 |
Post Office Box 1147
▪
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
Sunday, May 1, 2022
House $49.7 Billion
Budget Increased Spending, Adopted 155-0
Jump directly
to CLT's Commentary on the News
|
Most Relevant News
Excerpts
(Full news reports follow Commentary)
|
|
After
dispensing with more than 1,500 proposed amendments,
state lawmakers passed a budget that ballooned to
$49.7 billion — without any tax cuts but $20,000
raises for 14 sheriffs across the commonwealth.
County
sheriffs would be paid $195,000 under this version,
up from $171,900.
“I want
to especially thank the (Ways and Means Committee)
chairman for showing me how easy it is to spend
billions of dollars in three days. I just wish I had
money in my own checking account,” Speaker Ronald
Mariano said late Wednesday evening.
The fiscal
2023 budget passed the House with a vote of 155-0.
The
House’s budget, originally proposed at $130 million
less than what was eventually approved, must now be
squared with the Senate’s budget. That chamber will
debate its version of the spending package in May.
The
various amendments were mostly rejected or
consolidated into seven so-called “mega-amendments.”
The
Boston Herald
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Massachusetts House approves
nearly $50B budget
— including hefty raises for sheriffs
House
Democrats kicked off debate Monday on a nearly $50
billion state budget bill by rejecting
Republican-led efforts to weave tax relief into the
annual spending plan.
Massachusetts raked in more than $5 billion in
surplus tax revenues last fiscal year and is running
at least $1.5 billion ahead of the current year's
projections, performance that -- coupled with more
than $2 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act
socked away for future use -- has generated a steady
hum of calls for relief.
Gov.
Charlie Baker has pressed recently to share the
excess revenues with taxpayers in the form of rate
relief, but so far has failed to convince lawmakers.
Democrats shot down proposals to temporarily suspend
the gas tax, lessen the impact of the estate and
capital gains taxes, and boost a tax break for
senior citizens.
Monday's
decisions keep pieces of Baker's tax relief package
in limbo. While legislative leaders say his proposal
could still find success outside the budget process,
the House votes show a lack of interest in paying
for the recurring tax breaks in the annual budget,
and leave questions about possible future plans.
Rep.
Nicholas Boldyga, a Southwick Republican, sought to
incorporate a trio of tax changes into the House's
fiscal 2023 state budget (H 4700): reducing the
short-term capital gains tax rate from 12 percent to
5 percent, doubling the threshold at which the
estate tax kicks in from $1 million to $2 million,
and increasing from $750 to $1,755 the circuit
breaker tax credit for Bay Staters ages 65 and
older....
Rep. Mark
Cusack, a Braintree Democrat who co-chairs the
Revenue Committee, described all three of Boldyga's
amendments as "premature." He said his panel is
"working diligently" on the governor's package but
did not specify any plans to advance tax relief for
a vote in the House....
"When is
helping our senior citizens premature?" Boldyga
fired back while introducing the third and final
amendment in the set. "When is helping our most
vulnerable citizens of the commonwealth premature?
And since when has this august body ever listened or
waited for the governor to take action?"
Representatives voted 31-125 to reject Boldyga's
senior circuit breaker tax credit amendment, 30-126
to reject his estate tax amendment, and 29-127 to
reject his capital gains tax amendment.
The House
also turned aside the latest attempts to halt
collection of the state's gas tax, a levy
Republicans have unsuccessfully targeted for weeks
amid surging gas prices and the broader impact of
skyrocketing inflation.
With a
32-124 vote, the House rejected a Rep. Paul Frost
amendment that would have paused collection of the
24-cents-per-gallon gas tax for 60 days....
Frost's
amendment called for the state to use money from its
General Fund to cover transportation costs funded by
the gas tax, such as road and bridge maintenance,
during the two-month holiday.
The Auburn
Republican pointed to neighboring Connecticut, where
Democrat Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill pausing
collection of the Nutmeg State's gas tax from April
1 to June 30....
On Frost's
amendment, four Democrats joined Republicans in
voting for a gas tax suspension: Rep. Colleen Garry
of Dracut, Rep. David Robertson of Tewksbury, Rep.
Alan Silvia of Fall River and Rep. Jeffrey Turco of
Winthrop. Independent Rep. Susannah Whipps of Athol
voted against the amendment.
The House
rejected another gas tax suspension amendment from
Republican Rep. Peter Durant of Spencer on a voice
vote, and then laid aside one from Boldyga after
deeming it too similar to Frost's....
While top
Democrats have kept the governor's proposal in play,
they have not offered many indications that they see
permanent tax relief as a priority and, at least in
the House, are now en route to signing off on a
budget that spends the same buckets of revenue Baker
sought to keep in the hands of taxpayers.
State
House News Service
Monday, April 25, 2022
House Rejects Series Of Tax
Relief Proposals
Dems Won't Rule Out Tax Relief, But Haven't Outlined
Plan
Lawmakers
pushed to give judges a 12% pay hike, but tax break
proposals and suspending the gas tax were all spiked
— again.
“Today’s
failed House vote to suspend the state gas tax is a
perfect demonstration of what a greedy politician
looks like,” Mass Fiscal Alliance’s Paul Diego
Craney said Monday....
Originally
submitted to the Legislature by Gov. Charlie Baker
in January alongside his own $48.5 billion budget,
the tax cut proposals include tax relief for
renters, adoption of federal standards for no-tax
status for low-income residents, an adjustment of
the “low income circuit breaker” on property tax
relief for older residents, and a proposal to lower
the estate and short-term capital gains taxes.
Those
proposals are stuck in committee ...
“With all
the money coming in from the federal government,
you’d think the Legislature would have middle-class
tax cuts on their mind,” said the Pioneer
Institute’s Greg Sullivan.
The
Boston Herald
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Massachusetts lawmakers
say ‘No’ on tax cuts, but pay hikes for judges
floated
One by
one, Massachusetts House Democrats on Monday
rejected GOP-led proposals for tax breaks or
suspensions within the state’s $50 billion budget
plan. Many of the Republicans’ measures, Democratic
leaders argued, were still being vetted or, as one
put it, “premature.”
In most
years, the actions could be viewed as legislative
formalities, a Democratic supermajority flitting
away the actions of a small Republican caucus. But
during a boom time for state revenues and escalating
inflation, the votes touched on deeper questions: As
it rolls in cash, should the state spend more of it,
including to help those in need, or should it “give
back,” as Governor Charlie Baker has argued, by
lessening the tax burden on residents?
For now,
House Democrats have chosen the former — winning
plaudits from progressive advocates and budget
watchers along the way.
Their
budget proposal was already $1.4 billion higher than
Baker’s plan before debate started, dedicating tens
of millions of dollars more toward child care worker
salaries, more than $100 million to extend a free
school meals initiative, and $20 million to cover a
proposal to eliminate the costs incarcerated people
or their families pay for phone calls.
House
leaders also left open the possibility of pursuing a
separate tax package in the coming months. They have
yet to specify when or how closely it could resemble
Baker’s $700 million plan, which seeks to help
renters, low-income workers, and families passing on
generational wealth.
Still, the
wall they’ve put between tax breaks and their $49.6
billion spending bill has done little to diffuse the
debate over them....
