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Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Tax­payers Foundation, says the Legislature may be spending less time debating, but it’s still getting plenty done. During the 2009-2010 session, lawmakers passed major transportation initiatives and last year they approved municipal health care and pension reforms and set up a casino gambling framework. Widmer says legislators should be judged by the quality of the legislation they approve and not the quantity of their debate.

The problem: As panelist Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation pointed out, even in an improving economy, the squeeze on the state's resources is only going to get worse over the next few years.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and Boston Municipal Research Bureau have determined about 35,000 workers get the day off, while Knapik estimates the two holidays cost the state $5 million in overtime and lost productivity.

We already face a huge $2.5 billion hole in the budget and that would double if the sales-tax rollback passes," Widmer said. He said the tax cuts would take at least $2.5 billion a year from the state's tax base and would lead to "massive cuts" in local aid.

Widmer also gave committee members a chart showing Massachusetts ranked fifth from the bottom among states in job creation this decade, with jobs here down by 186,000 since 2000. Massachusetts outperformed only Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, according to the chart, which showed about half the states adding jobs over the decade.

According to a report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released earlier this month, if the measure passes, the state would be forced to slash most agency budgets by more than 70 percent. According estimates gathered by the political action group Vote No on Question 1, the city of Newburyport would lose $12 million in education funding and an additional $2.6 million in state aid.