Showing posts with label mass budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mass budget. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Help MassBudget Help Everyone



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Dear Friend,

MassBudget produces high-quality research, clear and accurate data, and trusted policy analysis.  And we make all of it available - for free - to everyone.  We believe that this leads to more inclusive public debates, more voices being heard, and policy choices that better reflect the interests and values of everyone in our Commonwealth, especially low- and moderate-income people.

If you agree that this is important, please consider a donation to MassBudget today.

In recent months people across the nation have begun to focus on the harm caused by economic inequality.  The problem is real, and there are real solutions.  Of course, many are national in scope, but states also play a crucial role in expanding opportunity, and protecting the economic security of families.  Economic strength that leads to widely-shared prosperity is built with things that states can provide:
  • High quality education and training for everyone;
  • Work supports like child care and health care that allow lower income parents to succeed in the workforce;
  • Reliable infrastructure to transport goods, customers and workers;
  • A fair and adequate tax system to pay for these effective investments
MassBudget's work - and people across the Commonwealth who use it - have been at the forefront of advancing the debate on these crucial issues.

When we help all of our people to participate effectively in our economy, we not only help those who are given new opportunities, but also our overall economy.  In the words of the late Paul Wellstone, "We all do better when we all do better."

If you share MassBudget's vision for a more inclusive, effective democracy and economy, please click here to give generously today.

Thank you,

 
Noah Berger
President
MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies--with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.  MassBudget is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  All contributions are tax-deductible.


This email was sent to shersteve@gmail.com by kmccarty@massbudget.org |  
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

Monday, November 28, 2011

New MassBudget Report on State Education Funding


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Cutting Class
November 27, 2011 

In a new report titled "Cutting Class: Underfunding the Foundation Budget's Core Education Program," The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center finds that districts across the state are hiring fewer teachers, providing less professional development, and spending less on materials & technology than the state funding formula considers appropriate for a quality education.

Why is this happening? Because the foundation budget--the model school budget on which state aid is based--has not been updated to reflect the current costs of education. Currently, it underestimates health insurance costs by more than $1 billion dollars, and special education costs by another billion. On several occasions, the state has also failed to make inflation adjustments indicated by the law.

In the highest-wealth districts, such shortfalls are often made up with additional local revenues. But in many communities, raising local revenue is extremely difficult. On average, the lowest-wealth districts spend 32 percent less on teachers than is specified in the foundation budget formula.

To accompany "Cutting Class," MassBudget has an online interactive tool that allows you to look more closely at individual districts and the impact of wealth on education spending. 

Click here to see a copy of the report. Or here to use the online tool. 
MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies--with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people. "Cutting Class" was supported by the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials.


This email was sent to shersteve@gmail.com by nberger@massbudget.org |  
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Census releases new data on state and local taxes





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Census releases new data on state and local taxes 

October 31, 2011



Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual update of State and Local Government Finances, providing national data for Fiscal Year 2009. The amount of state and local taxes paid in Massachusetts as a share of total personal income was 9.8 percent in FY 2009. By this measure, Massachusetts had lower taxes than 32 other states. Measuring taxes as a share of total personal income allows for a meaningful comparison among states.

Taxes are the amount that each resident pays toward--and the primary source of funding for--everything the people of a state choose to provide together through government, such as: public education; police and fire protection; roads, bridges and other infrastructure; environmental protection, parks, playgrounds, libraries; and a safety net to protect access to health care and other supports families depend on--particularly when they are faced with acute challenges.

The fact sheet Massachusetts Ranks 33rd in Taxes in FY 2009 is available here.   

MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies, as well as economic issues, with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.


This email was sent to shersteve@gmail.com by nberger@massbudget.org |  
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

Friday, September 23, 2011

MassBudget: Three new fact sheets on health insurance, poverty and income





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  Noah Berger
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  (617) 426-1228 x102


New Census data on poverty rates, health care coverage and household income in Massachusetts

September 22, 2011



The U.S. Census Bureau today released its annual update of state-level poverty rates, household income and health care coverage from the American Community Survey (ACS).
  
