PM in the News

PM in the News: Governor Healey defends “absolutely essential” tax cuts (But Are They?)

Chris Lisinksi, “Governor Healey defends ‘absolutely essential’ tax cuts,” State House News Service, January 9, 2024.

Progressive Massachusetts, which describes itself as a grassroots organization with local chapters, called itself “disappointed and disturbed” by the budget cuts, contending they will “disproportionately harm the most disadvantaged members of the Commonwealth.”

“Last year, advocates repeatedly stressed that now was not the time for permanent tax cuts, as signs of lower revenue collection were already coming. The Legislature refused to listen and instead passed a tax cut package that included regressive tax cuts almost equivalent in size to these draconian cuts,” the group said in an unsigned statement. “It should not be lost on us that we never see emergency pauses of regressive tax giveaways; the solution is always one that falls on the backs of the poorest.”

Chris Van Buskirk, “Gov. Maura Healey defends tax cuts as Massachusetts faces $1 billion revenue slowdown,” Boston Herald, January 9, 2024.

Progressive Massachusetts, a policy group, said 2023 was “not the time for permanent regressive tax cuts.”

“We remain disappointed that so many legislators chose not to listen,” the group said on social media in response to the financial headwinds.

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PM in the News: “New Tax Cuts Prompt Debates about Affordability”

Sarah Robertson, “New Tax Cuts Prompt Debates about Affordability,” The Shoestring, November 21, 2023.

The child and dependent credit, described by Healey as the “most generous” in the country, was the largest single piece of the bill, representing $307 million in cuts. It is expected to provide around 565,000 families with a $440 annual tax credit per dependent, who can include children under 12 years old, seniors, and people with disabilities.

“I’m sure they can use it and welcome it, but we’re talking about a $440 tax credit like it’s somehow revolutionary for people when that’s not making a dent,” said Jonathan Cohn, policy director for Progressive Mass. “This state could be doing so much more by pooling money and investing in infrastructure to support parents rather than just giving people a check.”

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The bill also raised the threshold at which the estate tax kicks in from inheritances of $1 million to $2 million.

“They’re throwing money at people,” said Cohn. “Many people in this state will die in debt, and the idea of putting that much focus on cutting the taxes on multi-million dollar estates is crazy.”

Cohn said he was disappointed in the Healey administration’s “misleading” characterization of the cuts as a way to address affordability. “The cost of living is at a crisis point for so many people,” he said. “The tax bill does not meaningfully address that.”

tax fairness

PM in the News: “We Can’t Tax-Cut Our Way to an Affordable Commonwealth”

Jonathan Cohn, “We Can’t Tax-Cut Our Way to an Affordable Commonwealth,” Fenway News, November 2023.

If Massachusetts wants to be an affordable state—attractive for people to move to, a place where people can thrive—that’s where our focus should be. And I hope that’s where our Legislature turns its attention for the rest of the session—and that legislators don’t have the audacity to say they don’t have the money to help make living here more affordable.

tax fairness

Daily Collegian: Debating the Effectiveness of New Tax Cuts

Sam Cavalheiro, “Massachusetts passes first tax cuts in almost two decades,” Daily Collegian, October 23, 2023.

Jonathan Cohn, Policy Director at Progressive Massachusetts (a progressive policy advocacy group,) was disappointed at the new tax law as he felt it only focused on cutting taxes.

Cohn explains that Massachusetts voters, in the most recent election, voted out a Republican governor who was fiscally conservative and passed an increase on taxes on the wealthy, called the Fair Share Amendment.

“Shifting the entire discussion to cutting taxes feels like ‘Wait, what just happened in the last election?’ It’s just not the best use of that in the political moment,” he said.

Cohn argues that the tax cuts do little to make Massachusetts an affordable place, referencing the Child Tax Credit Expansion: “…raising that child tax credit of $440 is ultimately not going far for people given how expensive children are. In Massachusetts, the cost of childcare is over $20,000 a year and saying that their tax credit is [going to] go up from $140 to $440 over a few years, that’s not a significant amount.”

He also argues that the rental deduction will do little to make Massachusetts more affordable: “What the expansion of the rental deduction means maybe $50 more for many renters… and many people see their rent increase each year by more than $50.”

Cohn criticized the short-term capital gains cuts and estate tax cuts, which mostly affect wealthier residents. He questions who the tax cuts are benefiting.

“Is it disproportionately benefiting those who already have high incomes or is it benefiting the people who are really struggling with being able to afford to live in Massachusetts?”

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PM in the News: “We Don’t Have the Money” Doesn’t Cut It

Chris Lisinski, “Healey, not Baker, gets to sign big tax relief law,” State House News Service, October 4, 2023.

“Voices on the left were also less enthused about the final product. The Progressive Massachusetts group contrasted the $1 billion in relief with the roughly similar amount of revenue the state expects to generate this year from a new surtax on high earners, revenue from which will be earmarked for education and transportation investments.

“It is simply not acceptable for legislators to say ‘We don’t have the money’ when it comes to meeting basic needs, when they are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary and regressive tax cuts for the rich and large corporations,” the group said in an unsigned statement. “Our commonwealth has the resources we need to solve the great challenges we face; the question is whether our elected officials have the will to do so.” “

tax fairness

“The perils of one-party rule”

Kelly Garrity, “The perils of one-party rule,” POLITICO, July 24, 2023.

