MassBudget: Statement on the Impacts of Reconciliation bill on MA

On July 4, 2025, the President of the United States signed an extensive budget reconciliation bill that will bring extraordinary pain upon millions of families across the nation. This bill will take health coverage and food access away from millions of the most vulnerable people across the country in order to give the wealthiest people massive tax cuts. The bill signed by the President will be detrimental to the economy and will bring the most direct harm to low- and middle-income families, including Massachusetts residents.

MassBudget President Viviana Abreu-Hernández, PhD, issued the following statement:

“This Billionaire Bailout Bomb bill targets millions of individuals and families already struggling by eliminating their healthcare and food support in order to help the rich get richer. Not only is it inhumane but it is also fiscally irresponsible, raising the national debt limit by over an estimated $3 trillion dollars over the next decade.

The bill signed by the President on July 4th also extends tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest in the country. According to an analysis of the bill from Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), the wealthiest top 1% by income will receive $1.02 trillion dollars in tax cuts over the next decade. During that same period, there will be $930 billion in cuts to Medicaid, which provides health care access to low-income individuals and families. 

MassBudget: Statement on the Impacts of Reconciliation bill on MA

It is important to put this bill in context because it is part of a larger national agenda, commanded by the President, that intentionally targets the most vulnerable people. Current estimates forecast that around 300,000 in Massachusetts could lose health coverage due to changes in Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Our partners at Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) estimate that 150,000 Massachusetts residents are at risk of losing some or all of their household’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) due to the changes in this bill, leaving families unable to afford groceries.  "

Continue reading the statement -> https://massbudget.org/2025/07/07/statement-on-reconciliation-bill-signed-by-the-u-s-president/

MassBudget: "Local Revenue is a Key Tool to Advance Housing Affordability"

via MassBudget:

"All residents of Massachusetts deserve access to affordable, safe, and stable housing. However, the Commonwealth currently faces a severe shortage of housing that is affordable to households earning lower incomes. Additionally, home prices have dramatically outpaced inflation, while renters, especially renters of color, continue to face high housing cost burdens. 

Cities and towns have the potential to make significant contributions toward meeting affordable housing needs, but they need the resources to do it.  Real estate transfer fees, which assess a fee on specific real estate sales, can create or preserve thousands of affordable housing units. Transfer fee revenue from high-end sales could fund local affordable housing trusts, which are often underfunded.

Transfer fees direct some of the economic gains from those who have most benefited from real estate appreciation to those who have most acutely felt the negative impacts of the housing affordability and displacement crises. In doing so, they are a tool for economic and racial equity. 

In a new report, MassBudget Housing Analyst Victoria DiLorenzo discusses how municipal affordable housing trusts create and preserve affordable housing locally, and how local revenue can be a key tool in addressing the Commonwealth’s housing affordability crisis. The report focuses on the 19 communities that have filed home rule petitions seeking state permission to enact a real estate transfer fee."  

Read the report -> https://massbudget.org/2025/02/13/local-revenue-affordable-housing/

MassBudget: "Local Revenue is a Key Tool to Advance Housing Affordability"

MassBudget publishes report on MASS State Transportation Funding

MassBudget (@MassBudget) posted Wed, Jan 08, 2025:

MASS State Transportation Funding

🚌 NEW Report: If you're looking to understand where the resources come from to operate our state's extensive transportation system, and where exactly that money is spent, look no further. 

Check out our latest for all the details: https://t.co/ptW0WZAiaZ #mapoli

Shared from -> https://x.com/MassBudget/status/1877066746755961318

Note: I am sharing this before I have got into the details of the report. A cursory view of the image shared raises some questions that I hope are answered within the report. 

You should be aware that Franklin is served by the MBTA and the regional transit services of GATRA, both of which are covered in this report on the flows of money in, where from, where does it go. Should be interesting reading.

MassBudget: 25% of the entire MA state budget is paid for with Federal dollars

MassBudget (@MassBudget) posted  Fri, Nov 15, 2024:

💸In case you didn't know: a quarter of the entire MA state budget is paid for with Federal dollars. 

