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Post Office Box 1147
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Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
48 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
— and
their Institutional Memory — |
|
CLT UPDATE
Monday, March 7, 2022
Revenue Windfall
Rolls On, But No Tax Relief In Sight
Jump directly
to CLT's Commentary on the News
|
Most Relevant News
Excerpts
(Full news reports follow Commentary)
|
|
The
Department of Revenue
reported Thursday that it took in $1.8 billion
in tax collections in February, a haul that
surpassed expectations for that month by $293
million but represents less than the state collected
in February 2021.
Revenue
Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said the primary reason
for the decrease from last February to this one was
a drop in withholding tax collections related to
timing, as "certain payments that were received in
February 2021 were captured in January this year."
...
Through
February, fiscal 2022 tax collections have totaled
about $23.673 billion, more than $4 billion above
the same period in fiscal 2021 and more than $1.7
billion above year-to-date benchmarks....
State
budget-writers have already raised their revenue
expectations for this year by $1.5 billion, to $35.9
billion.
State
House News Service
Thursday, March 3, 2022
February Tax Revenues
Hum Along With $1.8 Bil Haul
A trio of
Gov. Charlie Baker bills are poised to remain in
limbo for as long as the next two months.
The House
on Thursday adopted extension orders pushing back
the deadline for committees to report on Baker's tax
relief proposals and his push for omnibus road
safety legislation that would strengthen seatbelt
use enforcement. The move could mean that House
members will go into April budget deliberations,
when a push to adopt the proposals is possible,
without any guidance on the tax relief plans from
the panel that reviewed them.
Under the
new orders, the Revenue Committee will have until
Wednesday, May 4 to make a decision on the tax
relief proposals, which Baker says are needed,
affordable, and can make the state more competitive.
That gives the panel an additional two months beyond
the original reporting deadline of Wednesday, March
2 for Baker's tax bills.
One bill
(H 4361) would offer nearly $700 million in breaks
by overhauling how the state handles estate and
short-term capital gains taxes, increase tax credits
for seniors and child care, boost the available tax
deduction for renters, and raise the minimum income
level above which Bay Staters must file taxes.
State
House News Service
Thursday, March 3, 2022
House Kicks Tax Relief Bill
Deadline Past Budget Debate
As he
waits to see how the Senate will respond to
legislation that would allow immigrants unable to
prove lawful residence in Massachusetts to obtain
drivers' licenses, Gov. Charlie Baker voiced his
concern Thursday that the House-passed bill did not
adequately protect against someone unlawfully
registering to vote.
The House
last month passed a bill that would allow so-called
undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver's
license if they can produce certain papers proving
their identity and residence in Massachusetts, such
as a foreign passport.
"This
license we're talking about is not a
privilege-to-drive card, which is what they have in
a bunch of other states. It looks exactly like a
Massachusetts driver's license. You can't tell the
difference between this and a regular one," Baker
said during an hour-long appearance on GBH's Boston
Public Radio.
Baker has
opposed the concept, but said Thursday he did not
want to comment on legislation that not yet been
finalized. The governor did say he was disappointed
the House voted down (31-125) a Minority Leader Brad
Jones amendment that would have required the
Registry of Motor Vehicles to share information with
municipal clerks looking to verify a license
holders' eligibility to vote.
"That
bothered me a lot," Baker said. "I really think this
is an issue we have to make clear. Driver's license
is one thing. The right to vote is something else."
... "We got to create a process that somehow
separates people who are citizens from people who
aren't who are applying for this driver's license,"
Baker said.
State
House News Service
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Baker Comments On License
Bill Ahead Of Senate Debate
The
handicappers at the Cook Political Report, who
survey campaigns and elections across the country,
have grown bullish on the prospects of Democrats
retaking the governor's office in Massachusetts this
year and are calling Attorney General Maura Healey
the "clear frontrunner" in the primary and general
election.
In
switching its rating of the race here from "Lean
Democrat" to "Likely Democrat," Cook on Friday
described the open seat contest as the "Democrats'
best pickup opportunity on the map." ...
In an
analysis circulated by the Democratic Governors
Association, Taylor continued: "When Baker announced
his decision -- and his Lt. Gov. Karen Polito also
passed on running -- we initially put this race in
the Lean Democrat column to wait and see how both
primaries, particularly the GOP one, would shape up.
Three months later, it's clear that Republicans are
headed toward having an unelectable nominee in Diehl
while Democratic Attorney General Maura Healy is the
clear frontrunner for both the primary and the
general election."
A former
state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate, Diehl
faces political newcomer and businessman Chris
Doughty in the GOP race for governor. Healey is
contending with fellow Democrat Sen. Sonia
Chang-Diaz.
According
to Cook, a "Likely Democrat" designation is attached
to races that are "not considered competitive at
this point, but have the potential to become
engaged."
State
House News Service
Friday, March 4, 2022
Cook: Mass Guv’s Race Is Dems' “Best
Pickup Opportunity”
If you
like Charlie Baker, you will like Chris Doughty.
And if you
like Karen Polito, you will like Kate Campanale.
They are
the two GOP candidates who would replace Republican
Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who,
after eight years in office, are not seeking
re-election.
And while
the comparisons to Baker and Polito are inevitable,
Doughty and Campanale are determined to reject
labels implying that Doughty represents Baker’s
third term.
Doughty, a
businessman, announced on Tuesday that Campanale, a
former state representative, would be his lieutenant
governor running mate in the September 2022
Republican primary....
Doughty,
59, and Campanale, 36, both moderates, are very much
like the people they would succeed. But they must
first win the GOP primary and then the 2022 November
election.
That means
Doughty must face off against and defeat
conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate
Geoff Diehl in the GOP primary....
Doughty,
of course, if elected would have his own ideas on
how best to serve the people of Massachusetts Yet
the comparisons with Baker are natural — they are
both Republican moderates with business backgrounds.
The
comparison of Campanale to Polito is even more so.
Both women
served in the Massachusetts House from the Worcester
area before running for higher office....
Unlike the
doomsayers, Doughty and Campanale are optimistic
about the state. “We do not see our Commonwealth as
a city burning,” Doughty said. “We see it as a
bright city on a hill for our entire nation to
admire.”