State
Representative Nicholas A. Boldyga, a Southwick
Republican, sought several times Monday to thread
versions of Baker’s proposals into the budget
debate, including with amendments raising the
threshold on the estate tax or slashing capital
gains tax rate.
Each time,
Representative Mark J. Cusack, the House chairman of
the revenue committee and a Democrat, stepped to the
House podium to oppose them, calling them
“premature” and urging lawmakers to allow the
committee to “continue to do our work” vetting them.
And each time lawmakers rejected them largely along
party-line votes.
“That
proposal is still under consideration by the revenue
committee,” state Representative Aaron Michlewitz,
the House’s budget chief, said about Baker’s
package. “But we felt the immediate needs of making
these necessary investments were a more pressing use
of the funds for this budget.” ...
“Taxpayers
of Massachusetts have been told tax relief is on the
way, that we’re looking at all options. But in this
budget we don’t see that,” state Representative
Peter J. Durant, a Spencer Republican, said while
advocating for a monthslong [gas tax] suspension,
which was rejected on a voice vote. “The people of
Massachusetts need this break. They need to be able
to see that we’re serious about providing them with
some relief in their pocketbooks.”
The
Boston Globe
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
What should Mass. do
with $50 billion?
A debate in the House highlights a philosophical
divide.
The House
passed a $49.7 billion fiscal 2023 budget Wednesday
evening after adding nearly $130 million in spending
through seven mega-amendments over the course of
three days.
Speaking
from the floor of the House at the outset of the
debate, House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Aaron
Michlewitz said the state has witnessed a
"roller-coaster revenue experience" over the last
four years, including the last two in a pandemic.
"[The]
budget that is before us today presents the
commonwealth with a unique opportunity to be
forward-thinking while solving some immediate needs
by investing in the middle class as we start to
tackle some of the challenges the post-COVID world
has created," the House's chief budget writer said
Monday. "This once in a generation opportunity
allows us to build for a better future, one that is
more resilient, more equitable, and more rewarding
for all of us in the commonwealth."
Lawmakers
dispensed with 1,522 budget amendments through a
number of large packages that were split up by
subject category. The House approved the first on
Monday, which included $500,000 for the new Genocide
Education Trust Fund, a program lawmakers have said
will help younger generations learn about some of
the world's worst mass killings and genocides.
Representatives worked through three more
consolidated amendments on Tuesday, adding another
$88.3 million in spending and approving language
outlawing child marriage in the state and increasing
judicial system salaries....
House
Democrats rejected Monday a Republican push to
include tax relief in the budget including efforts
to temporarily suspend the gas tax, lessen impacts
of the estate and capital gains tax, and boost a tax
break for senior citizens.
State
House News Service
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
House Bulks Up, Approves
$49.7 Billion FY23 Budget
State
House News Service
House Budget Session Summaries
— April 25-27, 2022
Flush with
cash from better-than-expected tax revenues and
increased federal reimbursement, the Massachusetts
House Wednesday night unanimously passed a $49.7
billion spending plan that represents a commitment
to “investing in the state’s middle class,”
according to the chamber’s budget chief.
The budget
would increase spending across an array of programs,
funneling dollars into child care worker salaries, a
free school meals initiative, and a proposal to
eliminate the costs incarcerated people or their
families pay for phone calls, among other things.
The
budget, which would not raise taxes for
Massachusetts residents, includes a series of pay
raises for judges and makes policy changes....
The final
product notably did not include a tax relief
component that business groups and Governor Charlie
Baker have been pushing in recent weeks.
This
budget “presents the Commonwealth with a unique
opportunity to be forward-thinking while solving
some immediate needs by investing in the middle
class as we start to tackle challenges the post-COVID
world has created,” House Ways and Means Chairman
Aaron Michlewitz said as he presented the budget
earlier this week. “This is a once-in-a-generation
opportunity that allows us to build for a better
future.”
Over three
days, lawmakers deliberated — mostly in private —
over 1,521 amendments filed to the spending bill,
rejecting proposals to temporarily suspend the gas
tax and provide other tax relief, and agreeing to
millions in extra spending....
The budget
package, which surpasses the governor’s spending
plan by well more than $1 billion, does not include
a tax relief component, which the two-term
Republican said would give nearly $700 million back
to taxpayers in the form of new tax breaks and other
reforms.
“The House
budget responds to the economic challenges currently
facing Massachusetts residents by balancing a focus
on immediate needs such as workforce development,
with a focus on long-term investments that are
designed to grow our economy in a sustainable way,”
House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano said in a statement
Thursday.
The
Boston Globe
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Mass. House passes
nearly $50 billion budget;
top official calls it ‘a once-in-a-generation
opportunity’
Dozens of
state representatives packed the House chamber for
three days of formal sessions, returning a sense of
pre-pandemic normalcy after remote participation
dominated in the past two budget cycles during the
COVID-19 state of emergency....
Many of
the most important decisions were made in private,
as is so often the case with the House's annual
spending bill. Representatives used the members'
lounge to pitch their priorities, and Democrat
leaders then carved up the record 1,500-plus
amendments into seven mega-amendments.
In another
status quo-preserving move, House Democrats once
again turned aside a Republican push for tax relief.
The House rejected proposals at the outset of budget
debate to pause collection of the state's
24-cents-per-gallon gas tax, this time with a roll
call vote that made each representative's position
clear, and to weave some of Baker's estate, capital
gains and senior tax reform into the annual state
spending bill.
Top
Democrats continue to insist they haven't outright
killed the lame-duck governor's push for $700
million in tax relief, noting that the bill
technically still remains pending before the Revenue
Committee. And by saying any action on tax cuts in
the budget would have been "premature," they implied
there's action to come.
With no
counter-proposal outlined, however, that repeated
argument landed with a thud. Maybe Baker's $3.5
billion economic development bill could be the
vehicle, but the window for action is shrinking and
the outlook is as fuzzy as ever.
State
House News Service
Friday, April 29, 2022
Weekly Roundup - The More Things
Change
Less than
two hours after the House wrapped up its Tuesday
night session, Rep. David LeBoeuf's 2014 Ford Escape
came to a halt on the Burgin Parkway in Quincy,
smoking and missing the front right tire. Police say
they found nine empty nip bottles in the back of the
car and two cans of wine, one empty and one
half-empty, in the front cupholders.
LeBoeuf, a
Worcester Democrat, allegedly told police he was
"coming from Massachusetts" and thought he was in
Newton heading home, not in Quincy south of the
city. When he submitted to chemical breath tests,
they found LeBoeuf had roughly four times the legal
blood alcohol content for driving, police say.
The
booking photo of LeBoeuf -- glassy-eyed, disheveled
and with a bloody cheek -- zoomed around the
political infosphere the next morning, prompting
calls from the state Republican Party for his
resignation.
"Budget
week, a tradition unlike any other," the MassGOP
account tweeted.
LeBoeuf
later apologized for an "egregious lapse in
judgment" and disclosed personal struggles with
addiction. He called the incident, which did not
cause any injuries, a "desperate wake-up call that I
need further support."
The
two-term rep might face a tougher reelection bid
with the arrest hanging over his head, but if the
past is any precedent, drunk driving charges don't
always carry lasting consequences on Beacon Hill.
Take the
case of Sen. Michael Brady, who lost a cushy post as
chair of the Public Service Committee -- and the
$15,000 stipend it carries -- in 2019 following his
drunk driving arrest only to be reassigned the same
chairmanship for the 2021-2022 session once he won
another term.
