Unlike Congress, state lawmakers need to pass a balanced budget every year. Money is tight, to say the least: The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation recently estimated that state tax revenue in the next fiscal year will drop by $6 billion, or nearly 20 percent, from what state officials initially anticipated before the coronavirus. (Suddenly, that $3.5 billion rainy day fund doesn’t look so big anymore.)
MTF recently downgraded its FY 2021 tax revenue forecast to a loss of $6 billion, representing a nearly 20 percent decline from the $31.15 billion consensus benchmark. At 20 percent, the revised forecast places Massachusetts towards the higher end of preliminary...
