
The Center for State Policy Analysis (CSPA) at Tufts
University concluded that TCI would help reduce carbon
emissions across the region and generate significant revenue
for participating states to invest in clean energy
alternatives and public health.
The tradeoff, however, would be increases in gasoline and
diesel prices from as little at 3 cents to as much as 38
cents per gallon in 2022, according to the report released
Thursday. The wide range takes in account a variety of
factors, including how aggressively states try to reduce
emissions and the health of the economy as it recovers from
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Charlie Baker, who has been leading the push to
establish the regional TCI program, said this week that
cooperating states were taking a new look at the framework
of the program in light of the pandemic and how business
restrictions have impacted travel.
"I'm still very much a fan, but as I said yesterday in
answer to another question, there's a lot that's changed
about transportation generally over the course of the past
eight months, and that stuff's got to get baked into the way
people model what this would mean and how it would work
going forward for them," Baker said Wednesday.
In December 2019, TCI states released their own study that
estimated the cap-and-trade program would add between 5
cents and 17 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline
depending on whether the coalition set a target of a 20
percent, 22 percent or 25 percent reduction in emissions by
2032.
The CSPA study, however, calculated that under the middle
emission reduction scenario of 22 percent TCI would most
likely add 24 cents to the price of gas at the pump and
generate $775 million for Massachusetts to invest in clean
energy and public health.
If the economy stagnates due to the pandemic, the Tufts
report estimated that the price increase would decrease to
13 cents, but the state would also collect just $406
million.
The greatest cost to consumers would arise if the states
pursued a 25 percent reduction in emissions by 2032 and the
economy rebounds and continues to grow at a moderate clip.
While the pump price could increase 38 cents under such a
scenario, a lot will also depend on whether the states
decide to set a price ceiling and how the revenues are
invested by states, the report found.
"How the money is spent really matters," said Evan Horowitz,
director of the Center for State Policy Analysis.
Critics have pointed to the higher prices consumers will pay
that will hit low-income and rural residents the hardest,
but supporters have pointed out how revenues to the state
can be reinvested in underserved communities that have been
harmed by air pollution and other environmental hazards.
The reports notes that the environmental benefits of TCI
will depend on whether states use the money to supplement
existing spending on public health and climate change
mitigation, or simply replace existing sources of revenue
with TCI money and redirect new spending elsewhere.
The higher price estimates in the Tufts study stem, in part,
from researchers' assumption that carbon emissions will
decline without intervention at a slower rate than that
projected by those with the TCI coalition, Horowitz said.
While TCI estimates that emissions will decline between 6
percent and 19 percent without a cap-and-trade program, the
Tufts study believes those carbon reductions will be closer
to 14.2 percent over the decade from 2022 to 2032.
The lower natural rate reduction means state policies will
have to bridge a wider gap to meet emission targets, driving
up the price of carbon allowances and fuel.
The study also warned that the coalition's decision to
implement a price cap, which would serve to limit increases
in fuel prices, will impact its ability to achieve emission
reduction targets.
"There is a straight tradeoff. If you set a price cap, you
do not reach your emission targets," Horowitz said.
The Transportation Climate Initiative started as a
collaboration between 12 states and the District of
Columbia, but the politics of carbon taxing and the
possibility of higher consumer prices pushed New Hampshire
Gov. Chris Sununu last year to withdraw.
The remaining states were due to release a memorandum of
understanding with the final framework for the cap-and-trade
program this spring, but the pandemic caused the states to
adjust that timeline. The group now anticipates a final MOU
before the end of the year for states that want to
participate to sign.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Baker has the authority to enter into
a multi-state carbon reduction pact on his own, but other
governors will need to seek Legislative approval.
"You know, the biggest thing we've been doing, and this has
been done in conjunction with the other states that have
been part of this dialogue, is reprogramming some of the
data around modeling the impact, because we're living at a
point in time now that's dramatically different from the
point in time we were living in when people's expectations
about miles traveled and all the rest were a lot different
than they are today," Baker said on Tuesday.
"And that modeling, I think, is an important part of
figuring out how people feel about the cost-benefit that's
associated with the program and the product, and it's
certainly something that we think is an important part of
helping states make decisions on this," he concluded.
Emissions from transportation account for about 43 percent
of all carbon pollution in the region, according to TCI.