Campanale
said, “This election isn’t about Donald Trump or Joe
Biden. It isn’t even about Charlie Baker. It’s about
looking forward. … It’s about what Chris and I can
do with a state that’s being handed to us and what
the future holds.”
Fine. But
the governor’s office is not handed to anyone. It is
taken. Which is why Geoff Diehl will have something
to say about it, as well as Democrat Maura Healey.
The
Boston Herald
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Can Doughty & Campanale tag team
their way to the corner office?
By Peter Lucas
If Gov.
Charlie Baker is living by a mantra for his last
year in office, it could be this: Always be closing.
Baker said
this week that he's going to do whatever he can over
the next 10 months to avoid becoming a "lame duck"
even if the odds are admittedly "pretty slim" that
he has any sort of future in elected politics.
"I'm not
dead yet," Baker told GBH's Jim Braude and Margery
Eagan, quoting from Monty Python....
Baker also
reacted to the Department of Revenue's monthly
report on state tax collections showing a sizable
surplus taking shape for the year by urging passage
of his tax cuts. "Tax revenues keep exceeding
expectations and we should give some of that back to
taxpayers," he said....
While
lawmakers continue to roll the ball downhill toward
the end of the heaviest part of the workload for the
two-year session in July, the races that will decide
who picks that ball up in 2023 became clearer this
week, particularly on the Republican side.
GOP
gubernatorial candidate Chris Doughty announced that
he would be teaming up with former Rep. Kate
Campanale, of Spencer, on what they hope to be a
winning ticket in November. Campanale is the first
Republican to announce for lieutenant governor this
cycle in what has been a more popular contest on the
Democratic side, where there are five vying to be
number two.
In
addition to Campanale, the Republican Party saw
conservative Bourne attorney Jay McMahon, who will
make a second run for attorney general, and 2018
secretary of state nominee Anthony Amore, who will
run for auditor, join the slate.
"I think
2022 is 2010 on steroids," MassGOP Chairman Jim
Lyons said, referring to the successful Tea Party
wave a dozen years ago that saw the party make
strong gains on Beacon Hill. Time will tell if he's
right, but first the GOP needs candidates and they
got them this week. Lyons expects the last
unoccupied statewide slot on the Republican ballot -
a candidate for treasurer - to be filled before the
May signature filing deadline.
A
continent away, Russia's war against Ukraine raged
as lawmakers here looked for ways to respond to
Russian President Vladimir Putin's military
aggression. Or more precisely, looked to others to
respond for them....
STORY OF
THE WEEK: Republicans begin to step up to at least
give Democrats competition in this year's big ticket
races.
State
House News Service
Friday, March 4, 2022
Weekly Roundup |
|
The State
House News Service reported on Thursday ("February
Tax Revenues Hum Along With $1.8 Bil Haul"):
The Department of
Revenue
reported Thursday that it took in $1.8 billion in tax
collections in February, a haul that surpassed expectations for
that month by $293 million but represents less than the state
collected in February 2021.
Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said the primary reason for
the decrease from last February to this one was a drop in
withholding tax collections related to timing, as "certain
payments that were received in February 2021 were captured in
January this year." ...
Through February, fiscal 2022 tax collections have totaled about
$23.673 billion, more than $4 billion above the same period in
fiscal 2021 and more than $1.7 billion above year-to-date
benchmarks....
State budget-writers have already raised their revenue
expectations for this year by $1.5 billion, to $35.9 billion.
"Revenues Hum Along" is a
nice way of concurring with my prediction in last week's CLT Update
where I wrote:
On Thursday the Department of
Revenue will report the latest monthly revenue collections, from
February....
Take note of
downplayed revenue expectations prior to release. This has been
de rigueur for some two years and counting — then everyone is
surprised when the next unexpected bonanza of revenue is
announced. We shall see if anything changes this time.
In a footnote to its
February revenue report on Thursday, the Department of Revenue
explained the moving "benchmark's" (expectation's) goal post:
With the enactment
of the FY2022 budget, monthly revenue benchmarks were developed
for the August 2021 through June 2022 period only. In
December 2021, monthly benchmarks from December 2021 through
June 2022 were further modified to reflect the impact of the
recently enacted pass-through entity tax and the impact of
taxation of non-residents. On January 14, 2022, the
Secretary of Administration and Finance announced a revised tax
revenue estimate of $35.9 billion for FY2022, an increase of
$1.5 billion from the prior estimate of $34.4 billion.
This revision is based on recent revenue performance and
improved economic data. The revised FY2022 benchmark
estimate of $35.9 billion represents July 2021 through December
2021 actual collections, adjusted for PTE excise collections,
and forecasted collections for the months of January 2022
through June 2022.
Even persistently moving
the goal post for two years can't keep up with the flood of tax
revenue pouring into the state's treasury, try as they might.
On Thursday, along with
reporting on the continuing revenue bonanza, the
State House News Service coincidentally also
reported ("House Kicks Tax Relief Bill
Deadline Past Budget Debate"):
A trio of Gov.
Charlie Baker bills are poised to remain in limbo for as long as
the next two months.
The House on Thursday adopted
extension orders pushing back the deadline for
committees to report on Baker's tax relief proposals
and his push for omnibus road safety legislation
that would strengthen seatbelt use enforcement. The
move could mean that House members will go into
April budget deliberations, when a push to adopt the
proposals is possible, without any guidance on the
tax relief plans from the panel that reviewed them.
Under the new orders, the Revenue Committee will have until
Wednesday, May 4 to make a decision on the tax relief proposals,
which Baker says are needed, affordable, and can make the state
more competitive. That gives the panel an additional two months
beyond the original reporting deadline of Wednesday, March 2 for
Baker's tax bills.
One bill (H 4361) would offer nearly $700 million in breaks by
overhauling how the state handles estate and short-term capital
gains taxes, increase tax credits for seniors and child care,
boost the available tax deduction for renters, and raise the
minimum income level above which Bay Staters must file taxes.
What is the
holdup here, the excuse now? Billions in over-taxation has been piling up in
the state's coffers faster than can be counted but a relatively
small tax relief proposal by Gov. Baker is stalled in the
Legislature until — May, maybe, if
ever? Legislators really are repelled by the thought of
possibly returning even a cent of the revenue bonanza to its rightful owners
— the taxpayers who provide it all.