The new data show that the overall poverty rate in Massachusetts, having been stable the past three years, showed a statistically significant increase from 10.3 percent in 2009 to 11.4 percent in 2010. The increase in Massachusetts is similar to the rise in poverty nationwide in 2010 -- the overall U.S. poverty rate rose from 14.3 percent in 2009 to 15.3 percent in 2010. The fact sheet 2010 Poverty Rate Increases in Both Massachusetts and Across the Country is available here.
  
Health insurance coverage in Massachusetts far surpasses coverage nationally and in all other states, detailed statistics released by the Census Bureau today confirm. These data are more detailed and precise than the estimates released earlier this month, and show that 96 percent of residents in the Commonwealth had health insurance coverage in 2010. The fact sheet Massachusetts Still Leads in Health Care Coverage is available here.
  
The new Census data show a statistically significant decline of $3,182 or 4.9 percent in median household income (adjusted to 2010 dollars). For the U.S. as a whole, the ACS data show a statistically significant decline of $1,144 or 2.2 percent (also adjusted to 2010 dollars). Since 2007 (in the final month of which, the nation officially fell into recession), median household income in Massachusetts dropped an inflation-adjusted $3,307 or 5.1 percent. During the same period, U.S. median household income fell $3,280 or 6.2 percent. The fact sheet Median Household Income Dropped in Massachusetts and the U.S. in 2010 is available here.
  
See MassBudget's Budget Browser to explore Massachusetts state budgets from Fiscal Year 2001 to the present, as well as budget proposals offered by the Governor and the Legislature.

MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies, as well as economic issues, with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.


This email was sent to shersteve@gmail.com by info@massbudget.org |  
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Two fact sheets on new health care, poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau





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  Noah Berger
  President
  (617) 426-1228 x102


New Census data show Massachusetts leads nation in health care coverage; poverty rises nationally

September 13, 2011


The U.S. Census Bureau today released data on health insurance and poverty rates for 2010.  Two new fact sheets by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center examine the data.

Massachusetts Still the Leader in Health Care Coverage reports on Census Bureau data indicating that Massachusetts health insurance coverage rate is more than ten percentage points higher than the national rate.  Using a multi-year average, the Census data estimate that in the 2008-2010 period, Massachusetts had a health insurance coverage rate of 95 percent - more than any other state in the nation. 

U.S. Poverty Rate Rises Again shows that the national poverty rate increased for the third year in a row in 2010, rising to 15.1 percent from 14.3 percent in 2009.  The poverty rate is now at its highest point since 1993, and the total number of people living in poverty-46.2 million-is the highest number in the 52 years for which the Census Bureau has published poverty estimates.  The Census data also show that the percentage of people in deep poverty-those with incomes below 50 percent of the official poverty level-rose to 6.7 percent in 2010 the highest point since the Census Bureau began to publish this measure in 1975.

The health insurance fact sheet is available here, the fact sheet on poverty is available here; both can be found at www.massbudget.org

MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies, as well as economic issues, with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.


This email was sent to shersteve@gmail.com by info@massbudget.org |  
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Jobs and the Massachusetts Economy on Labor Day 2011





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  Noah Berger
  President
  (617) 426-1228 x102



Facts at a Glance: Jobs and the Massachusetts Economy, Labor Day 2011

September 2, 2011   


After a record-setting economic downturn that officially began in December of 2007 and ended in June of 2009, the US economy is now in a period of weak and fragile recovery, one that features both slow growth and high levels of unemployment.  For many Americans, the current recovery feels little different than the recession itself.

This certainly holds true for the many Massachusetts families who have felt the direct effects of this historic downturn - Labor Day 2011 offers little cause for celebration among the Bay State's thousands of unemployed and underemployed workers.  By many measures, however, Massachusetts has fared far better than most other states during the Great Recession and its aftermath.  We have experienced lower rates of unemployment, lost a smaller share of our jobs, and maintained higher median wages for many of our workers.

A new Facts At A Glance, Jobs and The Massachusetts Economy: Labor Day 2011, provides charts and analysis of the most current data for Massachusetts and the US on unemployment rates, job losses, and median wages.  The report offers snapshots of how these measures have changed since the start of the Great Recession and over prior decades.  It is available here and at www.massbudget.org.    

MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies, as well as economic issues, with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.


This email was sent to shersteve@gmail.com by info@massbudget.org |  

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108