The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a leading Beacon Hill watchdog group, recently revised its tax revenue forecast for next year, now predicting the state could collect $6 billion less than anticipated just five months ago.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a state watchdog group, issued a revised report this week projecting the state could collect $6 billion less in tax revenues in fiscal 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. MTF President Eileen McAnneny projected in April that the state would collect $4.4 billion less in tax revenues next fiscal year.

Last week, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated that state tax revenues will fall by $6 billion, or nearly 20 percent, in the next fiscal year, from the revenue outlook that state leaders established in January.

But defeat of the override will seem like a spring shower compared to the hurricane-sized threat posed by a potential COVID-caused loss of $800,000 to $1 million in state aid.

A Beacon Hill watchdog projects the state is facing a $6 billion revenue shortfall in the fiscal year that starts July 1. The report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said Massachusetts will need to find new revenue, or drastically cut spending. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation president Eileen McAnneny.

McAnneny now expects the shutdown to raise the state unemployment rate to 22 percent by the end of June. She projects that 323,000 jobs will be recovered by June 2021, but employment is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2024.

McAnneny said the foundation’s analysis was completed before Gov. Charlie Baker released his plan for the state’s reopening on Monday. She said the foundation’s analysis assumes that economic activity will resume this summer, but it will be slow and uneven, resulting in lower tax revenues.

“More current data indicate that the economy is unlikely to ramp up quickly and the job loss will be far greater than originally expected. As the size, scope, and duration of this public health crisis grow, we have revised our forecast to reflect the deteriorating economic outlook.

A recent report (April 14) from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) assesses the state’s fiscal condition. MTF forecasts that because of the shutdown of most businesses, the Commonwealth will collect $4-$6 billion, or at least 14.1 percent less in revenues than anticipated, for the current fiscal year.

In a letter to Senate Ways and Means Chairmen Michael Rodrigues, Aaron Michlewitz and Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan, the chief fiscal 2021 budget planners, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny offered a few ideas on how to deal with budget shortfalls, which include delaying the implementation of the new school funding law and reducing a planned boos

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, an influential think tank in Boston, disagreed that borrowing would be the best way to fill the shortfall.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted seemingly everything about our normal routines, and the state’s budget process on Beacon Hill is no exception. Three of the unique challenges facing lawmakers warrant mentioning.

“It seems highly likely that the fiscal 2021 budget will be most difficult in recent memory,” Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny wrote in a letter to Ways and Means Chairmen Sen. Michael Rodrigues and Aaron Michlewitz and Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan, the chief architects of the forthcoming fiscal 2021 budget.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicts the state will see a $4.4 billion drop in tax revenues in the fiscal year that begins July 1, a figure that could grow depending on how long people are out of work.

To calculate several other expected revenues, the town is anticipating a 14.1 percent drop from previous predictions. This thinking, Mayo said, was influenced by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which is predicting the state will see a 14.1 percent reduction in state revenue in Massachusetts.

McAnneny, of the business-backed taxpayers foundation, says the CARES Act is "insufficient to mitigate the economic impacts of the pandemic." In her testimony earlier this month, McAnneny highlighted the role that federal funds can play by pointing the $7.4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that the federal government delivered to Massachusetts between fiscal 2009 and fiscal

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a budget watchdog group backed by businesses, estimated the state’s revenue for the next fiscal year could drop $3.9 billion, or 15 percent, below past projections. New York said revenues could fall by as much as $15 billion in its fiscal year that started April 1. Illinois is expecting more than $7 billion in lost revenue through July 2021.

According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, "We can anticipate a $4.4 billion loss of revenue in the state next year," Holaday said, adding that it's the "best-case scenario if we are able to open the state and businesses by early July."

This time around, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation forecasts unemployment approaching 18 percent by the end of June, with 570,000 jobs disappearing in recent weeks. Many of those jobs will be recovered by next spring, but total employment won’t return to pre-crisis levels until 2022, the foundation predicts.