What about
wrongdoing more directly tied to a politician's
work, such as accepting bribes? We might find out
the answer to that this fall.
Former
Sen. Dianne Wilkerson made clear this week that she
is weighing a run for her former office, which she
resigned in 2008 while facing federal extortion
charges before pleading guilty and serving a prison
sentence.
State
House News Service
Friday, April 29, 2022
Weekly Roundup
Senators
are also newly in receipt of a $49.7 billion
House-approved fiscal 2023 budget, which arrives in
that branch at a time when data shows the state
economy is cooling off, a situation that could
affect the Senate's approach to spending. The Senate
typically debates its annual budget during the week
before Memorial Day, so those deliberations are a
few weeks away.
State
House News Service
Friday, April 29, 2022
Advances - Week of May 1, 2022 |
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary |
“I want to especially thank the (Ways and Means
Committee) chairman for showing me how easy it is to spend billions
of dollars in three days. I just wish I had money in my own checking
account,” Speaker Ronald Mariano said late Wednesday evening.
The
Boston Herald
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Massachusetts House approves
nearly $50B budget
— including hefty raises for sheriffs
That one statement
captures in a few words the feeding frenzy that swept through the
House chamber this week between Monday and Wednesday during its
Fiscal Year 2023 budget debate.
●
Of the
1,500-plus amendments that were included over that three-day
process, those adopted added about $130 million in additional
spending, increasing the initial budget from $49.6 to $49.7 billion.
●
The House of Representatives unanimously approved an increase
in state spending by more than 4% —
$2.1 billion more than last year and about $1.5 billion greater than
Gov. Baker proposed back in January.
●
Of the first orders of business on Monday was for House
Democrats to quickly crush every Republican effort to include tax
relief in the budget, including to temporarily suspend the gas tax,
reform the estate and capital gains tax, and increase a tax break
for senior citizens. Nevertheless, on Wednesday the FY 2023
budget was passed by the House with a vote of 155-0.
What
would an annual budget be without pay raises? This one
includes generous pay hikes for county sheriffs, an increase from
$171,900 to $195,000 for each of the fourteen.
The House's
$49.7 billion budget has been sent on to the
Senate, which usually debates its own annual budget the week before
Memorial Day. Following that, the two versions will almost
certainly wind up before a joint House/Senate conference committee.
What comes out of that will be voted on without further amendments
— usually a quick rubber-stamp procedure.
The
State House News Service in its Weekly Roundup
on Friday noted:
Legislators at this
time of year -- House and Senate candidates have until Tuesday
to file 2022 nomination papers and signatures -- are mindful of
drawing challengers, and of any votes that might spur more
candidates to jump in or emerge as a pressure point on the
campaign trail.
"House and Senate candidates, as well as party candidates for county
offices, have until Tuesday to file nomination papers and signatures
with local election officials," the News Service noted in its
Advances on Friday, "a prerequisite on the
path toward securing ballot slots."
ELECTION DEADLINE:
Tuesday is the deadline for party and non-party candidates for
district and county offices to submit nomination papers and
signatures to local registrars. This includes candidates for
House and Senate seats, and those running for district attorney
or sheriff. The deadline will shed light on the extent of
competition for legislative seats, both in the Sept. 6 primaries
and the Nov. 8 state election, and any impacts stemming from
newly drawn district boundaries in the wake of the 2020 U.S.
Census.
Maybe if enough Democrat-Socialists discover they have a challenger,
that the GOP ranks stand even a chance of increasing from their
paltry 29 members of 160 in the House and three of 40 in the Senate,
something can possibly change?
I'll leave it there for
now. There are an abundance of details for you to digest if
you're so inclined.
|
 |
 |
|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
|
The Boston
Herald
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Massachusetts House approves nearly $50B budget
— including hefty raises for sheriffs
By Matthew Medsger
After dispensing with more than 1,500 proposed amendments,
state lawmakers passed a budget that ballooned to $49.7
billion — without any tax cuts but $20,000 raises for 14
sheriffs across the commonwealth.
County sheriffs would be paid $195,000 under this version,
up from $171,900.
“I want to especially thank the (Ways and Means Committee)
chairman for showing me how easy it is to spend billions of
dollars in three days. I just wish I had money in my own
checking account,” Speaker Ronald Mariano said late
Wednesday evening.
The fiscal 2023 budget passed the House with a vote of
155-0.
The House’s budget, originally proposed at $130 million less
than what was eventually approved, must now be squared with
the Senate’s budget. That chamber will debate its version of
the spending package in May.
The various amendments were mostly rejected or consolidated
into seven so-called “mega-amendments.”
House lawmakers approved an increase in state spending by
more than 4%, or $2.1 billion, above last year and about
$1.5 billion more than Gov. Charlie Baker proposed.
Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, the chair of the House Ways and Means
Committee, which crafts the budget, said Monday as debate
began that the state has ridden a revenue roller coaster
over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today presents the commonwealth with a unique opportunity
to be forward-thinking while solving some immediate needs by
investing in the middle class as we start to tackle some of
the challenges the post-COVID world has created,” he said.
The unanimous approval of the budget comes just two days
after the House rejected a series of proposals by Rep.
Nicholas Boldyga mirroring $700 million in tax cuts pushed
by Baker but currently stuck in committee.
The house also rejected a proposal to temporarily suspend
the state’s gas tax in response to soaring prices at the
pump.
On Tuesday, language was added to the bill to outlaw child
marriage in Massachusetts. The commonwealth is one of dozens
of states that allows minors to marry.
The bill would send about $785 million to the state’s rainy
day fund, already sitting at a historic high balance of $4.6
billion.
This comes as the state sees record tax revenue. March tax
revenues were up by nearly 14% over last year, according to
the Department of Revenue. That department reports
year-to-date revenues are up by nearly 15%.
“The good times may not roll forever,” Mariano said when
unveiling the budget.
On Wednesday the house rejected a further proposal by
Boldyga to allow seniors to submit for a $2,500 rebate on
prescription drug costs.
“It is unclear the total cost to the commonwealth,” Rep.
Thomas Stanley said before recommending rejection.
— Herald wire services
contributed to this report.
State House News
Service
Monday, April 25, 2022
House Rejects Series Of Tax Relief Proposals
Dems Won't Rule Out Tax Relief, But Haven't Outlined Plan
By Chris Lisinski
House Democrats kicked off debate Monday on a nearly $50
billion state budget bill by rejecting Republican-led
efforts to weave tax relief into the annual spending plan.
Massachusetts raked in more than $5 billion in surplus tax
revenues last fiscal year and is running at least $1.5
billion ahead of the current year's projections, performance
that -- coupled with more than $2 billion in federal
American Rescue Plan Act socked away for future use -- has
generated a steady hum of calls for relief.
Gov. Charlie Baker has pressed recently to share the excess
revenues with taxpayers in the form of rate relief, but so
far has failed to convince lawmakers. Democrats shot down
proposals to temporarily suspend the gas tax, lessen the
impact of the estate and capital gains taxes, and boost a
tax break for senior citizens.
Monday's decisions keep pieces of Baker's tax relief package
in limbo. While legislative leaders say his proposal could
still find success outside the budget process, the House
votes show a lack of interest in paying for the recurring
tax breaks in the annual budget, and leave questions about
possible future plans.
Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, a Southwick Republican, sought to
incorporate a trio of tax changes into the House's fiscal
2023 state budget (H 4700): reducing the short-term capital
gains tax rate from 12 percent to 5 percent, doubling the
threshold at which the estate tax kicks in from $1 million
to $2 million, and increasing from $750 to $1,755 the
circuit breaker tax credit for Bay Staters ages 65 and
older.
"What we're seeing right now with the soaring inflation and
the cost of living, farmers that I even have in my district
know that they can't sell land or they can't pass their
farms down to the next generation without being hit with an
amazing tax that we have here," Boldyga said while
introducing his estate tax amendment. "I think increasing
this (threshold) to $2 million is the least that we could do
for people in Massachusetts and the farmers we have so we
can protect future generations from being hit with these
taxes and not being able to preserve their property and
their land."
His amendments mirrored sections of Baker's bill (H 4361),
which is larger in scope and calls for roughly $700 million
in tax breaks. The lame-duck governor's push for tax relief
remains before the Revenue Committee, which currenlty faces
a May 4 deadline to decide its fate but could seek another
postponement.
Rep. Mark Cusack, a Braintree Democrat who co-chairs the
Revenue Committee, described all three of Boldyga's
amendments as "premature." He said his panel is "working
diligently" on the governor's package but did not specify
any plans to advance tax relief for a vote in the House.
"We've had positive conversations with the administration
and working with our colleagues on the Revenue Committee as
well as the chair of Ways and Means," Cusack said. "This is
a premature amendment and it's a premature vote. I ask my
colleagues to join me in rejecting this so the committee can
continue to do its work going forward."
"When is helping our senior citizens premature?" Boldyga
fired back while introducing the third and final amendment
in the set. "When is helping our most vulnerable citizens of
the commonwealth premature? And since when has this august
body ever listened or waited for the governor to take
action?"
Representatives voted 31-125 to reject Boldyga's senior
circuit breaker tax credit amendment, 30-126 to reject his
estate tax amendment, and 29-127 to reject his capital gains
tax amendment.
The House also turned aside the latest attempts to halt
collection of the state's gas tax, a levy Republicans have
unsuccessfully targeted for weeks amid surging gas prices
and the broader impact of skyrocketing inflation.
With a 32-124 vote, the House rejected a Rep. Paul Frost
amendment that would have paused collection of the
24-cents-per-gallon gas tax for 60 days. Frost said he aimed
for the suspension to take place during the summer months,
when many Massachusetts families are traveling and the Bay
State's tourism business surges.
"That two months can make a world of difference for families
who are struggling to pay higher prices at the grocery
store, higher prices for goods and services, who are paying
higher prices to drive to work, at a very crucial time this
summer when we want our economy to continue to rebound,"
Frost said on the House floor.
Frost's amendment called for the state to use money from its
General Fund to cover transportation costs funded by the gas
tax, such as road and bridge maintenance, during the
two-month holiday.
The Auburn Republican pointed to neighboring Connecticut,
where Democrat Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill pausing
collection of the Nutmeg State's gas tax from April 1 to
June 30.
"We can do this together. Republicans and Democrats, we can
come together like Connecticut and give people immediate
help, immediate relief," Frost said.
Legislative Democrats for weeks have resisted calls to lift
the gas tax on a short-term basis. They previously argued
that pausing collection could harm the state's bond rating
and have been unconvinced by S&P Global Ratings's
pronouncement that such an outcome is "unlikely."
Taking aim at Frost's amendment on Monday, Transportation
Committee Co-chair Rep. William Straus contended that the
proposal "does not do what the sponsors say."
The Massachusetts fuel tax is paid by distributors, not
directly by consumers at the pump, according to Straus. He
said about two-thirds of the gas tax revenue haul -- roughly
$50 million per month -- "is paid by only 10 of these
distributors, sometimes called Big Oil."
"I'd ask for a show of hands: if we give Big Oil immediately
a tax cut of $50 million a month from the General Fund, is
there anyone who thinks that will really be passed along to
the people we represent in the price they pay at the pump?
I'm not seeing any hands and I'm certainly not seeing them
in the second division," Straus said, referring to the
section of the House chamber where most Republicans sit.
"The tax cut of $50 million a month goes to the oil
companies with no assurance, no mechanism in the amendment,
that it will actually be given to the people we represent."
Straus, a Mattapoisett Democrat, said House leadership "is
exploring the idea of different kinds of possible credits
for those who are actually being hit with higher energy
costs in the commonwealth," but did not offer details of any
action the House might take or project a timeline.
On Frost's amendment, four Democrats joined Republicans in
voting for a gas tax suspension: Rep. Colleen Garry of
Dracut, Rep. David Robertson of Tewksbury, Rep. Alan Silvia
of Fall River and Rep. Jeffrey Turco of Winthrop.
Independent Rep. Susannah Whipps of Athol voted against the
amendment.
The House rejected another gas tax suspension amendment from
Republican Rep. Peter Durant of Spencer on a voice vote, and
then laid aside one from Boldyga after deeming it too
similar to Frost's.
House Republicans last month rolled out a proposal similar
to Durant's amendment to suspend collection of the gas tax
until prices fall below $3.70 per gallon, but they did not
press for the measure to be decided with a roll call vote
and Democrats -- who wield a supermajority in both chambers
-- rejected it without individual lawmakers' stances
becoming clear at that time.
Gas prices have begun to tick upward again in Massachusetts
after dipping below an earlier peak. AAA Northeast said
Wednesday that the average price for a gallon of gasoline
was $4.13, up six cents from a week earlier and 12 cents
lower than a month prior.
The group's analysts said prices face "opposing forces" of
fears that China will experience a COVID-induced slowdown
and that less Russian oil will enter the market.
"As long as the price of oil stays elevated, the price at
the pump will struggle to fall," AAA Northeast Director of
Public and Government Affairs Mary Maguire said in a
statement. "Consumers may be catching a little break from
March's record-high prices, but don't expect any dramatic
drops."
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, which has backed prior
efforts to lift the gas tax, on Monday slammed House
Democrats who opposed Frost's amendment as "shameful."
"Democrat state lawmakers across the Northeast and across
New England are joining Republican state lawmakers to
deliver relief for their state motorists but here in
Massachusetts, 124 House Democrats refuse to work across the
aisle and refuse to help their own motorists," said
MassFiscal spokesperson Paul Craney. "Today's failed House
vote to suspend the state gas tax is a perfect demonstration
of what a greedy politician looks like. When the state is
collecting a record amount of taxpayer money, while record
gasoline prices are hurting middle class Massachusetts, 124
greedy House politicians stood in their way."
While top Democrats have kept the governor's proposal in
play, they have not offered many indications that they see
permanent tax relief as a priority and, at least in the
House, are now en route to signing off on a budget that
spends the same buckets of revenue Baker sought to keep in
the hands of taxpayers.
House Speaker Ron Mariano and House Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Aaron Michlewitz have instead pitched a targeted
increase in spending on areas of need, such as the early
education and care industry, as a better use of robust state
tax collections.
Michlewitz noted while introducing the $49.6 billion
spending bill Monday -- to which representatives filed more
than 1,500 amendments -- that the House budget "does not
account for the tax cut proposals" the governor stapled to
his version.
