Monday, July 3, 2023

Rausch Report: Pride and Tax Relief (June 2023)

The newsletter was shortened for publication here. To view the full set of content -> https://mailchi.mp/masenate/monthlynewsletter-17061977

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There's much to celebrate this month, from Pride to Juneteenth to getting closer to providing tax relief to Bay Staters. We've been hard at work on Beacon Hill to ensure the Commonwealth becomes an even more welcoming, inclusive, safe, and economically viable place for all.

Pride flag raising at the State House on June 7, 2023

Unfortunately, there's also much to mourn. As we prepared this newsletter for distribution, the Supreme Court issued three decisions antithetical to our shared values and well-established rule of law. My team and I are still reviewing these gut-punch decisions, with an eye toward restorative actions we might be able to take at the state level here at home.

This month also marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. When the Dobbs decision came down last year, I doubled down on my promise to remain fervently committed to protecting and enhancing full-spectrum reproductive health care access, equity, and delivery in our Commonwealth. Since then, we quickly passed An Act Expanding protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care and allocated tens of millions of state dollars to reproductive health access, infrastructure, and safety, Reproductive Equity Now's abortion-related legal hotline, and reimbursements to public universities for abortion medications. This session, I authored and filed the Abortion Access Act, co-filed by Rep. Sally Kerans in the House and a priority for Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, which builds upon our prior successes by removing still-present barriers to care, protecting against new restrictions, further addressing anti-choice centers, and enhancing confidentiality protections for patients. I also filed legislation to provide temporary, limited licensure to medical students in residency in anti-choice states to receive training on reproductive and gender-affirming care here in Massachusetts, which they cannot get in their states of medical residency.

I'm still all in on our collective push for progress on civil rights, reproductive and gender-affirming care, climate action, plastic reduction, and equity regardless of ability, identity, or wealth. I always will be, for as long as I am privileged to serve in the State Senate. And especially with the litany of lousy SCOTUS decisions coming our way, we have much work to do indeed.

This month's Rausch Report includes legislative updates (including the Senate's tax relief bill), a roundup of district events, my newly launched Youth Summit, details on upcoming office hours, and more.

For real-time updates, please follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you are a constituent and need assistance, please don't hesitate to call me and my team at (617) 722-1555, email me at becca.rausch@masenate.gov, or attend upcoming office hours. We are here to help.

Yours in service,

Senator Becca Rausch

On June 13, I voted alongside my Senate colleagues to approve a massive $590 million tax relief bill that will put money back into the pockets of families and small businesses, bolster communities with housing development supports, and uplift our youngest residents, their caregivers, our workforce, and our seniors. Highlights of this tax relief package include:

Increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which provides critical support to working families, from 30% to 40% of the federal credit;
Merging existing credits into a new and enhanced Child and Dependent Tax Credit (CDTC), increases the amount of the credit from $180 to $310 per child/dependent, and eliminating the current cap of two children/dependents;
Increasing the statewide cap for the Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) from $10 million to $57 million on a one-time basis and then to $30 million annually;
Raising the annual low-income housing tax credit authorization from $40 million to $60 million, directly supporting affordable housing production across the Commonwealth;
Doubling the maximum senior circuit breaker tax credit, which supports elderly residents who struggle with high housing costs, from $1,200 to $2,400; and
Raising the estate tax threshold to $2 million and eliminating the so-called "cliff effect" by allowing a uniform credit of $99,600 for all estates.

The bill now sits with a conference committee to hash out the differences between the Senate and House versions before heading to the Governor's desk. This legislation is an important step forward, and I will continue pushing for additional revenue reform necessary to further support our families and communities while ensuring sufficient funds for infrastructure investments.

We have a plastics problem

As Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, I am committed to advancing legislation that helps the Commonwealth reach its climate goals. In addition to the many bills I hear before the Committee, I am proud to have authored and filed the Plastics Reduction Act, co-filed by Rep. Ted Philips in the House. On June 1, Rep. Ted Philips and I hosted a legislative briefing with the National Caucus on Environmental Legislators to bring together advocates from Just Zero, MASSPIRG, and Oceana to discuss the problem of plastic pollution in our state and why our bill is part of the solution to this crisis. I also spoke on the State House steps about the serious need for action this session to address our ongoing and self-created plastic problem.

I joined Rep. Domb and advocates from MASSPIRG, Beyond Plastics, Conservation Law Foundation, Environment Massachusetts, League of Women Voters MA, Oceana, Sierra Club, and Surfrider to push for legislative action aiming to reduce plastic pollution.

Our mailing address is:
The Office of Senator Becca Rausch
Massachusetts State House, Room 215
24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02133

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