While taxes make up most of the revenue, it's important to remember the budget's multiple funding sources, and how that context can affect the decisions the state makes. #mapoli

Shared from -> https://t.co/A9QaDOLlL0

Visit MassBudget for additional info -> https://massbudget.org/state-budget/

MassBudget: 25% of the entire MA state budget is paid for with Federal dollars

National report ranks MA as #1 most improved in tax fairness

Primarily due to the passage of the Fair Share Amendment, a new national report finds that the Commonwealth is the top-ranking state for improvements in tax fairness. The middle class in Massachusetts pays a smaller share of their income in state + local taxes than in 32 other states. Today, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) released "Who Pays?," the only distributional analysis of tax systems in all 50 states. The comprehensive 7th edition of the report ranks the progressivity and regressivity of state tax systems by measuring effective state and local tax rates paid by all income groups. Massachusetts's relative ranking among the 50 states (in terms of tax progressivity since 2022) improves several positions, the most of any state. This is overwhelmingly a result of the Fair Share Amendment. However, there is still work to be done. Massachusetts's top 1% still pay a lower share than the bottom 95%. With our tax system still regressive under current law, we can look to neighbors Maine, Vermont and New York for examples of states that have created fair (progressive) tax codes. Read more.  Read our summary ▶️Watch on YouTube: Phineas Baxandall speaks on the findings of ITEP's report The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) is a leading think tank advancing policy solutions to create an inclusive, thriving Commonwealth for all. Support our work today!

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MassBudget's Statement on the Governor's Affordable Homes Act

The latest from MassBudget

Affordable housing is a top problem for Massachusetts. It requires a set of bold initiatives and investments that work together to increase the availability and affordability of housing. This bill (H.4138) takes the scale of our housing challenges seriously and can be made even stronger as it advances through the legislative process.  In keeping with the all-hands-on-deck effort needed to solve our housing ills, the bill recognizes that municipalities can play a major role by investing resources to address local housing needs. By empowering cities and towns to place real estate transfer fees on the most expensive homes, it provides a new tool that will generate resources for local affordable housing efforts. By placing fees on the sale of only the most expensive strata of housing, the policy would not require owners of affordable housing to contribute. Municipal leaders will ultimately be held politically accountable by their residents for the way they set transfer fee rates and thresholds. As this legislation moves forward, legislators should consider a more flexible sale price threshold that would allow municipalities with low median home sale prices to set a threshold below $1 million and allow the few municipalities with multimillion-dollar median sales prices to set a threshold closer to $1 million. Ultimately, a transfer fee option will both incentivize and provide resources for additional affordable housing. The bill would also take critical steps toward protecting tenant rights by sealing eviction records and creating an Office of Fair Housing. Eviction sealing protects tenants from misuse of eviction records and unfair exclusion from the housing market. Those most at risk of eviction are people of color. As this bill moves forward, lawmakers should ensure that tenants who are evicted can easily seal their evictions within reasonable time frames to avoid inadvertent harm. Likewise, the new Fair Housing office would advance inclusiveness in our communities through education, outreach, and collaboration with other state agencies against housing discrimination and patterns of segregation. It should be given sufficient resources to maximize its effectiveness. Lastly, the largest capital authorization in the bill would allocate $1.6 billion toward preserving and improving more than 27,000 existing public housing units. This represents approximately one-quarter of the state's public housing portfolio and is a critical piece of the larger housing puzzle that has too-long been neglected. Public housing fills an important space in the affordable housing ecosystem, and this is a positive step toward reinvesting in these critical units. We look forward to continuing to work with the administration and the legislature for housing solutions that will advance racial and economic justice in the Commonwealth. Additional resources:  The Governor's proposal includes real estate transfer fees, a critical tool that will allow municipalities to collect revenue to fund local affordable housing efforts. How Much Would a Transfer Fee on Expensive Real Estate Generate for Your City or Town? Use our downloadable, interactive Excel dashboard to see how much revenue your community could raise. Programs which help people afford their rent are a critical tool in addressing the housing affordability crisis. Learn more about Massachusetts' Universal Housing Vouchers here.  As a bond bill, the investments would occur through the capital budgeting process, not the annual state budget. You can read about the capital budget process in our Massachusetts Capital Budget 101 primer. #  #  # The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) is a leading think tank advancing policy solutions to create an inclusive, thriving Commonwealth for all. Support our work today!

