In The News: Economy

The new revenue: But since the tax cuts were relatively small, the revenue taxpayers saved was "vastly less" than the roughly $700 million in additional annual revenue the foundation estimates was raised because of other measures Romney signed, according to Michael Widmer, the foundation's president.

“It’s consistent with our general sense of the slowly, very slowly, improving Massachusetts economy, and housing with it,” said Michael Widmer, president of the nonpartisan, business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

"The job picture is much more sobering than it was six months ago, which will only place further pressure on the already strained state finances," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "As a result, we are seeing greater demand for state programs while experiencing slower revenue growth."

This marks the second year in a row of increases in the number of municipalities that saw improvements or stabilization in home values. “It’s consistent with our general sense of the slowly, very slowly, improving Massachusetts economy, and housing with it,” said Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

At one Republican debate in 2008, Romney said the fees needed to be adjusted for inflation and to cover the cost of services, but Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Michael Widmer told us then that the increase "wasn't tied to any analysis of the cost of delivering those services" and the group characterized those fees as "far in excess of any reasonable measure of the cost of services."

All told, Romney raised fees by about $375 million and closed tax loopholes that raised another $375 million in revenue, according to Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan, business-backed budget watchdog group.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation confirms when Romney was Governor, the state was 47 of 50 in terms of job creation. Romney credits already-strong employment for that statistic.

“Did he make government smaller and simpler – no, it looked very much like what it did four years earlier,” said Michael Widmer, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “There was very little reform to show for his four years.”

“I would say this was one of the most impressive sessions over the past 30 years in terms of legislation passed,” said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Association.

Andrew Bagley, a foundation spokesman, told us in an interview that Massachusetts businesses paid $377 million more in taxes in fiscal 2007, which included several months of Romney’s last year as governor, than the $1.6 billion they were averaging annually before the recession that socked the state as Romney was sworn in during fiscal 2003. The state’s fiscal year runs from July through June.