Even in Massachusetts this
is perceived by many who bother to pay attention as outrageous, but from an
outsider's perspective it's unfathomable. Unless one is removed
from the toxic, internalized, even accepted oppressive political
environment, it's hard if not impossible to recognize it doesn't
need to be this way. Massachusetts in this regard (and in a
few others) is almost uniquely dysfunctional in so much of its
government and what it does.
Sometimes the only way to
possibly see and recognize it is from a distance
— and you can't start recovering until
you recognize and accept that you have a problem.
You can immerse yourself
in but one glaring comparison below, in "A Tale
of Two Commonwealths".
The
State House News Service on Friday reported ("Cook:
Mass Guv’s Race Is Dems' 'Best Pickup Opportunity'"):
The handicappers at the
Cook Political Report, who survey campaigns and
elections across the country, have grown bullish
on the prospects of Democrats retaking the
governor's office in Massachusetts this year and
are calling Attorney General Maura Healey the
"clear frontrunner" in the primary and general
election.
In switching its rating of
the race here from "Lean Democrat" to "Likely
Democrat," Cook on Friday described the open
seat contest as the "Democrats' best pickup
opportunity on the map." ...
According to Cook, a
"Likely Democrat" designation is attached to
races that are "not considered competitive at
this point, but have the potential to become
engaged."
Then on Saturday Boston Herald veteran reporter and
columnist Peter Lucas observed ("Can Doughty &
Campanale tag team their way to the corner office?"):
If you like Charlie Baker,
you will like Chris Doughty.
And if you like Karen
Polito, you will like Kate Campanale.
They are the two GOP
candidates who would replace Republican Gov.
Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who,
after eight years in office, are not seeking
re-election.
And while the comparisons
to Baker and Polito are inevitable, Doughty and
Campanale are determined to reject labels
implying that Doughty represents Baker’s third
term.
Doughty, a businessman,
announced on Tuesday that Campanale, a former
state representative, would be his lieutenant
governor running mate in the September 2022
Republican primary....
Doughty, 59, and Campanale,
36, both moderates, are very much like the
people they would succeed. But they must first
win the GOP primary and then the 2022 November
election.
That means Doughty must
face off against and defeat conservative
Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl
in the GOP primary....
Unlike the doomsayers,
Doughty and Campanale are optimistic about the
state. “We do not see our Commonwealth as a city
burning,” Doughty said. “We see it as a bright
city on a hill for our entire nation to admire.”
Campanale said, “This
election isn’t about Donald Trump or Joe Biden.
It isn’t even about Charlie Baker. It’s about
looking forward. … It’s about what Chris and I
can do with a state that’s being handed to us
and what the future holds.”
Fine. But the governor’s
office is not handed to anyone. It is taken.
Which is why Geoff Diehl will have something to
say about it, as well as Democrat Maura Healey.
“We do not see our
Commonwealth as a city burning. We see it as a bright city on
a hill for our entire nation to admire.”
Chris Doughty needs to get
out of Massachusetts and look around more, learn what states
throughout "our entire nation" are like, how other states fare in
comparison to beleaguered Taxachusetts. The most liberal and
expensive state in the nation is admired by few if any beyond its
borders — which is why so many who are
able are fleeing.
In its
Weekly Roundup on Friday the State House News Service noted:
If Gov. Charlie Baker is
living by a mantra for his last year in office,
it could be this: Always be closing.
Baker said this week that
he's going to do whatever he can over the next
10 months to avoid becoming a "lame duck" even
if the odds are admittedly "pretty slim" that he
has any sort of future in elected politics.
"I'm not dead yet," Baker
told GBH's Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, quoting
from Monty Python....
Baker also reacted to the
Department of Revenue's monthly report on state
tax collections showing a sizable surplus taking
shape for the year by urging passage of his tax
cuts. "Tax revenues keep exceeding expectations
and we should give some of that back to
taxpayers," he said....
While lawmakers continue to
roll the ball downhill toward the end of the
heaviest part of the workload for the two-year
session in July, the races that will decide who
picks that ball up in 2023 became clearer this
week, particularly on the Republican side.
GOP gubernatorial candidate
Chris Doughty announced that he would be teaming
up with former Rep. Kate Campanale, of Spencer,
on what they hope to be a winning ticket in
November. Campanale is the first Republican to
announce for lieutenant governor this cycle in
what has been a more popular contest on the
Democratic side, where there are five vying to
be number two.
In addition to Campanale,
the Republican Party saw conservative Bourne
attorney Jay McMahon, who will make a second run
for attorney general, and 2018 secretary of
state nominee Anthony Amore, who will run for
auditor, join the slate.
"I think 2022 is 2010 on
steroids," MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons said,
referring to the successful Tea Party wave a
dozen years ago that saw the party make strong
gains on Beacon Hill. Time will tell if he's
right, but first the GOP needs candidates and
they got them this week. Lyons expects the last
unoccupied statewide slot on the Republican
ballot - a candidate for treasurer - to be
filled before the May signature filing deadline.
A continent away, Russia's
war against Ukraine raged as lawmakers here
looked for ways to respond to Russian President
Vladimir Putin's military aggression. Or more
precisely, looked to others to respond for
them....
STORY OF THE WEEK:
Republicans begin to step up to at least give
Democrats competition in this year's big ticket
races.
We'll see how it all
shakes out come November. Nuff said.
A Tale of Two
Commonwealths
It Doesn't Need to be The Massachusetts Way
Only four U.S. states call
themselves commonwealths: Virginia, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, and Kentucky. Beyond 17th-century historic
significance, along with the other 46 they are states of equal
standing.
While the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts's "full-time,"
year-round, Democrat-controlled "Great and General Court" (legislature) with its tax-insatiable
super-majority is repulsed by the thought of parting with even a
cent of the state's bonanza of revenue wealth, this is not universal
among commonwealth states, or most states. Currently there are
just three Republicans in the Massachusetts state Senate and 29 in
the House; a total of 32 Republicans out of 200 legislators.