The virtual meeting began Thursday with presentations from Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center President Marie-Frances Rivera and Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny, each of whom detailed the forecasts they provided earlier this week at a hearing designed to help state budget managers chart a path through the end of fiscal 2020 and into the uncertainties of fiscal year

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation projected a revenue decline of $4 billion for the state's fiscal year 2021 budget. A Senate working group that had been studying tax code changes indicated it will struggle to make recommendations while the pandemic is ongoing.

Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung told Boston Public Radio on Thursday economic forecasts from Moody's Analytics and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation put the state's economic reopening into July.

Bagley with the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says the organization predicts an ultimate 18% unemployment rate in the Bay State.

Massachusetts budget watchers are predicting a steep drop in revenue in the face of the coronavirus economic shutdown. Democratic House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said the House typically holds its budget debate in April, a timeline he said is no longer feasible.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated sales tax revenues will drop $1.5 billion due to closures in public life and loss of personal income as a result of widespread layoffs and furloughs.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, predicted the state budget to be hobbled by a $4.4 billion drop in tax revenues in the fiscal year that begins July 1, and even that could change depending on how long it takes to get people back to work. Sales tax collections will take a projected $1.5 billion hit, she said, as consumers put off major purchases such as cars.

One of the panelists, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, projected that tax collections in fiscal 2021 will drop by $4.4 billion, or 14.1 percent below the benchmark that top budget officials agreed to back in January.

Tax revenue gains that lawmakers had hoped to use on education and transportation this year have been decimated as the economy has ground to a halt because of COVID-19. Revenues are now projected to fall by $4.4 billion — or 14.1 percent — below the benchmark reached in January, according to a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation report.

Foundation President Eileen McAnneny described the “sudden and steep onslaught” of the economic crisis that Massachusetts and the nation are experiencing as coronavirus has tightened its grip. Massive layoffs have sent the unemployment rate skyrocketing to almost 18 percent, with many economists warning it could get even worse in the coming months.

Tax collections that lawmakers had hoped would propel big investments in education and transportation this year are now projected to fall by $4.4 billion, or 14.1 percent below the benchmark that top budget officials agreed to back in January, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said unemployment in the second quarter of 2020 could push toward 18 percent, with 570,000 jobs lost and a $4.4 billion, or 14.1%, decline in projected revenue for the next fiscal year. McAnneny said Massachusetts could recover 410,000 jobs within a year, but employment won't reach pre-virus levels until 2022.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said the state could see a decline of billions of dollars in revenue and massive layoffs as high as 570,000 that could push the unemployment rate to nearly 18%.

“Simply stated, COVID-19 is a Cat 5 hurricane hitting global economies simultaneously,” MTF wrote in its analysis. “The initial impacts are staggering -- to people and families, first responders, health care professionals, employers and employees, and the world’s economy. The scale and duration of the pandemic are as yet unknown.”

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated the revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year will be between $300 million and $500 million, while the Center for State Policy Analysis pegged it at between $500 million and $750 million. Both organizations said the shortfall could exceed $2 billion in fiscal 2021.

Massachusetts is facing scrutiny on two fronts as public markets collapse and pressure on government pensions for its nearly 300,000 public employees and retirees and budgets rise. The commonwealth’s credit rating could take the real hit in all of this.

The analysis by the center is similar to a report released March 17 by the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The foundation analysis estimated a lower revenue falloff — $300 million to $500 million – in the current fiscal year. But it estimated a similar impact — $2 billion to $3 billion — for fiscal 2021.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency that is causing a public finance emergency in Massachusetts," said a new analysis of the state's fiscal outlook by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation published Monday.

The margin for error already seemed slim: The business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation issued a report on Wednesday highlighting several uncertain aspects of Governor Charlie Baker’s spending plan for the next fiscal year.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is best known for the critical eye it casts on state finances. But the business-backed group is also using its data-crunching for another purpose: curbing opioid abuse. President Eileen McAnneny is spearheading an initiative called Mass.