"That proposal is still under consideration by the Revenue
Committee, but we felt the immediate needs of making these
necessary investments were a more pressing use of the funds
for this budget," Michlewitz said.
Asked during a GBH Radio interview if she supports the
"basic direction" Baker is taking with his tax plan,
Attorney General Maura Healey, a candidate for governor,
said she knows the governor's bill is "being reviewed now by
others" and that she'd "have more to say about that at a
later time." She said "tax relief can't be the only thing,
though," and said there is a need to address areas like
infrastructure and housing.
She said she was "open to" the Legislature doing some tax
cuts this session.
"I think that people are really hurting, you know, right
now, with high costs," Healey said. "You hear it every day,
whether it's at the pump or groceries or just the cost of
living generally, housing, and we do need to find ways to
give people relief. I think that tax cuts should be part of
that. I just want to make sure that the relief is targeted
in a way that makes sense, that it's going to the families
who most need it, so I'm looking at the governor's proposals
in these contexts. I give him credit for putting something
out there."
Businessman Chris Doughty, a Republican running for
governor, said Monday he is disappointed the House voted
against Frost's gas tax amendment.
"I wish legislators would recognize that the people need
relief more than the state needs the money," Doughty said.
"It is time to give drivers a break. As the next Governor, I
will make affordability a top priority."
— Katie Lannan contributed
reporting.
The Boston
Herald
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Massachusetts lawmakers say ‘No’ on tax cuts, but pay hikes
for judges floated
By Matthew Medsger and Joe Dwinell
Lawmakers pushed to give judges a 12% pay hike, but tax
break proposals and suspending the gas tax were all spiked —
again.
“Today’s failed House vote to suspend the state gas tax is a
perfect demonstration of what a greedy politician looks
like,” Mass Fiscal Alliance’s Paul Diego Craney said Monday.
When the state House met to begin discussing its nearly $50
billion dollar spending plan for fiscal 2023 and to tackle
the over 1,500 amendments that have been stuck to it, one
representative seemed hopeful some compromise might be
found.
“Even in the middle of disagreement we manage to come
together and do things in a professional and strong way,”
state Rep. Todd Smola said.
“That’s something to be looked up to,” the Hampden
Republican said, just before his colleagues refused to
consider any of his party’s tax cut proposals.
Originally submitted to the Legislature by Gov. Charlie
Baker in January alongside his own $48.5 billion budget, the
tax cut proposals include tax relief for renters, adoption
of federal standards for no-tax status for low-income
residents, an adjustment of the “low income circuit breaker”
on property tax relief for older residents, and a proposal
to lower the estate and short-term capital gains taxes.
Those proposals are stuck in committee, but state Rep.
Nicholas Boldyga, a Southwick Republican, apparently thought
some might make it alone.
“Since when has this august body ever listened or waited for
the governor to take action?” he asked between pitches.
First Boldyga proposed raising the estate tax from $1
million to $2 million. It failed 30-126. Then he tried to
have the capital gains tax lowered form 12% to 5%. That
failed 29-127. Then he attempted to raise the senior citizen
circuit breaker for tax relief from $750 to $1,755. That’s
strike three at 31-125.
State Rep. Mark Cusack, a Braintree Democrat who co-chairs
the Revenue Committee, said his committee is still
considering Baker’s proposal and that approving those tax
changes now would be “premature.”
“When is helping our senior citizens premature? When is
helping our most vulnerable citizens of the commonwealth
premature?” Boldgya demanded.
The House then went on to decline a suspension of the
state’s 24-cent gas tax by a vote of 32-124.
As for pay hikes for judges, Democratic state Rep. Michael
Day of Stoneham filed a “Judicial Pay Equity” amendment that
would hike salaries for state judges.
The amendment, according to a copy shared with the Herald,
would bump up the pay of judges from $206,239 to $232,101.
Other suggested payroll tweaks are also included in the
amendment that all increase pay for judges.
“With all the money coming in from the federal government,
you’d think the Legislature would have middle-class tax cuts
on their mind,” said the Pioneer Institute’s Greg Sullivan.
— Herald wire services
contributed to this report.
The Boston
Globe
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
What should Mass. do with $50 billion?
A debate in the House highlights a philosophical divide.
By Matt Stout
One by one, Massachusetts House Democrats on Monday rejected
GOP-led proposals for tax breaks or suspensions within the
state’s $50 billion budget plan. Many of the Republicans’
measures, Democratic leaders argued, were still being vetted
or, as one put it, “premature.”
In most years, the actions could be viewed as legislative
formalities, a Democratic supermajority flitting away the
actions of a small Republican caucus. But during a boom time
for state revenues and escalating inflation, the votes
touched on deeper questions: As it rolls in cash, should the
state spend more of it, including to help those in need, or
should it “give back,” as Governor Charlie Baker has argued,
by lessening the tax burden on residents?
For now, House Democrats have chosen the former — winning
plaudits from progressive advocates and budget watchers
along the way.
Their budget proposal was already $1.4 billion higher than
Baker’s plan before debate started, dedicating tens of
millions of dollars more toward child care worker salaries,
more than $100 million to extend a free school meals
initiative, and $20 million to cover a proposal to eliminate
the costs incarcerated people or their families pay for
phone calls.
House leaders also left open the possibility of pursuing a
separate tax package in the coming months. They have yet to
specify when or how closely it could resemble Baker’s $700
million plan, which seeks to help renters, low-income
workers, and families passing on generational wealth.
Still, the wall they’ve put between tax breaks and their
$49.6 billion spending bill has done little to diffuse the
debate over them.
“That’s the nature of budgets. Every dollar that is spent
giving a tax break to the wealthy is a dollar that can’t be
spent supporting students,” said Andrew Farnitano, a
spokesman for the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance,
a teachers union-aligned coalition.
The group has lauded House leaders’ plan for putting more
money toward other education priorities, including for
special education, than what Baker proposed, and without
major tax breaks they say are unlikely to help low-income
taxpayers.
“The central debate,” Farnitano said, “is whether to invest
in people and communities across the commonwealth or to use
the money to fund permanent tax breaks that overwhelmingly
benefit the wealthy.”
Some economists and budget watchers argue the state could do
both. Baker’s proposal, which the second-term Republican has
rallied business leaders behind, would double the allowable
tax credits for dependent children and child care, allow
hundreds of thousands of low-income taxpayers to qualify for
“no-tax status,” and double the maximum credit low-income
seniors can claim to offset property taxes.
It would also double the threshold for the state’s estate
tax from $1 million to $2 million, and slash the tax rate on
short-term capital gains, or investments held for up to a
year, from 12 percent to 5 percent.
Taken together, the measures amount to “generally
progressive changes,” said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an
economist and Northeastern University professor emeritus,
and could help some of the same people — parents with
school-age children or those juggling childcare costs, for
example — that the House is targeting with increased
spending.
“There’s more than one way to meet a social end,”
Clayton-Matthews said.
State Representative Nicholas A. Boldyga, a Southwick
Republican, sought several times Monday to thread versions
of Baker’s proposals into the budget debate, including with
amendments raising the threshold on the estate tax or
slashing capital gains tax rate.