The Commonwealth of
Kentucky's "General Assembly" (legislature) is controlled by a
Republican super-majority (Senate 30 Rs vs. 8 Ds; House 75 Rs vs. 25
Ds). The Kentucky General Assembly convenes in regular session
in January for 60 days in even-numbered years, and for 30 days in
odd-numbered years. It can convene in rare special sessions at
the call of the governor. The Kentucky Constitution mandates
that a regular session be completed no later than April 15 in
even-numbered years, and March 30 in odd-numbered years.
Kentucky has a two-year
state budget cycle, proposed, passed, and adopted in even-numbered
years during its "long session" of 60 legislative days, which
constitutionally must conclude no later than April 15 when
legislators return home for the remainder of the year.
This fiscal year's
(2021-22) Kentucky state budget was about $12 Billion (compared to
Massachusetts' $48 Billion). The population of Kentucky is 4.5
million residents (compared to the Massachusetts population of 7
million residents).
Kentucky had a $4 Billion
surplus at the beginning of this year. The legislature spent
$2 Billion of it and set aside the remaining $2 Billion to provide
tax relief in the time remaining for this legislative session.
The debate now is how to best distribute that $2 Billion surplus: Cutting
the income tax from 5% to 4% and phasing out the income tax
entirely; giving each taxpayer a one-time $500 rebate check; reducing
the 6% sales tax to 5%, or some combination of them.
"Kentucky House
Republicans filed their long-awaited tax reform plan on Friday,
which would cut the state's individual income tax rate by 1% next
year and include the potential to cut it incrementally in following
years until it is eliminated," The (Louisville, KY) Courier Journal
reported on February 27 ("Kentucky House
GOP plan would cut income taxes but add sales taxes to these 18
services"):
The tax rate would
also fall by half percent intervals with greater general fund
receipt amounts and be eliminated entirely once general fund
receipts exceed $20.5 billion.
Kentucky's general
fund receipts amounted to $12.8 billion in the 2021 fiscal year,
and are currently projected to reach $13.79 in the 2022 fiscal
year ending June 30.
The tax reform
legislation would not increase the corporate income tax rate or
the sales tax rate, though it would expand the sales tax to at
least 18 types of services listed in the bill.
“Kentuckians, those
here and those who will move here, recognize that what remains
in your pocket at the end of a day’s work determines how you
live," Petrie said in a statement. "We have been very open about
our goal to let people keep more of their hard-earned money
rather than collecting it for the government to determine how to
spend.”
House Republicans
strongly indicated they would roll out a major tax reform
package after they unveiled and quickly passed their two-year
state budget bill in January.
That budget plan
left nearly $2 billion unspent, with House Speaker David Osborne
indicating this would leave them room to implement a tax reform
package that shifted Kentucky toward a revenue model more
dependent on taxing consumption instead of production.
The move to work
toward eliminating the income tax would fulfill a longtime wish
of many Republicans to emulate the tax system of Tennessee,
which has no income tax and higher sales tax rates, which they
credit for the state outpacing Kentucky in economic and
population growth in the past two decades.
"House Republicans voted
Friday to fundamentally revamp Kentucky's tax code, passing
legislation aimed at phasing out the individual income tax and
extending the state sales tax to more services, The Courier Journal
reported on Friday ("GOP-led House
advances plan to overhaul Kentucky's tax system, phase out income
tax"):
The measure — which
cleared the House on a 67-23 vote after a long debate — would
shift tax collections increasingly toward consumption and away
from personal income. The proposal advances to the GOP-led
Senate as tax and budget issues dominate the legislative
session's final weeks.
"Kentucky taxpayers could
receive a $500 rebate from the state under a new bill that cleared a
legislative committee Thursday morning," The Courier Journal
reported on February 24 ("GOP lawmakers
move to give many Kentuckians a $500 tax rebate"):
Sen. Chris
McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, the chairman of the committee and chief
sponsor of SB 194, said the intent of the legislation was to
address the recent spike in "crushing" inflation.
"As our nation is
experiencing the highest inflation in 40 years, it's important
that lawmakers respond in a way that helps ease the burden on
tax-paying Kentuckians," McDaniel said.
McDaniel said he
expected those rebate checks to go out "by the end of the
summer" should the legislation pass into law, with rebates
totaling $1.15 billion.
The measure passed
the committee unanimously, with all Republican lawmakers voting
for it. The two Democrats on the committee were not present for
the vote.
“We do not see our
Commonwealth (of Massachusetts) as a city burning. We see it as a bright city on
a hill for our entire nation to admire.”
Mr. Chris Doughty,
candidate for governor of Taxachusetts: It doesn't need to be The
Massachusetts Way.
|
 |
 |
|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
State House News
Service
Thursday, March 3, 2022
February Tax Revenues Hum Along With $1.8 Bil Haul
By Katie Lannan
The Department of Revenue
reported Thursday that it took in $1.8 billion in tax
collections in February, a haul that surpassed expectations
for that month by $293 million but represents less than the
state collected in February 2021.
Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said the primary reason
for the decrease from last February to this one was a drop
in withholding tax collections related to timing, as
"certain payments that were received in February 2021 were
captured in January this year."
Massachusetts paid out $405 million in income tax cash
refunds last month, $188 million less than was projected,
which Snyder said was the "main contributor to the above
benchmark performance for the month."
"However, this favorability may be temporary as refund
activity will likely increase as the tax season progresses,"
he said.
With no estimated payments required from individual or
business taxpayers, February is typically the state's
smallest revenue month, accounting for less than 6 percent
of the year's total.
Through February, fiscal 2022 tax collections have totaled
about $23.673 billion, more than $4 billion above the same
period in fiscal 2021 and more than $1.7 billion above
year-to-date benchmarks.
As it has done in each of the prior two months, the
Department of Revenue said February collections are affected
by a change in state law affecting taxes for pass-through
entities, or businesses that pass all income on to owners
and investors.
After adjusting for the pass-through payments, DOR said,
February collections are $291 million above projections --
and $94 million below February 2021 -- and year-to-date
collections are $1.083 billion above benchmark. The
department cautioned that its February figures "should not
be used as predictors for the remainder of the fiscal year,"
in part because of the situation with the pass-through
payments.
State budget-writers have already raised their revenue
expectations for this year by $1.5 billion, to $35.9
billion.
State House News
Service
Thursday, March 3, 2022
House Kicks Tax Relief Bill Deadline Past Budget Debate
By Chris Lisinski
A trio of Gov. Charlie Baker bills are poised to remain in
limbo for as long as the next two months.