“We’re talking about big increases and every year and the cost is expected to go up almost 10% a year,” said Heath Fahle, policy director for the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “Health care, local aid, public safety, MBTA and road projects all get squeezed a little by these rapidly growing pension payments,” said Fahle.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation on Wednesday predicted the upcoming budget cycle will differ significantly from the last two, during which tax receipts shattered projections and enabled the state to bulk up its cash reserves, pass one-time investments, and push the state budget up to $43.3 billion.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said addressing the opioid epidemic is an “economic imperative,” and that MTF is hoping to draw as many employers as possible into the effort. Initial participants include John Hancock, KPMG, Liberty Mutual, PwC, Bank of America, Rockland Trust and EY, among others.

The analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation suggests that lawmakers may have to consider “tax increases or spending cuts” to balance the state’s $43 billion-plus budget. It would mark a stark reversal from recent years when officials’ primary money problem was jostling over ways to spend an unexpected windfall amid back-to-back years with a $1 billion surplus.

Massachusetts businesses have launched a year-long initiative to address the opioid crisis, forming a new coalition to reduce stigma and increase access to treatment.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation on Tuesday launched its Mass C.A.R.E.S. -- Massachusetts Communication and Awareness around Recovery and Employer Support -- program, asking participating businesses to pledge to do at least four things in 2020 to make their workplaces more recovery-friendly. Suggested "action steps" include completing a risk assessment and revisiting employee benefit design.

This coalition was formed by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation in response to the organization’s research into the economic impact of the drug addiction crisis. The official kick-off of Mass. C.A.R.E.S. – an acronym for Communication and Awareness around Recovery programs and Employer Support – was today in Boston.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and co-chair of the income tax subcommittee within a Senate Revenue Working Group charged with revamping the state’s tax code, said that members have discussed ways to ensure maximum adherence to existing laws.

Wednesday's session did not unfold without tension. Rep. Maria Robinson filed an amendment that would have stripped a section of the bill that decouples Massachusetts from the federal tax code, citing a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis that the change could cause the state to forego up to $37 million in fiscal year 2020 revenue by allowing corporations to continue deducting interest.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says it’s not really surprising that employers are worrying more about the end to a decade-plus of economic expansion. But there are mixed signals, still: She points to the latest jobs numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that show the country’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest point in 50 years.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is among the groups that hopes the film tax credit is in its final seasons, believing the funding could be better spent on “other priorities.” “We are opposed to the film tax credit. We’ve had long-standing opposition,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed group. “Most of the money goes to firms outside of Massachusetts.”

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says express lanes are worth exploring but the state should also try to get people to ditch their cars altogether by adding tolls.

“The question is: Is it enough money for what? To deliver a 21st century transportation system, perhaps not,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “Does it fund the capital investment plan and put us on the way? Yes.”

There should be no doubt that late budgets cause problems, though not the problems cited by Moody’s. For example, Moody’s worried that local governments would not receive monthly payments. The Commonwealth’s interim budget legislation is brief (less than 250 words), but it authorizes local aid payments explicitly.

BOSTON (CBS) – Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, joined WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller this week on Keller @ Large to discuss the state of tax issues in the state.

Casino revenue is “not a panacea,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a fiscal watchdog group. “Nor will it solve the Commonwealth’s long-term fiscal challenges by any stretch,” though it could help fund new or supplement existing services.

The MTF statement cited doubts over whether the estimated $2 billion in tax revenue would go towards the proposed transportation and education, or would even materialize at all. ″[T]he power to appropriate revenue in the state budget rests solely within the Legislature and cannot be guaranteed in the constitution,” according to the statement.

The letter, circulated by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education and signed by groups including Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, said employers are reporting trouble finding qualified candidates for open jobs while students are graduating unprepared to secure those positions.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation echoed the message from Anderson in an analysis released Monday where the group concluded that the millionaires tax was not "sound tax policy." The foundation also said the estimated $1.9 million in new tax revenue was "unlikely" to materialize due to the mobility of wealthy taxpayers and the volatility of capital gains taxes.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-funded public policy organization, has been vocal in its opposition and views the tax as a “far-reaching and unguided experiment that risks the state’s economic well-being.” The MTF statement expressed doubts over whether the estimated $2 billion in tax revenue would go toward the proposed transportation and education, or would even material

But within the last decade, new construction and rising property values have helped boost local revenue, offsetting a declining share of state aid provided to municipalities, which fell to 19 percent of municipal revenue in fiscal 2018 compared to 28 percent in fiscal 1999, according to a 2019 report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

State Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, who chaired the Special Commission on Local and Regional Health, which produced the report, visited Beacon Hill on Tuesday to release a summary of the report and the commission’s recommendations.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates the state will reap close to $300 million in FY2020.

Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said legislators should not spend the possible surplus on operating budget expenses, but rather save it toward the next “milestone” of $3 billion in reserves, or use it to pay down debt and pension liabilities and invest in one-time priorities like fixing the state’s transportation system or preparing for climate change.

In a report published Wednesday, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the state is "essentially on pace" to collect its anticipated $138 million in gaming revenue this fiscal year and can expect to collect $294 million in fiscal year 2020, which will begin about a week after Encore Boston Harbor's anticipated opening date.

But as the Taxpayers Foundation points out, there are also some trip wires out there — items perpetually underfunded. When Administration and Finance Secretary Mike Heffernan announced the governor was putting in $100 million for snow and ice removal, his staff cheered — because, of course, that account is always underfunded.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said lawmakers should be "very careful" in considering changes to the capital gains tax rate, warning of potential unintended consequences like discouraging people from investing or saving. McAnneny noted that money a person invests has often already been taxed when it is earned as income.

According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the Ways and Means budget bumps higher education funding $55 million above this year's spending levels, with $40 million in additional support for UMass and $12 million for state universities and community colleges, "primarily associated with collectively bargained increases in wages and salaries."

THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE’S House Ways and Means Committee will unveil on Wednesday its budget proposal for state fiscal year 2020, which begins on July 1.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is an opponent of the film tax credits for two primary reasons: the inefficiency of the credit and the sub-optimal use of limited taxpayer resources.

Of late, though, overrides have become less popular statewide, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which is, despite its folksy title, a group representing business interests. The association’s annual financial data report on municipal government found last year set a record for the fewest number of overrides.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says she’s not worried about this year. But the slowdown in growth could make it harder to budget for the fiscal period that begins July 1. In many ways, McAnneny says, we’re living on borrowed time with this decadelong recovery.

While the number of overall emergency department visits has been declining in the state, Massachusetts residents still use them at a rate 11 percent higher than the US average. “We’re trending in the wrong direction if we’re expanding,’’ said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which is part of the coalition.

Two recent studies commissioned by RIZE Massachusetts show how widespread the effect is on the Massachusetts workforce and economy. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates the cost at nearly $5 billion in lost productivity and increased health care spending.

A shared commitment by business and legislative leadership and other stakeholders to making measurable progress on the Commonwealth’s transportation agenda in the next 2-3 years with the commission’s report serving as the road map could be revolutionary indeed.

“With April being the largest month for tax collections, it is unlikely policymakers will have significantly more information about tax revenue available before the House and Senate budgets are published in the spring,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

“It’s a different process and I think they’re right,” said Eileen McAnnenny, president of Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “Because this is not a citizen’s petition the prohibitions don’t apply.”

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said Wednesday that with revenues trailing fiscal 2019 budget benchmarks by $400 million with five months left in the fiscal year, the state this year may be on track to make a smaller deposit into its rainy day fund than expected.

The proposal speaks to the importance and the urgency around climate change mitigation, said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. But that its champion is Baker, a Republican who has signed but generally not proposed tax hikes in the past, signals an approach to starting conversations about revenue “that we didn’t see in the first term, for sure,” she said.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said the spike in six-figure earners raised questions, as did the increases in overtime spending.

"While the time and severity of the next economic downturn is unknowable, by historic markers, we are on borrowed time," Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny told the House and Senate Ways and Means committees at this year's consensus revenue hearing.

"Not all that's broken in our health care system can be fixed legislatively," said Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny, who co-chairs the coalition with Rick Lord, the president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny, whose prepared testimony was titled “Are the Good Times Already Over?”, urged budget-writers to be cautious of “pre-recession warning signs” in labor markets, home sales, the auto industry, business investments and oil prices.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said there are already “pre-recession warning signs” everywhere from labor markets to the oil industry. “By historic markers, we are on borrowed time,” she said.

