Fiscal year 2023 began on July 1st, but policymakers have yet to close the books on FY 2022 which requires disposing of a significant budget surplus. This Brief provides an estimate of the surplus and examines how it fits in to the larger fiscal...

Budget conferees are negotiating spending, revenue and policy differences between the House and Senate proposals in order to present a final budget to Governor Baker for the start of fiscal year 2023. For the second straight year, conferees must also...

The Senate completed budget deliberations this week, finalizing a $49.9 billion budget after three days of deliberations. The Senate adopted 514 of the 1,178 amendments filed by individual Senators. The final Senate budget adds $93.3 million in...

For those of you have been attending MTF Annual Meetings during my tenure, you know that I like to frame my remarks around a theme. I thought it would be fun to drive home key points using song titles, so here goes. This year, the theme is “looking...

Our organizations, representing thousands of employers and hundreds of thousands of employees in Massachusetts, write to urge you to adopt the tax changes included in H.4361, An Act to improve Massachusetts’ competitiveness and reduce the cost of...

The Senate begins its budget process today, with the release of the Senate Ways and Means proposal. The SWM budget follows a similar script to the House, foregoing a tax relief proposal put forward by Governor Baker and including hundreds of millions...

Over the past few years the issue of child care has gained momentum in national and state policy discussions. This has been especially true throughout the pandemic, as the public health emergency and economic fallout turned a dire child care...

The House wrapped up its budget deliberations this week, finalizing a $49.8 billion budget, after adding $129.6 million in spending through amendment over the course of 3 days of session.  The House acted on a record number of budget...

Earlier today, Governor Baker filed a combination economic development and COVID recovery bill that includes $1.3 billion in capital authorization, $2.3 billion in direct spending of remaining federal ARPA funds and 137 policy sections. This Brief...

The Briefing Covers:  MTF Preview: Economic Impact of Insufficient Child Care Child Care Funding 101 Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission Budget Updates What’s Next for MA Child Care Policy?