The House on Thursday adopted extension orders pushing back
the deadline for committees to report on Baker's tax relief
proposals and his push for omnibus road safety legislation
that would strengthen seatbelt use enforcement. The move
could mean that House members will go into April budget
deliberations, when a push to adopt the proposals is
possible, without any guidance on the tax relief plans from
the panel that reviewed them.
Under the new orders, the Revenue Committee will have until
Wednesday, May 4 to make a decision on the tax relief
proposals, which Baker says are needed, affordable, and can
make the state more competitive. That gives the panel an
additional two months beyond the original reporting deadline
of Wednesday, March 2 for Baker's tax bills.
One bill (H 4361) would offer nearly $700 million in breaks
by overhauling how the state handles estate and short-term
capital gains taxes, increase tax credits for seniors and
child care, boost the available tax deduction for renters,
and raise the minimum income level above which Bay Staters
must file taxes. The other tax bill (H 4362) would serve a
complementary role aimed at modernizing and streamlining the
state tax system.
Baker and his top deputies testified before the committee
about their proposals on Feb. 22. Some Democrats expressed
skepticism about the need for capital gains tax reforms.
Another extension order the House adopted gives the
Transportation Committee until Friday, April 29 to decide
the fate of half a dozen bills including Baker's latest push
to convert Massachusetts to a primary seatbelt enforcement
system (H 3706).
While state law mandates seatbelt use, the existing
secondary enforcement law allows police to cite motorists
for failing to buckle up only if they stop the vehicle for
another primary traffic violation such as speeding.
The Baker administration and some road safety groups have
argued that empowering police to pull drivers over solely
for not wearing a seatbelt would boost their use in
Massachusetts, which has one of the lowest buckling rates in
the country, but opponents caution the expanded enforcement
could exacerbate racial profiling of drivers.
State House News
Service
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Baker Comments On License Bill Ahead Of Senate Debate
By Matt Murphy
As he waits to see how the Senate will respond to
legislation that would allow immigrants unable to prove
lawful residence in Massachusetts to obtain drivers'
licenses, Gov. Charlie Baker voiced his concern Thursday
that the House-passed bill did not adequately protect
against someone unlawfully registering to vote.
The House last month passed a bill that would allow
so-called undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver's
license if they can produce certain papers proving their
identity and residence in Massachusetts, such as a foreign
passport.
"This license we're talking about is not a
privilege-to-drive card, which is what they have in a bunch
of other states. It looks exactly like a Massachusetts
driver's license. You can't tell the difference between this
and a regular one," Baker said during an hour-long
appearance on GBH's Boston Public Radio.
Baker has opposed the concept, but said Thursday he did not
want to comment on legislation that not yet been finalized.
The governor did say he was disappointed the House voted
down (31-125) a Minority Leader Brad Jones amendment that
would have required the Registry of Motor Vehicles to share
information with municipal clerks looking to verify a
license holders' eligibility to vote.
"That bothered me a lot," Baker said. "I really think this
is an issue we have to make clear. Driver's license is one
thing. The right to vote is something else."
The House added language to its final bill to clarify that a
license or learner's permit applicant who does not provide
proof of lawful presence will not be not automatically
registered to vote under the state's automatic
voter-registration law. Supporters also point out that
non-citizens in the country legally with Green Cards or
student or work visas can already get a Massachusetts
driver's license, but can't register to vote.
But Baker suggested he does not think the House bill goes
far enough.
"We got to create a process that somehow separates people
who are citizens from people who aren't who are applying for
this driver's license," Baker said.
Senate President Karen Spilka supports giving licenses to
undocumented immigrants, but said Sen. Brendan Creighton is
still taking the temperature of senators on the issue and
she hopes to bring it up for a vote "within the coming
weeks."
"I don't know exactly how many weeks, if it's going to be
several or a few or whatever, but hoping to bring it to the
floor," Spilka said. The House passed the bill by a
veto-proof majority.
State House News
Service
Friday, March 4, 2022
Cook: Mass Guv’s Race Is Dems' “Best Pickup Opportunity”
By Michael P. Norton
The handicappers at the Cook Political Report, who survey
campaigns and elections across the country, have grown
bullish on the prospects of Democrats retaking the
governor's office in Massachusetts this year and are calling
Attorney General Maura Healey the "clear frontrunner" in the
primary and general election.
In switching its rating of the race here from "Lean
Democrat" to "Likely Democrat," Cook on Friday described the
open seat contest as the "Democrats' best pickup opportunity
on the map."
"Republicans were dealt a huge blow at the beginning of
December when Gov. Charlie Baker announced he wouldn't seek
a third term," Jessica Taylor wrote in a members-only
analysis for Cook. "Although he denied the fact that former
President Trump endorsing his far-right primary opponent,
former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, factored into his decision,
national Republicans still believe that if Trump had not
taken aim at yet another GOP governor he disagreed with that
Baker would still be running and in the driver's seat to
re-election."
In an analysis circulated by the Democratic Governors
Association, Taylor continued: "When Baker announced his
decision -- and his Lt. Gov. Karen Polito also passed on
running -- we initially put this race in the Lean Democrat
column to wait and see how both primaries, particularly the
GOP one, would shape up. Three months later, it's clear that
Republicans are headed toward having an unelectable nominee
in Diehl while Democratic Attorney General Maura Healy is
the clear frontrunner for both the primary and the general
election."
A former state legislator and U.S. Senate candidate, Diehl
faces political newcomer and businessman Chris Doughty in
the GOP race for governor. Healey is contending with fellow
Democrat Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz.
According to Cook, a "Likely Democrat" designation is
attached to races that are "not considered competitive at
this point, but have the potential to become engaged."
The Boston
Herald
Saturday, March 5, 2022
Can Doughty & Campanale tag team their way to the corner
office?
By Peter Lucas
If you like Charlie Baker, you will like Chris Doughty.
And if you like Karen Polito, you will like Kate Campanale.
They are the two GOP candidates who would replace Republican
Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who, after
eight years in office, are not seeking re-election.
And while the comparisons to Baker and Polito are
inevitable, Doughty and Campanale are determined to reject
labels implying that Doughty represents Baker’s third term.