Each time, Representative Mark J. Cusack, the House chairman
of the revenue committee and a Democrat, stepped to the
House podium to oppose them, calling them “premature” and
urging lawmakers to allow the committee to “continue to do
our work” vetting them. And each time lawmakers rejected
them largely along party-line votes.
“That proposal is still under consideration by the revenue
committee,” state Representative Aaron Michlewitz, the
House’s budget chief, said about Baker’s package. “But we
felt the immediate needs of making these necessary
investments were a more pressing use of the funds for this
budget.”
It’s an approach progressive advocates have touted. Kurt
Wise, senior policy analyst at the left-leaning
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, said state policy
makers’ “first priorities” should be investments, not tax
cuts, arguing that the state partly owes its overperforming
tax revenues to the surge of billions of one-time federal
aid into the state economy during the pandemic.
The center has roundly criticized Baker’s pursuit of changes
to the estate tax and short-term capital gains, arguing the
$350 million in those tax cuts would do little to benefit
low-income workers.
Republican lawmakers, however, have argued the state should
seek out other short-term measures to address the pain
residents are feeling from a 40-year high in inflation. The
House on Monday voted down two separate GOP-led measures to
suspend the state’s 24 cents-a-gallon gas tax — and a third
amendment was laid aside — weeks after House Republicans had
tried, and failed, to push a similar measure. GOP lawmakers
have argued that other states, including Connecticut and
Maryland, suspended theirs.
“Taxpayers of Massachusetts have been told tax relief is on
the way, that we’re looking at all options. But in this
budget we don’t see that,” state Representative Peter J.
Durant, a Spencer Republican, said while advocating for a
monthslong suspension, which was rejected on a voice vote.
“The people of Massachusetts need this break. They need to
be able to see that we’re serious about providing them with
some relief in their pocketbooks.”
Representative William M. Straus, a Mattapoisett Democrat
and House chairman of the transportation committee, said
House leaders understand residents are suffering, and said
they are “exploring the idea of [offering] credits for
people” shouldering high energy costs.
But how, and when, that or other measures of relief could
emerge remain open-ended questions. So does another: With so
much money at their disposal, will policy makers ultimately
choose to use it well?
“When it feels like there’s more money than we know what to
do with, it opens the door to bad policies,” said Evan
Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy
Analysis at Tufts University. “It’s not a bad thing to be
flush. But when you’re not, you face a totally different set
of tradeoffs in terms of spending. And that kind of pressure
is missing.”
State House News
Service
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
House Bulks Up, Approves $49.7 Billion FY23 Budget
By Chris Van Buskirk
The House passed a $49.7 billion fiscal 2023 budget
Wednesday evening after adding nearly $130 million in
spending through seven mega-amendments over the course of
three days.
Speaking from the floor of the House at the outset of the
debate, House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Aaron Michlewitz
said the state has witnessed a "roller-coaster revenue
experience" over the last four years, including the last two
in a pandemic.
"[The] budget that is before us today presents the
commonwealth with a unique opportunity to be
forward-thinking while solving some immediate needs by
investing in the middle class as we start to tackle some of
the challenges the post-COVID world has created," the
House's chief budget writer said Monday. "This once in a
generation opportunity allows us to build for a better
future, one that is more resilient, more equitable, and more
rewarding for all of us in the commonwealth."
Lawmakers dispensed with 1,522 budget amendments through a
number of large packages that were split up by subject
category. The House approved the first on Monday, which
included $500,000 for the new Genocide Education Trust Fund,
a program lawmakers have said will help younger generations
learn about some of the world's worst mass killings and
genocides.
Representatives worked through three more consolidated
amendments on Tuesday, adding another $88.3 million in
spending and approving language outlawing child marriage in
the state and increasing judicial system salaries.
The House added another $33 million Wednesday through three
more mega-amendments covering energy, environmental affairs,
and housing; state administration, constitutional officers
and transportation; and economic development.
Rep. Josh Cutler said the bill includes $137 million for the
Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, a $20
million increase over last year, and $15 million for
MassHire, which he called one of the state's "key cogs in
our workforce system."
"These one-stop regional career centers serve as a conduit
between job seekers and businesses looking to fill
positions," Cutler said. "Since March of 2020, more than
100,000 workers in Massachusetts have turned to MassHire for
career counseling, job search support, and referrals to
vocational training."
House Democrats rejected Monday a Republican push to include
tax relief in the budget including efforts to temporarily
suspend the gas tax, lessen impacts of the estate and
capital gains tax, and boost a tax break for senior
citizens.
The Boston
Globe
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Mass. House passes nearly $50 billion budget;
top official calls it ‘a once-in-a-generation opportunity’
By Samantha J. Gross
Flush with cash from better-than-expected tax revenues and
increased federal reimbursement, the Massachusetts House
Wednesday night unanimously passed a $49.7 billion spending
plan that represents a commitment to “investing in the
state’s middle class,” according to the chamber’s budget
chief.
The budget would increase spending across an array of
programs, funneling dollars into child care worker salaries,
a free school meals initiative, and a proposal to eliminate
the costs incarcerated people or their families pay for
phone calls, among other things.
The budget, which would not raise taxes for Massachusetts
residents, includes a series of pay raises for judges and
makes policy changes.
Among them: prohibiting marriages for minors and putting
more scrutiny on medical examiners performing autopsies on a
child under the age of 2 by requiring the chief medical
examiner to sign off on any rulings or revisions to those
reports.
The proposal has been pushed for years by Cambridge’s Sameer
Sabir and his wife, Nada Siddiqui, whose 1-year-old daughter
Rehma died in January 2013. Her nanny, Aisling Brady
McCarthy, was initially charged with murder after the
medical examiner’s office ruled Rehma’s death a homicide by
blunt force trauma. But then, weeks before the case was set
to go to trial, the assistant medical examiner made a
last-minute reversal, ruling the child’s death inconclusive,
possibly caused by a brain bleed of unknown cause.
Prosecutors later dropped the murder charges.
A spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
declined to comment on the proposal beyond saying the Baker
administration would review it.
The spending plan also eliminates probation and parole fees
and bumps up funding for state parks.
The final product notably did not include a tax relief
component that business groups and Governor Charlie Baker
have been pushing in recent weeks.
This budget “presents the Commonwealth with a unique
opportunity to be forward-thinking while solving some
immediate needs by investing in the middle class as we start
to tackle challenges the post-COVID world has created,”
House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said as he
presented the budget earlier this week. “This is a
once-in-a-generation opportunity that allows us to build for
a better future.”
Over three days, lawmakers deliberated — mostly in private —
over 1,521 amendments filed to the spending bill, rejecting
proposals to temporarily suspend the gas tax and provide
other tax relief, and agreeing to millions in extra
spending.
Rather than debating each one in public on its merits, the
amendments were mostly passed — or discarded — in seven
consolidated groups such as education and social services,
health and human services and elder affairs, and public
safety and judiciary.
The amendments totaled about $130 million in additional
spending, bringing the budget from $49.6 to $49.7 billion
over the course of the three-day debate.
The budget includes a $25.5 million increase in higher
education scholarship funding from the last fiscal year,
$500,000 for the new program to teach younger generations
about killings and genocides throughout world history, and a
$20 million increase in funding for the Executive Office of
Labor and Workforce Development, an effort to help job
seekers across the state.