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Press release on the Affordable Homes Act 

https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-unveils-4-billion-affordable-homes-act-to-increase-production-and-lower-costs

Higher Education Investments: Supporting Our Economy and Future Generations

The latest from MassBudget

Public higher education is critically important to the success of Massachusetts' economy, but state support has lagged in recent decades. At its best, the public higher education system in Massachusetts can be an engine for academic, career, and personal growth for students, as well as a pipeline for the next generation of workers and civically-engaged residents. Elected leaders have a once-in-a-generation chance to build on recent Fair Share-funded higher ed investments. Exciting proposals that re-imagine higher education accessibility have been put forward - all aiming to make the Commonwealth more affordable and more competitive. In MassBudget's newest report, Higher Education Investments: Supporting Our Economy and Future Generations, Senior Policy Analyst Colin Jones provides analysis and cost estimates for two of the leading proposals: The CHERISH Act would broadly enable students to attend without incurring debt, including generous scholarships and provide other support to faculty and campus infrastructure, at an estimated cost of $790 million.  The Debt-Free Public Higher Education Act would waive tuition and fees for all students while providing additional support for low-income students, at an estimated cost of $1.05 billion. Read the full report The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) is a leading think tank advancing policy solutions to create an inclusive, thriving Commonwealth for all. Support our work today!

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After a successful decade, President Marie-Frances Rivera to leave MassBudget

A Message from MassBudget's Board of Directors It is with deep gratitude that the Board of Directors announces the departure of MassBudget's President, Marie-Frances Rivera. The entire Board congratulates Marie-Frances on her outstanding leadership and dedicated service to the organization. Marie-Frances' last day will be September 29, 2023 after which the board will appoint interim leadership. Marie-Frances became President in 2018 after serving in various staff roles at the organization. During her time at Mass Budget, Marie-Frances had a keen focus on increasing Mass Budget's ability to contribute to the movement for economic and racial equity. Her work to create and promote an antiracist state budget demonstrates her bold and courageous vision. Marie-Frances' leadership helped to usher in transformational tax reform efforts in our state which ranks 6th in economic inequality. To advance MassBudget's work, Marie-Frances developed strong relationships with a wide range of community-based organizations to build a long-term coalition that can serve as the engine for a social movement for economic and racial justice.  While transitions are difficult, change is constant. Marie-Frances leaves MassBudget in a strong position for continued growth. MassBudget's Board is actively planning for a smooth transition and will oversee the process to hire a new president. Over the next few months, our goal is to find the best person to lead MassBudget while maintaining a stable and effective organization. Given MassBudget's extraordinary staff, our policy analysis, reports, and communications will remain timely and thoughtful thus continuing to center racial and economic justice perspectives into policy narratives for the Commonwealth. The MassBudget team will also continue to nurture solidarity with community partners, particularly those most adversely affected by economic injustice. In so doing, MassBudget will remain a vital contributor to true economic democracy. We wish Marie-Frances the best of luck in all her future endeavors.  With Trust in Our Collective Power, – Dr. Alexandra Piñeros Shields Chair, Board of Directors, MassBudget A Message from Marie-Frances After a decade of dedicated service and five rewarding years leading this powerful organization, I'll be leaving MassBudget at the end of September to begin the next chapter of my life and career.  I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the incredible opportunity to serve as President and be part of this organization's remarkable journey. I'll be taking the next few months to spend more quality time with my loved ones and to reflect on both the small and colossal victories that I've been blessed to be a part of with you.  During my time as President, I have led MassBudget in redefining its mission, vision, and values. I'm proud to have worked to transform MassBudget into an antiracist organization that strives to center BIPOC voices and communities with lower incomes. Our Envisioning Equity policy platform has ignited important conversations and lasting changes that will move us toward an antiracist state budget, tax justice, economic security, and an inclusive democracy for all. During my tenure, our organization's budget has more than doubled and we have forged transformative partnerships, like Delivering on Equity, which has raised millions to directly support local organizing partners across the Commonwealth. I want to thank my incredible team and all of our stakeholders for being part of this movement.  Because of our work together, people are seeing billions of new dollars flow into their communities for free, healthy school meals and will continue to see improvements in transit and public education. The passing of the Fair Share Amendment in November 2022 resulted in the reshaping of the Massachusetts' tax system for the better. It's truly a capstone of my personal and professional journey.  As I embark on my new chapter, I carry with me the pride and gratitude for all we have accomplished together, and I look forward to seeing MassBudget thrive in the years to come. In solidarity, – Marie-Frances Rivera President, MassBudget    The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) is a leading think tank advancing policy solutions to create an inclusive, thriving Commonwealth for all.

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