In The News

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. The exact cost depends on the details of how the payments are calculated, which the Foundation Budget Review Commission largely left up to the Legislature.