Doughty, a businessman, announced on Tuesday that Campanale,
a former state representative, would be his lieutenant
governor running mate in the September 2022 Republican
primary.
While candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are
elected as a team in the November election, they run
individually in the primary.
Over the years, however, it became politically fashionable
for candidates to team up in the primary, as Baker and
Polito did when first elected in 2014.
Doughty, 59, and Campanale, 36, both moderates, are very
much like the people they would succeed. But they must first
win the GOP primary and then the 2022 November election.
That means Doughty must face off against and defeat
conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl
in the GOP primary.
Diehl has a head start in the race, having announced his
candidacy in July, long before Baker said he would not run
for re-election. He has been endorsed by former President
Donald Trump. Diehl has yet to decide whether to name a
running mate or to let the Republican primary voters decide.
Like Baker, Doughty of Wrentham comes from the private
sector with years of management experience. Doughty founded
and runs Capstan Atlantic, a manufacturing firm that
employees 300 people in two plants.
Baker, when he initially ran for governor in 2010, was the
CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Before that he served in
key position in the Gov. Bill Weld/Paul Cellucci
administrations.
Doughty, of course, if elected would have his own ideas on
how best to serve the people of Massachusetts Yet the
comparisons with Baker are natural — they are both
Republican moderates with business backgrounds.
The comparison of Campanale to Polito is even more so.
Both women served in the Massachusetts House from the
Worcester area before running for higher office. Polito
represented Shrewsbury in the House for 10 years, after
which she ran for state treasurer in 2010. She was defeated
by Democrat Steve Grossman.
In 2014 she became Baker’s lieutenant governor running mate
and has served in the position for two terms.
Campanale served in the House for two terms, representing
the town of Leicester and a portion of Worcester. She left
the House in 2018 to run unsuccessfully for Worcester County
register of deeds.
Campanale most recently worked for Baker as deputy director
of communications and digital media in the Executive Office
of Labor and Workforce Development.
Unlike the doomsayers, Doughty and Campanale are optimistic
about the state. “We do not see our Commonwealth as a city
burning,” Doughty said. “We see it as a bright city on a
hill for our entire nation to admire.”
Campanale said, “This election isn’t about Donald Trump or
Joe Biden. It isn’t even about Charlie Baker. It’s about
looking forward. … It’s about what Chris and I can do with a
state that’s being handed to us and what the future holds.”
Fine. But the governor’s office is not handed to anyone. It
is taken. Which is why Geoff Diehl will have something to
say about it, as well as Democrat Maura Healey.
— Peter Lucas is a veteran
Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.
State House News
Service
Friday, March 4, 2022
Weekly Roundup - Priorities Not Always Shared
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
By Matt Murphy
If Gov. Charlie Baker is living by a mantra for his last
year in office, it could be this: Always be closing.
Baker said this week that he's going to do whatever he can
over the next 10 months to avoid becoming a "lame duck" even
if the odds are admittedly "pretty slim" that he has any
sort of future in elected politics.
"I'm not dead yet," Baker told GBH's Jim Braude and Margery
Eagan, quoting from Monty Python.
Increasingly, that has meant Baker using Twitter to try to
engage the public in his policy agenda. Baker tweeted ahead
of the Super Bowl about his wish to see sports betting
legalized and has more recently been sharing videos of
victims of domestic assault and other violent crimes telling
their stories about how his bill to expand the ability of
judges and police to detain violent criminals would help.
"We are failing victims here in the commonwealth, over and
over and over again, and we've been doing it for years,"
Baker said during a mid-week visit to the Springfield YWCA
to hear more survivor stories.
Baker also reacted to the Department of Revenue's monthly
report on state tax collections showing a sizable surplus
taking shape for the year by urging passage of his tax cuts.
"Tax revenues keep exceeding expectations and we should give
some of that back to taxpayers," he said.
The governor, of course, isn't the only one with an agenda.
House Speaker Ron Mariano brought forward his priority bill
to improve competition for offshore wind development and
spark economic and job growth in a sector that after all
these years is still getting off the ground. The legislation
would soften the cap that requires each wind contract to
offer cheaper energy than the last, and take steps to make
it easier for developers to connect their renewable energy
sources to the grid.
The bill, however, is probably just the first salvo in a
process that could end up pushing against the Legislature's
end-of-July deadline for major business. Senate President
Karen Spilka has talked about a more comprehensive energy
bill this session, and Baker this week raised concerns about
the House-backed fee on natural gas to finance offshore wind
innovation.
Spilka has her own interests as well, so stop asking her
about sports betting. (That's what she said.)
"Curious as to why reporters and why people don't ask, 'What
about mental health reform?' Where's that? The Senate has
done that twice, and that is desperately needed by all
residents of Massachusetts and that's not a conflict or
controversial," Spilka said.
That was Spilka's way of throwing it back at the House after
Mariano went on the radio and expressed his frustration with
the "stubborn reluctance" of his Senate counterpart to get
on with the gambling bill. State House insiders generally
insist that Spilka and Mariano have a fairly good working
relationship. There's certainly more direct communication
than with Mariano's predecessor Robert DeLeo, sources say.
But everyone can get a little frustrated now and again.
Spilka's comments came after the Senate passed two bills to
increase access to disposable menstrual products in prisons,
homeless shelters, and public schools, and to expand
equitable access to maternal postpartum care. The Senate is
also prepared to debate soldiers' home oversight next
Thursday.
While lawmakers continue to roll the ball downhill toward
the end of the heaviest part of the workload for the
two-year session in July, the races that will decide who
picks that ball up in 2023 became clearer this week,
particularly on the Republican side.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Doughty announced that he
would be teaming up with former Rep. Kate Campanale, of
Spencer, on what they hope to be a winning ticket in
November. Campanale is the first Republican to announce for
lieutenant governor this cycle in what has been a more
popular contest on the Democratic side, where there are five
vying to be number two.
In addition to Campanale, the Republican Party saw
conservative Bourne attorney Jay McMahon, who will make a
second run for attorney general, and 2018 secretary of state
nominee Anthony Amore, who will run for auditor, join the
slate.