The business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and the right-leaning Beacon Hill Institute both predicted slightly higher tax revenue growth of around 2.4 percent, representing total revenues in the range of $29.5 billion to $30.3 billion. Massachusetts has an aging workforce.

The state ditched performance-based funding for community colleges several years ago, but a new report recommends taking another look at the system. The report released Tuesday by the Boston Foundation and Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says the approach showed signs of success during the three years it was used.

An analysis last year by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation showed capital spending on transportation doubled in the 10 years following that report, and the state spent $16 billion on roads and bridges. Still, infrastructure woes have persisted and in some cases mounted, in part due to the failure of the Boston-area transit system known as the T to curtail operating expenses, the group said.

Eileen McAnneny, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, talks about it report on the cost of the opioid crisis, in human, economic, and fiscal terms. Interview for BNN News.

Last week, a report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation found that businesses in the state have been losing billions annually due to absent or unproductive workers who are addicted to opioids. According to Botticelli, companies like Shawmut can help turn things around.

According to a report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, employers have lost likely more than $2.5 billion annually due to employees who skip work or underperform because of their addiction. In addition, treating those people through opioid programs and services across systems in Massachusetts is estimated to be at least $5.5 billion.

“MTF hopes this report catalyzes greater urgency and engagement from all segments of our society in the battle against the scourge of this epidemic — particularly among Massachusetts employers — by exploring and explaining the economic and fiscal impacts of the opioid epidemic on the state,” the group wrote. “We have no illusions that this crisis is fundamentally about economics.

According to a new report, the opioid epidemic is costing Massachusetts businesses more than $2.5 billion annually. The report from Boston public policy nonprofit Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said that figure comes from lost productivity and absenteeism and presenteeism.

The study from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation puts the cost to the state’s economy at $7 billion in lost business productivity. The report concludes the opioid crisis is far from over and is likely to get worse, as more lethal synthetic drugs such as fentanyl proliferate. The foundation is hosting a forum Friday in Boston on the opioid epidemic.

"They're staggering," says Eileen McAnneny, MTF president, of the dollars spent on hospital care, EMTs, early intervention for infants and families, jails and the job productivity forfeited by individuals and employers. "We wanted folks to get a sense of the pervasiveness. It really impacts all major areas: health care, criminal justice, public safety and businesses."

“There’s an old business school adage that you can’t manage what you can’t measure, so we thought that quantifying the cost and providing a sense of the magnitude would motivate employers to engage more on this issue,” said foundation president Eileen McAnneny.

The taxpayers foundation estimates that opioid addiction kept nearly 33,000 people from participating in the labor force each year, on average, over the past five years. And the annual costs to health care providers total nearly $1 billion, some of which is paid by the taxpayer-funded MassHealth and other insurance programs.

"We have made tremendous progress, but we really need to have a bigger cushion," said Eileen McAnneny, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The rainy day fund’s balance compared to the state's $41 billion operating budget — the most common metric of a reserve fund’s health — is about 4.9 percent, she said.

On the Wednesday, November 14 edition of Bloomberg Baystate Business we spoke with Eileen McAnneny, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, about their study on the economic impact of the opioid crisis on Massachusetts.

The fiscal 2019 state budget bill on Gov. Charlie Baker's desk counts on $63 million in legal marijuana taxes, a total the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation says is unlikely to materialize. The foundation last week wrote in its analysis of the state budget bill that the marijuana licensing process "has proceeded more slowly than anticipated."

But the president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Eileen McAnneny, is concerned there will no longer be a routine review of spending on police training. "There's less accountability," she says. "It doesn't go through the annual budgeting process where lawmakers make a conscious choice to continue to fund it."

"I think a sizable portion of it is due to federal tax reform, either directly or indirectly," said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. McAnneny added that the economy is also doing well, although only time will tell how much of revenue is attributable to sustained economic growth rather than one-time money from the tax reform.