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.

“You have to give some credit where credit is due: A lot of this revenue is affiliated with federal tax reform in some way or another,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said in an analysis of the new budget that it was unfortunate lawmakers did not lower marijuana revenue estimates, as they’re unlikely to hit the $63 million target.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said in an analysis of the new budget that it was unfortunate lawmakers did not lower marijuana revenue estimates, as they’re unlikely to hit the $63 million target.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, another business-backed group, said in a letter that legislators’ proposals would “significantly increase health care costs and create unintended care delivery consequences without providing an accountable or sustainable solution to price variation.”

Doug Howgate, director of policy and research at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said he was not aware of an instance in the last 20 years or so in which a conference committee produced "just kind of an ad hoc increased number based on higher tax revenues." "I'm not familiar with anything like this year happening," he told the News Service.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has estimated that the low-income and English language learner recommendations would cost another $500 million to $700 million. But Doug Howgate, director of policy and research for the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, acknowledged that those are "back of the envelope" calculations.

“It sounds like there are a lot of resources that could be reallocated and we need to have that conversation,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, budget negotiators face 185 non-spending Senate initiatives and 109 from the House. And while total spending in the two roughly $41.5 billion budgets differs by only $22 million, the budgets feature $304 million in unique House spending and $282 million in unique Senate spending, for a total of $586 million.

According to the business-backed watchdog Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the House-passed budget has 109 non-spending sections, while the Senate has 185. “As has been the case in recent years, the Senate budget includes significantly more policy provisions that the House,” the foundation said in a recent report.

Both are heavily larded with non-spending "policy" riders, to the tune of 109 in the House version and 185 in the Senate's, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, says industry assessments are not an ideal way of funding government services because the approach reduces spending accountability and hides the true cost of government.

According to a summary by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the Senate version of the state budget has 185 outside sections; the House has 109.

Using a higher estimate might enable Democrats in the House and Senate to resolve differences over spending proposals. The business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has also suggested an adjustment to the estimate might be warranted.

"Having revenues continue to exceed projections is welcome news,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “Because a large portion of this revenue is attributable to federal tax law changes, and may not be recurring, budget makers should still proceed with caution.”

AS A PLAINTIFF in the lawsuit Anderson v. Attorney General, I applaud the court’s decision, although I don’t consider myself or the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the organization that I represent, the winner. The real winner is our democracy.

According to the business-backed watchdog Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the House-passed budget has 109 non-spending sections, while the Senate has 185. “As has been the case in recent years, the Senate budget includes significantly more policy provisions that the House,” the foundation said in a report last week.

The House and Senate versions of the roughly $41 billion spending plan have similar bottom lines. But an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation finds about $500 million in differences in how the money should be spent.

Capital gains taxes are assessed on investment gains and analysts have tied some portion of the spike in taxes to impacts of the new federal tax law. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation this week cautioned that a surge in sales of capital assets is temporary and can't be counted on for ongoing revenue.

In a report released Tuesday, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) said revenue assumptions in the House and Senate budgets are similar, but there are “significant spending discrepancies between the two budgets.” If negotiators combined all new revenue sources from each budget, it would boost revenue by no more than $40 million — or about $228 million shy of the amount that would be

“It’s a great development,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “We need to replenish the stabilization fund because it will provide the cushion we need for the next economic downturn,” she said, using the formal name for the rainy day account.

According to a Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analysis, the two budgets are relatively similar in terms of revenue, although the Senate counts on getting money from taxing Airbnb and other short-term room rentals and also on taking money out of a horse racing fund, which the House does not.

“The income surtax petition has raised legal, fiscal and economic concerns for the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation,” said Eileen McAnneny, the group’s president. While the high court’s ruling addressed the legal concerns, she said, “the fiscal and economic ones remain as does our apprehension of embedding a tax in the constitution.

Those governments are now expected to swiftly start forcing online vendors to collect taxes. The Department of Revenue downplayed Thursday the potential impact on state revenues, but Eileen McAnneny, the president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said the additional tax collections now could reach “potentially in the hundreds of millions.”

‘Logrolling’ Argument: Representatives for the business groups—Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership—had argued that the amendment paired an unpopular provision (the graduated income tax) with two popular ones

“We are not opposed to all taxes,” added Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and whose group was a plaintiff in the SJC case. “In fact, we have supported new revenue for transportation and we will likely do so again.” But if Beacon Hill is going to raise taxes, McAnneny said lawmakers have got to build voter support and show why more money is necessary.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation was one of five plaintiffs that challenged the ballot initiative, finding it "unconstitutional." President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, Eileen McAnneny, told 22News, "It went far beyond the policy question of whether we should raise taxes on a subset of taxpayers. We opposed that for a number of reasons, but this question was not about that."

Attorney General Maura Healey ruled last year that the proposed amendment to the state’s constitution was legal, and qualified for the ballot, but opponents including executives from Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the Massachusetts High Technology Council and others disagreed.

he Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, one of five plaintiffs challenging the ballot question, hailed the ruling. “Today is a great day for all Massachusetts taxpayers because the court has upheld the time-honored constitutional principle that limits the initiative process,” Eileen McAnneny, the group’s president, said in a statement.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation meanwhile celebrated the ruling for backing “the time-honored constitutional principle that limits the initiative process.” “By rejecting the notion that a small special interest group can usurp legislative power by including unrelated tax and spending provisions in the same ballot initiative, the court has preserved the state’s ability to make delibe

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which joined in the lawsuit, said after the ruling that Monday was “a great day for all Massachusetts taxpayers,” because the court had upheld longstanding limitations on ballot questions.

One of the plaintiffs in the suit, Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, is very pleased with the court’s decision. "There were enormous fiscal, legal, and economic implications of this ballot initiative, so I am very glad the court found in our favor," said McAnneny.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, called it a "great day for all Massachusetts taxpayers." "By rejecting the notion that a small special interest group can usurp legislative power by including unrelated tax and spending provisions in the same ballot initiative, the court has preserved the state's ability to make deliberative and fiscally sound choices," McAnneny

"This case was not about whether a graduated income tax is good public policy or bad public policy, it was about how the proponents tried to achieve it -- a method in direct violation of the Constitution under which the Legislature's deliberative taxing and spending authority would have been severely limited.

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog group, said lawmakers have to beware of unintended consequences but added the proposal could help.

Doug Howgate of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the group estimates the total new annual revenue from the car rental fee and community preservation surcharge alone would be in the range of $35 million to $50 million. “That’s a lot of money,” he said.

When it comes to the millionaire's tax, Eileen McAnneny, president and secretary of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said she's concerned about volatility, as well as revenues drying up in economic downturns. "So you build in a billion dollars more in education, and the money is there one year, and it's not the next," she said.

“As an organization dedicated to the long-term economic and fiscal health of the Commonwealth, the Foundation recognizes the need to address the costs of health care by taking unnecessary cost out of the system,” said Taxpayers Foundation president Eileen McAnneny, who will co-chair the coalition.