Baker has set a goal of moving Massachusetts to net-zero
carbon emissions by 2050.
CommonWealth
Magazine
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Climate initiative could push gas prices higher than
forecast
Analysis projects increase of between 13 and 24 cents a
gallon
By Bruce Mohl
A regional effort led by Gov. Charlie Baker to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by putting a price on the carbon in
vehicle fuels is likely to drive up the price of gasoline
higher than earlier projected, according to a report by the
Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University.
Under the so-called transportation climate initiative,
participating states would set a limit on total carbon
emissions from vehicle fuels and then sell rights to market
gas and diesel fuel equal to that amount. The center’s
analysis assumes the cost of those rights would be
incorporated into the price of gasoline and the revenues
gained would be used by states to reduce emissions further.
Assuming moderate growth in the economy, the center’s
analysis estimates the price of gasoline would rise 24 cents
a gallon in 2022 if the goal is to reduce emissions by 22
percent. The increase would be 13 cents a gallon to attain
the same result under a low-growth scenario.
Both estimates are higher than numbers modeled by the
coalition of states exploring the so-called transportation
climate initiative. The coalition estimated a 22 percent
emissions reduction would drive up the price of gasoline by
9 cents a gallon in 2022.
The Center for State Policy Analysis said the numbers differ
because the two approaches use different estimates for how
much emissions will drop on their own as more and more
drivers purchase electric vehicles or vehicles achieving
better gas mileage. The transportation climate initiative
earlier this year projected emissions would drop 19 percent
between 2022 and 2032, well above estimates made by the
center, which projected emissions would fall 14.2 percent
under a moderate growth scenario and 17.5 percent under a
low-growth scenario.
The center’s analysis differs from the projections used by
the transportation climate initiative in another key respect
– the center modeled how revenues gained from the sale of
carbon would be spent using California’s real-life results
as a guide while the transportation climate initiative
modeled their estimate on a basket of initiatives.
The center’s analysis estimates the sale of carbon rights
would generate $775 million for Massachusetts in 2022 under
the moderate-growth scenario, $406 million under the
low-growth scenario.
Actual gas prices and emission results could be lower, the
center said, if the transportation climate initiative caps
how much gasoline prices could rise. If prices rise above
the cap, the states could sell more emissions allowances to
drive down prices, which would have the impact of increasing
emissions.
States are expected to decide this year whether they want to
participate in the transportation climate initiative and
then next year fully design the program if they choose to
proceed. The program has been slated to start in 2022.
Baker has been a strong advocate of the transportation
climate initiative, but earlier this week he said
circumstances have changed considerably since it was first
proposed last year. “We’re living at a point in time right
now that’s dramatically different than the point in time we
were living in when people’s expectations about miles
traveled and all the rest were a lot different,” Baker said
Tuesday during a press conference at the State House,
according to the Boston Herald.
The New Boston
Post
Thursday, November 19, 2020
New Study Shows Transportation and Climate Initiative
Could Bump Gas Prices Up 38 Cents Per Gallon By 2022
By Tom Joyce
How much would the Transportation and Climate Initiative
carbon fee on fuel cost Bay Staters at the pump?
A new report suggests more than previously thought.
Initial estimates said the TCI could add five to 17 cents
per gallon onto the cost of gasoline and diesel. That figure
came from a study conducted by the 12 states plus the
District of Columbia eyed as partners in the initiative,
which is billed as combating climate change.
However, The Center for State Policy Analysis (CSPA) at
Tufts University says the actual cost increase could be more
than double that.
A recent study found that by 2022, the carbon fee could
increase the cost of gas and diesel by 38 cents per gallon
if enacted.
It’s a price the National Federation for Independent
Business Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance
say is too high for Bay Staters.
Both organizations have opposed the TCI since last year —
back when the worst-case-scenario was thought to be less
than half of the cost Tufts projected.
Christopher Carlozzi, the Massachusetts State Director of
the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said the
higher cost once again shows the negative consequences of
the proposal.
“The notion of adding 17 cents a gallon in TCI taxes to fuel
costs was frightening enough, but a whopping 38 cents would
be outright devastating,” Carlozzi told New Boston Post in
an email message. “Massachusetts small businesses have faced
every hurdle and obstacle imaginable in 2020 and this is
certainly not the time to dramatically increase the price of
fuel. If the cost of gasoline and diesel increases, it means
the price of goods and services will rise as well. New TCI
taxes won’t just impact small businesses attempting to
recover from the pandemic but also hurts those commuters and
working families who were forced to tighten their household
budgets too.”