"I think 2022 is 2010 on steroids," MassGOP Chairman Jim
Lyons said, referring to the successful Tea Party wave a
dozen years ago that saw the party make strong gains on
Beacon Hill. Time will tell if he's right, but first the GOP
needs candidates and they got them this week. Lyons expects
the last unoccupied statewide slot on the Republican ballot
- a candidate for treasurer - to be filled before the May
signature filing deadline.
A continent away, Russia's war against Ukraine raged as
lawmakers here looked for ways to respond to Russian
President Vladimir Putin's military aggression. Or more
precisely, looked to others to respond for them.
House Minority Leader Brad Jones spearheaded a letter signed
by 58 House and Senate Democrats and Republicans calling on
Treasurer Deb Goldberg to review the state's $104 billion
pension fund for investments in Russia and immediately
divest.
Goldberg responded in turn by telling legislators that while
she would support divestment, it would require an act of the
Legislature directing the Pension Reserve Investment
Management Board to do so.
PRIM Executive Director Michael Trotsky said the pension
fund had no investment impacted by U.S. sanctions on Russia,
but did have about $140 million in holdings with "exposure"
to Russia. Spilka said told the News Service she would
continue to talk with senators, Goldberg, Baker and the
House about what might be done with regard to Russia, but
she was also worried about taking any action that would have
"unintended consequences" for small, Russian-owned
businesses who are not to blame for Putin's actions.
"I don't think we can have a knee-jerk reaction," she said.
Meanwhile, before he took off Friday for a weeklong vacation
in Utah Baker signed an executive order directing all
executive branch agencies to review all state contracts and
terminate any agreement with Russian state-owned companies.
Baker's trip to Utah brought back an immediate flood of
memories from the (last?) time the governor and his family
went to Utah where they own property in Park City. It was
March of 2020, and Baker left assuring the public he would
be taking part in daily briefings with his team and the feds
on a novel virus beginning to spread in Massachusetts and
elsewhere around the country.
That vacation lasted only a couple of days before the
governor got on a flight back home to Boston to declare a
state of emergency in Massachusetts as the COVID-19 pandemic
had begun.
Fast forward to today and basically all COVID-19
restrictions are being lifted. Boston's public indoor mask
mandate lifts on Saturday and the state followed the Centers
for Disease Control this week in allowing students to lose
their masks on school buses.
Public transportation and health care settings remain among
the few places where masks are still required, a list that
also includes the State House.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Republicans begin to step up to at least
give Democrats competition in this year's big ticket races.
The Courier
Journal
Louisville, KY
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Kentucky House GOP plan would cut income taxes but add sales
taxes to these 18 services
By Joe Sonka
FRANKFORT — Kentucky House Republicans filed their
long-awaited tax reform plan on Friday, which would cut the
state's individual income tax rate by 1% next year and
include the potential to cut it incrementally in following
years until it is eliminated.
Under House Bill 8, sponsored by House budget committee
chairman Rep. Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, the individual income
tax rate would be lowered from 5% to 4% in 2023, with a
triggering mechanism employed in following years to lower it
further based on the amount of general fund tax receipts the
state receives.
If Kentucky's general fund tax receipts grow to $13.75
billion in a fiscal year, the individual income tax rate
would be lowered in the following calendar year to 3.5%.
The tax rate would also fall by half percent intervals with
greater general fund receipt amounts and be eliminated
entirely once general fund receipts exceed $20.5 billion.
Kentucky's general fund receipts amounted to $12.8 billion
in the 2021 fiscal year, and are currently projected to
reach $13.79 in the 2022 fiscal year ending June 30.
The tax reform legislation would not increase the corporate
income tax rate or the sales tax rate, though it would
expand the sales tax to at least 18 types of services listed
in the bill.
“Kentuckians, those here and those who will move here,
recognize that what remains in your pocket at the end of a
day’s work determines how you live," Petrie said in a
statement. "We have been very open about our goal to let
people keep more of their hard-earned money rather than
collecting it for the government to determine how to spend.”
House Republicans strongly indicated they would roll out a
major tax reform package after they unveiled and quickly
passed their two-year state budget bill in January.
That budget plan left nearly $2 billion unspent, with House
Speaker David Osborne indicating this would leave them room
to implement a tax reform package that shifted Kentucky
toward a revenue model more dependent on taxing consumption
instead of production.
The move to work toward eliminating the income tax would
fulfill a longtime wish of many Republicans to emulate the
tax system of Tennessee, which has no income tax and higher
sales tax rates, which they credit for the state outpacing
Kentucky in economic and population growth in the past two
decades.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans unveiled and passed out of
committee another bill that would provide Kentuckians with
$1.15 billion of tax rebates from the projected $2 billion
surplus expected at the end of this fiscal year.
Under Senate Bill 194, individual tax filers would receive a
$500 rebate and joint filers would receive a $1,000 rebate.
Those not paying any state income tax would receive no
rebate, and those paying less than $500 or $1,000 would
receive a rebate of that lesser amount they paid in taxes.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andy Beshear recently proposed temporarily
reducing the state sales tax rate from 6% to 5% to help
Kentuckians struggling with inflation — the same motive
Republicans cited for SB 194.
Beshear's spokeswoman Crystal Staley said Friday the
governor "was not consulted by the House on the proposal and
has not received a copy of the legislation."
Anticipating Republicans would attempt to push tax reform
that increased or expanded the sales tax while lowering the
income tax rate, Beshear has criticized this as a regressive
tactic that would not stimulate the economy or "provide
relief to people in every single income bracket."
Among the services that would no longer be exempt from
Kentucky's 6% sales tax rate are:
• Non-primary residential
electric (primary residences would remain exempt)
•
Taxi cabs, car rentals, or transportation services
like Uber and Lyft
•
Temporary rental services (AirBnB, VRBO)
•
Advertising, marketing, and graphic design services
•
Residential and nonresidential security systems
•
Bodyguard and self-protection services
•
Process servers
•
Valet and parking services
•
Pleasure watercraft docking
•
Entertainment venues and event space rentals
•
Legislative and executive branch lobbying
•
Cosmetic surgery procedures (non-medically necessary)
•
Personal financial planning
•
Private mail services
•
Road and travel services
•
Executive employee recruitment services
•
Unsolicited telemarketing services
•
Public opinion research
House Bill 8 would also implement a battery reclamation fee
on electric and hybrid motor vehicles and an excise tax of 3
cents per kilowatt hour on fee-for-service vehicle charging
stations — with such revenue split by the general fund and
state road fund.
