In The News

"'Given the limitations of the legislation, it can't be anything dramatic,' said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. 'By tossing it to the local level, they've essentially passed the buck.'"

"The municipal management package was a bipartisan product from legislators, mayors, town managers and organizations including the Merrimack Valley Mayors and Managers Coalition, Massachusetts Municipal Association and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation."

"The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated that if students could pay in-state rates, as many as 600 illegal immigrants would enroll in college a year, out of 160,000 in the public system, bringing in about $2.5 million in tuition and fees. The group estimated that only about 100 such students were enrolled in 2006."

"MARTHA BEBINGER: Michael Widmer, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation is more skeptical.
"MICHAEL WIDMER: It's not a recession budget. Now maybe we'll avoid the recession, but the nation is not, so it's hard to imagine that we will."

"Economic observers, including the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the Beacon Hill Institute and Pioneer Institute estimate that police details cost about $42 per hour while flagmen may cost up to $34 per hour, depending on whether fringe benefits are required. In submitted testimony, MTF President Michael Widmer noted that MBTA employees assigned to flagman duty receive $25.97 per hour, and the Beacon Hill Institute notes that crossing guards in Delaware are paid $16.23 per hour."

"Some say there is no end in sight.

"'It's going to get worse year by year before it gets better,' said Michael Widmer, president of Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. 'And I don't know what will make it better.'

"There is ample evidence that Widmer is not overstating his case."

"'More and more, individuals are feeling squeezed,' Widmer said. 'And when they feel squeezed, they will vote themselves a tax cut and not contemplate the consequences.'"

"Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said 'the T cannot afford to underwrite lines that are severely, seriously underutilized.'"

"'I can't define an exact group who will be impacted, but what I do know is the weight of this will fall most heavily on large, multistate corporations that employ hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts citizens,' said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation."

"'It would be wise for the three leaders to take a new look at the revenues . . . given that we're now apparently in a recession,' said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which is studying whether that forecast is still accurate."