The budget package, which surpasses the governor’s spending
plan by well more than $1 billion, does not include a tax
relief component, which the two-term Republican said would
give nearly $700 million back to taxpayers in the form of
new tax breaks and other reforms.
“The House budget responds to the economic challenges
currently facing Massachusetts residents by balancing a
focus on immediate needs such as workforce development, with
a focus on long-term investments that are designed to grow
our economy in a sustainable way,” House Speaker Ronald J.
Mariano said in a statement Thursday.
Baker’s proposal, which he had been pressing ahead of the
House’s debate, is backed by business leaders and was filed
as a bill separate from his budget proposal. It is up for
consideration by the Joint Committee on Revenue, where House
chairman Representative Mark Cusack said the proposal is
“obviously still alive.”
Baker has argued that there is enough money for the
Legislature to both offer tax relief as well as spend more
on the targeted programs the House prioritized in its
budget.
“We can afford to give money back to the taxpayers,” Baker
said at a recent news conference. “The Commonwealth is in a
very unique and unusual position . . . we are currently
running a budget surplus that is billions of dollars above
our benchmark for the second year in a row. These are
billions with a ‘B.’”
The state budget’s approval in the House is only one step in
a winding process to finalize a spending plan of
Massachusetts residents’ money before the next fiscal year
begins on July 1. The Senate will soon propose and pass its
own budget, prompting a series of negotiations between the
chambers until they reach a compromise measure.
Once they do, the bill will head to the governor’s desk,
where he can sign it into law or veto all or part of it,
among other options.
— Matt Stout of the Globe
staff contributed to this report.
State House News
Service
Friday, April 29, 2022
Weekly Roundup - The More Things Change
By Chris Lisinski
You know the old saying.
The more things change, like the Senate voting in favor of a
sports betting bill after years of inaction, the more they
stay the same, with a House budget week marked by throngs of
lobbyists lining the State House hallways, catered dinners,
and back-room dealmaking.
More than three years after a U.S. Supreme Court decision
opened the floodgates for legalized gambling on sports, the
Senate for the first time ever voted in favor of the
practice, albeit in a manner that portends tricky
negotiations with the House over college contests and tax
rates.
But even as senators embraced something new, they remained
stubborn in their desire to keep their individual views
opaque.
As the final vote on the bill approached Thursday, Sen. Eric
Lesser suddenly reversed course and asked to withdraw his
request for a roll call vote. None of his colleagues
objected, not even sports betting's staunchest supporters,
allowing the measure to pass with ambiguous support of "the
Senate" as a body.
Democrat leaders in both chambers often try to whip
unanimous or near-unanimous support from their caucuses
behind the scenes before bringing forward legislation, so
the move to keep each senator off the record could reflect
an attempt to avoid a tighter vote, at least publicly, than
Senate President Karen Spilka might like.
Legislators at this time of year -- House and Senate
candidates have until Tuesday to file 2022 nomination papers
and signatures -- are mindful of drawing challengers, and of
any votes that might spur more candidates to jump in or
emerge as a pressure point on the campaign trail.
The voice vote also continued a long-running pattern by
Spilka of keeping sports betting at arm's length. Last
month, after a News Service poll found 60 percent of the
Senate cosponsored sports wagering legislation or backed the
policy, Spilka said she was still "working towards a
consensus." On Thursday, referring to a bill that could not
have reached the point of debate unless she gave at least a
tacit go-ahead, Spilka said it "doesn't matter whether I
support it. It matters whether the senators and the Senate
as a whole supports it."
Those remarks came as Senate leadership set their sights on
their next major priority: allowing undocumented immigrants
in Massachusetts to acquire driver's licenses.
The Senate plans to vote on the legislation next week, and
Spilka and a dozen other Democrats said they expected to
advance a measure "very close" to a version that cleared the
House with a veto-proof majority -- which could be crucial
given Gov. Charlie Baker's concerns about the idea -- in
February.
Asked why the Senate waited until May to schedule a vote
given vocal support for it in her chamber and from herself
personally, Spilka replied, "There was a lot going on."
Such was the case in the House, which was abuzz for its
in-person debate on a fiscal 2023 state budget.
Dozens of state representatives packed
the House chamber for three days of formal sessions,
returning a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy after remote
participation dominated in the past two budget cycles during
the COVID-19 state of emergency. With the energy of students
returning to school after a long summer away from
classmates, lawmakers spent the long stretches of idle time
on the floor catching up about new hairstyles, recounting
recent vacations, and dipping into each other's stashes of
candy.
Many of the most important decisions were made in private,
as is so often the case with the House's annual spending
bill. Representatives used the members' lounge to pitch
their priorities, and Democrat leaders then carved up the
record 1,500-plus amendments into seven mega-amendments.
In another status quo-preserving move, House Democrats once
again turned aside a Republican push for tax relief. The
House rejected proposals at the outset of budget debate to
pause collection of the state's 24-cents-per-gallon gas tax,
this time with a roll call vote that made each
representative's position clear, and to weave some of
Baker's estate, capital gains and senior tax reform into the
annual state spending bill.
Top Democrats continue to insist they haven't outright
killed the lame-duck governor's push for $700 million in tax
relief, noting that the bill technically still remains
pending before the Revenue Committee. And by saying any
action on tax cuts in the budget would have been
"premature," they implied there's action to come.
With no counter-proposal outlined, however, that repeated
argument landed with a thud. Maybe Baker's $3.5 billion
economic development bill could be the vehicle, but the
window for action is shrinking and the outlook is as fuzzy
as ever.
COVID-19 still loomed over the whirlwind week in the
Legislature, even if most lawmakers were back in the
building to cast their votes. The House's HR office informed
members and staff Monday that there were three positive
cases among individuals who were in the building last week,
and Senate leaders urged members partway through Thursday's
session to mask up after a string of exposures.
Overshadowing the final day of House
budget week was a single lawmaker's poor decisions.
Less than two hours after the House wrapped up its Tuesday
night session, Rep. David LeBoeuf's 2014 Ford Escape came to
a halt on the Burgin Parkway in Quincy, smoking and missing
the front right tire. Police say they found nine empty nip
bottles in the back of the car and two cans of wine, one
empty and one half-empty, in the front cupholders.
LeBoeuf, a Worcester Democrat, allegedly told police he was
"coming from Massachusetts" and thought he was in Newton
heading home, not in Quincy south of the city. When he
submitted to chemical breath tests, they found LeBoeuf had
roughly four times the legal blood alcohol content for
driving, police say.
The booking photo of LeBoeuf -- glassy-eyed, disheveled and
with a bloody cheek -- zoomed around the political
infosphere the next morning, prompting calls from the state
Republican Party for his resignation.
"Budget week, a tradition unlike any other," the MassGOP
account tweeted.
LeBoeuf later apologized for an "egregious lapse in
judgment" and disclosed personal struggles with addiction.
He called the incident, which did not cause any injuries, a
"desperate wake-up call that I need further support."
The two-term rep might face a tougher reelection bid with
the arrest hanging over his head, but if the past is any
precedent, drunk driving charges don't always carry lasting
consequences on Beacon Hill.
Take the case of Sen. Michael Brady, who lost a cushy post
as chair of the Public Service Committee -- and the $15,000
stipend it carries -- in 2019 following his drunk driving
arrest only to be reassigned the same chairmanship for the
2021-2022 session once he won another term.