Jason Bailey, director of the left-leaning think tank
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, panned HB 8 as
"devastating" funding for Kentucky’s schools, health, human
services and infrastructure, while being a "giveaway to the
wealthy."
"HB 8 is a reckless bill that would doom Kentucky’s schools
and other public services and create a future of wider
inequality, deeper poverty and stagnant economic growth,"
said Bailey, who noted the income tax makes up 40% of state
revenue.
The Courier
Journal
Louisville, KY
Friday, March 4, 2022
GOP-led House advances plan to overhaul Kentucky's tax
system, phase out income tax
By Bruce Schreiner - Associated Press
FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Republicans voted Friday to
fundamentally revamp Kentucky's tax code, passing
legislation aimed at phasing out the individual income tax
and extending the state sales tax to more services.
The measure — which cleared the House on a 67-23 vote after
a long debate — would shift tax collections increasingly
toward consumption and away from personal income. The
proposal advances to the GOP-led Senate as tax and budget
issues dominate the legislative session's final weeks.
The plan's Republican supporters trumpeted its profound
changes. They predicted it would encourage job growth and
population gains by enabling people to keep more of the
money they earn.
“Stop the old thought process — tax it, spend it," Rep.
Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, said. "We had a good 100-year
history of that here. And our numbers and our results are
not appealing at all.”
Democrats opposing the measure said it would
disproportionally benefit wealthier Kentuckians and could
deprive the state of revenues needed to properly finance
schools and other essential services.
“I don’t think the math adds up,” Rep. Rachel Roberts,
D-Newport, said. "And I also think that this is regressive.
I think it hurts poor people in our state. I think it favors
wealthy people in our state.”
Under the bill, the state’s 5% personal income tax rate
would be lowered incrementally over a period of years with
the goal of eventually eliminating it. The measure calls for
the rate to be cut to 4% next year. After that, future
income tax rate cuts would hinge on the state meeting
revenue targets.
To broaden the tax base, the proposal would extend the sales
tax to a number of services.
The Courier
Journal
Louisville, KY
Thursday, February 24, 2022
GOP lawmakers move to give many Kentuckians a $500 tax
rebate.
By Joe Sonka
FRANKFORT — Kentucky taxpayers could receive a $500 rebate
from the state under a new bill that cleared a legislative
committee Thursday morning.
The legislation came as a surprise in the Senate budget
committee, as what's known as a "shell bill" — a short and
non-descript bill filed as a placeholder and then replaced
with more substantive provisions — was amended with the tax
rebate language.
Under Senate Bill 194, individual tax filers from 2020 would
receive a $500 rebate and joint filers would receive a
$1,000 rebate — unless those individuals paid less than that
amount in state taxes.
If filers paid less than $500 or $1,000, they would receive
a rebate of that lower amount; if they paid no state taxes,
they would receive no rebate.
Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Taylor Mill, the chairman of the
committee and chief sponsor of SB 194, said the intent of
the legislation was to address the recent spike in
"crushing" inflation.
"As our nation is experiencing the highest inflation in 40
years, it's important that lawmakers respond in a way that
helps ease the burden on tax-paying Kentuckians," McDaniel
said.
McDaniel said he expected those rebate checks to go out "by
the end of the summer" should the legislation pass into law,
with rebates totaling $1.15 billion.
The measure passed the committee unanimously, with all
Republican lawmakers voting for it. The two Democrats on the
committee were not present for the vote.
With nearly $2 billion of projected surplus in the current
fiscal year, leadership of the Republican supermajority had
already signaled their intent to leave much of this unspent
in their two-year budget proposal, instead directing this
toward tax cuts or relief.
The two-year budget bill passed by the House in January left
nearly that same amount unspent, with Republican Senate
President Robert Stivers saying "with all this tax money
that we're sitting here holding, why are we not thinking
about giving everybody a pay raise by giving them a tax
cut?"
Before his Jan. 13 address to outline his own budget
proposal, Gov. Andy Beshear countered that leaving unspent
money for tax cuts "is unnecessary and can be destructive" —
adding this may throw a wrench in Kentucky's recent success
at landing major economic development projects.
House Speaker David Osborne said in January the chamber was
moving so quickly to pass a budget so they could work on
crafting a comprehensive tax reform proposal to shift
towards a consumption-based revenue system, though no
specific proposal has been released to lower the income tax
rate or alter sales taxes.
Last week, Beshear beat them to the punch with his own tax
proposal, calling for a 1% decrease to the state sales tax
rate in order to help Kentuckians battling the recent spike
in inflation.
Osborne responded to the governor's proposal by stating that
"far more can be accomplished for Kentuckians by overhauling
the state’s antiquated tax structure."
McDaniel said SB 194 should be viewed as "completely
separate" from tax reform, as it deals with current year
one-time dollars and he views tax reform as dealing with
future year dollars.
The Senate budget committee chairman said he's sure
conversations about a more comprehensive tax reform bill
will begin soon, saying such a bill would originate in the
House.
Senate Minority Leader Morgan McGarvey of Louisville said
Democrats are supportive of tax relief like the one proposed
by Beshear — noting the total dollar amounts of both plans
are similar — but do not have the complete context of what
Republicans plan to do on tax reform.
"Is this in lieu of essential worker bonuses?" McGarvey
asked. "Is there more coming in a potential tax reform bill?
What does this keep out of the budget, potentially? We still
don't know."
Labor leaders and House Democrats held a press conference
later in the afternoon calling on Republicans to adopt
Beshear’s “hero pay” proposal from his budget plan —
spending $400 million of federal COVID-19 funds on bonuses
for essential workers in the fields of child care,
transportation, sanitation, grocery, public health and
safety employed through two years of the pandemic.
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, a left-leaning
think tank, said SB 194 would not provide any tax rebate for
many families whose income is below the poverty line and
most retirees who do not pay any income tax, calling it "a
poor use of $1.15 billion that is needed to reinvest in our
schools and other budgetary needs."
Beshear spokeswoman Crystal Staley said the governor "will
carefully review any proposal," but had not yet received a
copy of SB 194.
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