Paul Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal
Alliance, said the fuel fee would disproportionately affect
lower-income Massachusetts residents.
“TCI has always been an elitist regressive gas tax scheme
and the ultimate winners would be unelected bureaucratic
from MA,” Craney told New Boston Post in an email message.
“They would take money away from working people to subsidize
electric vehicles, the vehicle of choice of the affluent.
Today’s study by CSPA shows the scheme comes at a very high
economic cost, and a similar study by the Beacon Hill
Institute showed it has almost no environmental benefit.
“The Reason Foundation released their annual highway report
today, and found that Massachusetts’s highway system ranks
47 in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and
condition,” he added. “This is a one-spot decline from 2019.
It’s clear the TCI scheme would subside MA transportation
spending by other states considering joining the scheme.”
Craney said the state government should spend its highway
and infrastructure dollars more efficiently rather than
extracting more money from the taxpayers.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker supports the TCI
initiative but has backed off pursuing it in recent months
amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m still very much a fan, but as I said yesterday in
answer to another question, there’s a lot that’s changed
about transportation generally over the course of the past
eight months, and that stuff’s got to get baked into the way
people model what this would mean and how it would work
going forward for them,” Baker told State House News Service
on Wednesday.
The proposed pact would have states charge fees to fuel
providers based on carbon emissions. That funding would then
go to funding public transportation; the idea behind it is
to reduce the number of cars on the road and therefore
reduce carbon emissions.
Although Baker remains a supporter of it, other New England
governors have expressed skepticism, including Republicans
Phil Scott of Vermont and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire as
well as Democrats Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Janet Mills
of Maine, as New Boston Post has previously reported.
The Boston
Herald
Monday, November 23, 2020
Poll shows strong support for Charlie Baker re-evaluating
TCI climate tax
By Joe Dwinell
There appears to be widespread support for Gov. Charlie
Baker’s desire to tap the brakes on the multi-state TCI
carbon tax, a new poll shows.
The Fiscal Alliance Foundation poll released Monday morning
shows a majority of Massachusetts residents surveyed back
Baker’s move to re-evaluate support for the program. The
poll shows 66.8% support for taking another look at the gas
tax.
“People are skittish,” said pollster Jim Eltringham. “People
are looking for answers to climate change, but smart
answers.”
As the Herald first reported, Baker said analysts are
examining the costs and benefits of the program in an era
where travel patterns have shifted as many people work from
home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Baker’s comments came the same day that more than a dozen
Massachusetts environmental, health and transportation
groups joined 200 organizations to renew calls in a letter
to Northeast governors — including Baker — to launch the
ambitious Transportation and Climate Initiative program.
The letter lays out “strong safeguards and guarantees for
overburdened and underserved communities,” which would
become key beneficiaries of the proposed Transportation and
Climate Initiative cap-and-invest program to modernize
transportation in the region. Last week the MBTA announced a
set of sweeping cuts to the state’s regional rapid transit
system.
But the MassFiscal poll shows Democrats (60%), Republicans
(75%) and independents (69%) all back Baker’s shift to the
slow lane with TCI. The poll of 500 likely Massachusetts
voters was taken Thursday, Friday and Saturday by Advantage
Inc, a polling company in the Washington, D.C. area.
“He’s getting strong majorities for his re-thinking of TCI,”
said MassFiscal spokesman Paul Diego Craney.
“A majority of likely voters are strongly against TCI
knowing it will impact ‘essential’ workers the most—people
who cannot simply ‘Zoom’ into work, but must continue to
drive,” Craney added when announcing the results of the poll
Monday.
Baker repeated his concerns Monday at a coronavirus daily
update saying, again, it’s “important to re-examine the
assumptions” of the TCI tax “based on the changing nature of
transportation.”
The Transportation Climate Initiative is a regional compact
being between 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that
would implement a gas fee to reduce carbon emissions.
Officials have estimated the measure would raise gas prices
between 5 and 17 cents a gallon in the first year but it
remains unclear how high that cost could rise in subsequent
years. An agreement is expected by the year’s end, but
support is waffling.
Governors in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont have
already cast a shadow on the plan. |
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