What about wrongdoing more directly tied to a politician's
work, such as accepting bribes? We might find out the answer
to that this fall.
Former Sen. Dianne Wilkerson made clear this week that she
is weighing a run for her former office, which she resigned
in 2008 while facing federal extortion charges before
pleading guilty and serving a prison sentence.
Wilkerson, who in recent years has taken up a new community
activism role, could still opt not to submit her paperwork
and end her comeback bid before it truly begins. Or, her
presence in the crowded Second Suffolk Senate District race,
which also features Reps. Liz Miranda and Nika Elugardo and
Rev. Miniard Culpepper, could create a fascinating
referendum on the contours of forgiveness and
rehabilitation.
Although still light on details, one of the most significant
changes of the week was the unexpected announcement that
state and federal officials had agreed to a "path forward"
to connect eastern and western Massachusetts by passenger
rail.
Baker now appears to have overcome his earlier skepticism
about the idea of East-West Rail (or West-East Rail,
depending on where you live) and pledged to work in upcoming
months to create "requisite building blocks" at the state
level, including a new rail authority.
And in the "stay the same" column, the MBTA moved forward
with a draft $2.55 billion budget that boosts spending even
as its leaders warn the agency is careening toward a
financial cliff and a shortfall of hundreds of millions of
dollars next year.
You might not want to hold your breath waiting to see if
that prompts action on Beacon Hill.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Pressure on the Senate to take up sports
betting finally produced a result, but because it featured
major differences from the House's approach, the practice
becoming law is still far from a safe bet.
House Budget
Session Summaries
— April 25-27, 2022
State House News Service
Monday, April 25, 2022
House Session Summary - Monday, April 25, 2022
By Sam Doran and Chris Lisinski
On the first day of deliberations on a $49.6 billion budget
bill for fiscal 2023, the House tacked on more than $7.3
million in additional spending through a consolidated
amendment dealing with education, local aid, social
services, veterans' services, and soldiers' homes proposals.
https://www.statehousenews.com/content/docs/2022/04-25_HouseBudget_ConsolidatedA.pdf
Consolidated Amendment "A", adopted 156-0, includes $500,000
for a new Genocide Education Trust Fund line item. It would
also direct UMass Amherst to report back to the Legislature
by Dec. 31 on "the feasibility of establishing a
Massachusetts school of health sciences education and center
for health care workforce innovation" at the UMass Mount Ida
Campus in Newton.
Representatives voted earlier in the day to reject a string
of Republican proposals to pause gas tax collection and to
incorporate some of Gov. Charlie Baker's tax cut priorities.
After shooting down the revenue-related ideas, the House
retreated into back-room deal-making mode, with long periods
of recess on the floor and conversations taking place in the
Members' Lounge about various amendment categories.
The House broke for the night after voting on Consolidated
"A," planning to return to session at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Another private Members' Lounge meeting is scheduled for
10:30 a.m. Tuesday on amendments categorized under public
health, mental health, and disabilities.
State House News Service
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
House Session Summary - Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Three Budget Mega-Amendments Approved In Day Two of Debate
By Chris Lisinski
Representatives on Tuesday added more than $88.3 million in
spending and a string of notable policy changes to the
House's $49.6 billion fiscal 2023 budget over the course of
their second successive formal session.
The House floor was quiet for long stretches of the day with
decisions instead taking place behind closed doors to bundle
hundreds of individual amendments together into three
mega-amendment packages, each of which sailed through with a
single vote: Consolidated "B", which covered health and
human services and elder affairs with a bottom line of $46.4
million; Consolidated "C", which tackled public safety and
judiciary proposals and tacked on $27.2 million; and
Consolidated "D", which dispensed with public health, mental
health and disability services with $14.6 million in
additional spending.
In addition to the lengthy list of earmarks, the House added
language into its budget bill that would outlaw child
marriage in Massachusetts, increase judicial system
salaries, require the state's chief medical examiner to
review death cases involving young children, and mandate a
deeper analysis of opioid overdose deaths.
Now through two days of debate on the annual budget bill,
the House has completed work on 10 of 16 amendment
categories. Amendments dealing with constitutional officers
and state administration, energy and environmental affairs,
housing, labor and economic development, non-budgetary
legislation and transportation remain pending and could
emerge when the House returns at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H4700/Amendments/House
State House News Service
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
House Session Summary - Wednesday, April 27, 2022
The House passed a $49.7 billion fiscal 2023 budget proposal
Wednesday evening.
Chris Van Buskirk
The House passed a $49.7 billion fiscal 2023 budget proposal
Wednesday evening after three days of debate and adding
nearly $130 million to the bottom line through seven
mega-amendments covering everything from education to
economic development.
Over the course of almost nine hours during the third day of
budget deliberations, lawmakers approved three amendment
packages: Consolidated "E" covering constitutional officers,
state administration, and transportation with a fiscal note
of $3.5 million; Consolidated "F" covering energy,
environmental affairs, and housing with a fiscal note of
$7.8 million; and Consolidated "G" covering labor and
economic development with a fiscal note of $15.7 million. A
final technical amendment from Rep. Aaron Michlewitz added
$6.6 million in spending.
The Senate will debate its own budget proposal in May. Also
Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Golden (D-Lowell) gave a farewell
speech from the floor of the House as he prepares to leave
the branch to become city manager in Lowell.
The House is back in session on Thursday at 11 a.m.
State House News
Service
Friday, April 29, 2022
Advances - Week of May 1, 2022
Massachusetts lawmakers heading into the final three months
of formal sessions are on their way toward making
Massachusetts a place that's more friendly for marijuana
entrepreneurs, gamblers who like to place bets on sports,
and undocumented immigrants who wish to obtain driver's
licenses.
House and Senate Democrats in recent weeks have generated
momentum behind all three of those policy directives, with
the Senate set on Thursday to pass its version of the
licensing bill (S 2851). The House in February approved a
similar licensing bill on a 120-36 vote.
Senators are also newly in receipt of a $49.7 billion
House-approved fiscal 2023 budget, which arrives in that
branch at a time when data shows the state economy is
cooling off, a situation that could affect the Senate's
approach to spending. The Senate typically debates its
annual budget during the week before Memorial Day, so those
deliberations are a few weeks away.
A House-Senate negotiating team could be named next week to
attempt to find common ground on sports betting bills that
differ on core topics like tax rates, advertising
restrictions, and even which games would be eligible for
wagering.
The branches appear much closer in their approach to
election system reforms, but bills (S 2554 / H 4367) to
permanently sanction early and mail-in voting and same-day
voter registration on Tuesday will mark their third month
locked up in a six-member conference committee.
Similarly, bills to improve operations at the state's two
long-term care homes for veterans remain tied up in
conference.
There's also a lot of green space between the House and
Senate on clean energy and emissions bills, as well as
health care system reforms, although it's clear that both
sides want to make policy strides in those areas this
session.
And a pair of major bills are expected to pass, but still
haven't been tackled in either branch - an economic
development bill and an infrastructure bond bill that could
serve as the vehicle for enabling legislation to extend
passenger rail service to western Massachusetts.
The House next week has a pair of informal sessions planned,
with its next formal sessions, according to a tentative
agenda, planned for May 18 and May 19. |
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
BACK TO CLT
HOMEPAGE
|