“There’s a sense of complacency in the Massachusetts Legislature,” Jonathan Cohn, political director for Progressive Massachusetts, told Playbook. “When you have a situation where most of them never face any type of electoral challenge — primary or general — if you don’t finish something, you can get the band back together in the next legislative session.”

beacon hill

Solidarity Lowell Featured in Boston Globe, Lowell Sun

Sean Cotter, “In Lowell, debate over homeless encampment behind park,” Boston Globe, June 25, 2023.

“The protesters, waving signs with messages including “Lowellians Over Luxury” and “Stop The Sweeps,” said they didn’t like how City Hall was handling issues of homelessness. In January, according to the Lowell Sun, the city began an effort to get rid of homeless camps….“They need to treat them like human beings,” Joseph Boyle of Solidarity Lowell said at the encampment Sunday.” (Photo also includes Marissa Dupont and Amy Baranoski!)

Melanie Gilbert, “City plans sweep of homeless camp; unhoused, advocates cry foul,” Lowell Sun, June 25, 2023.

“But Marissa Dupont, of Lowell, and a member of the coordinating committee of Solidarity Lowell, said that although notice was given, the city doesn’t have sufficient beds to rehouse the Dog Park residents.

Solidarity Lowell is a volunteer group of community members of Greater Lowell working toward social justice by defending the human rights, dignity and equality of all persons against all forms of hate and discrimination. They joined members of the group LLAMA, which stands for Lifting Lowellians: Assistance and Mutual Aid, who gathered Sunday morning in nonviolent opposition to the anticipated sweep.

“We want these people to have homes,” Dupont said. “(The city) says, ‘We have four beds’ (in Lowell) but that’s not 23, and there’s no mention of getting them into hotels or anything. They say they are going to get vouchers.””

homelessness

MASSter List: “Massachusetts Senate tax relief plan earns progressive stamp of approval — to conservative chagrin”

Erin Tiernan, “Massachusetts Senate tax relief plan earns progressive stamp of approval — to conservative chagrin,” MASSter List, June 9, 2023.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, praised the Senate for “rejecting the flawed trickle-down economics that believes that tax cuts for the super-rich and large corporations, rather than investments in our state’s commonwealth, are what make our state ‘competitive.’”

News Roundup – May 26, 2023

Editorial Board, “An unfinished piece of criminal justice reform business: Raising the age for juvenile offenders“ (Boston Globe)

“Today, given the state of scientific research on developing brains, the case is even stronger to keep young adults out of a prison system ill-equipped to provide the education and the rehabilitation they need.”

Lydia Edwards, Adam Gomez, and Liz Miranda, “Time to enact new rules for use of facial recognition software” (CommonWealth)

“Three years ago, our Commonwealth started the good work of putting democratic guardrails around police use of this powerful but imperfect technology. Now, it’s time to get the job done. “

Lisa Guisbond, “Time to end the state’s ‘test and punish’ accountability system” (CommonWealth)

“Better ways to improve schools and student learning are grounded in community-based efforts – not state takeovers or private partnerships – using holistic, wraparound services to support schools that face multiple challenges.”

Editorial Board, “It’s time to restore legislative democracy on Beacon Hill” (Boston Globe)

“Why should the public care about any of this? Because as power has flowed upward and rank-and-file legislators have lost any real policy role, constituents have had less opportunity to influence the process.”

Editorial Board, “Give in-state college tuition to undocumented immigrants” (Boston Globe)

“Allowing these young people easier access to a college education would give them a chance at a better life. Currently, schools charge students without legal status the higher international or out-of-state rate, which many immigrants cannot afford to pay. At UMass Boston, a Massachusetts undergraduate faces a bill of $15,535 in tuition and fees next year, while an out-of-state student will be charged $37,211.”

Kara Miller, “Public colleges should be truly public again” (Boston Globe)

“We have been steadily “shifting the cost burden to students and their families,” argues Tom Harnisch, vice president for government relations at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. “There’s a real intergenerational equity issue here that I don’t think gets talked about nearly enough.”

Mark Paul, “Economists Hate Rent Control. Here’s Why They’re Wrong.” (The American Prospect)

” Some 67 percent of Americans live in owner-occupied homes—meaning they enjoy de facto rent control in the form of the 30-year mortgage…..It’s high time for the government to extend these benefits—and the economic security that comes with them—by adopting rent control to cover all people in the United States.”

Matt Stout, “Mass. tax revenues for April fell $2.2 billion below what state collected a year ago” (Boston Globe)

“The Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, which successfully pushed a ballot question last year raising taxes on the wealthiest, said in a statement that lawmakers should reconsider the tax cuts, should the state face budget shortfalls in the future.”

Carrie Jung, “Report: Boston’s child care capacity remains below pre-pandemic levels” (WBUR)

“The report also highlighted the increased costs of child care. Between 2018 and 2021, the average tuition for infant care in Boston increased by about $1,300 to $21,269. The tuition hike for toddler care was even steeper, increasing by about $5,600 to reach $19,402 in the same time period.”

“Rally To Make Higher Education More Accessible Held At State House” (WBZ Radio)

“We have underinvested for well over four decades in public higher education, this is unacceptable,” Eldridge said. “This is the session we’re gonna begin to see major investments in public higher education.”

Phineas Baxandall and Stacy Thompson, “Fare debate: Make buses free to all” (CommonWealth)

“Free transit, especially when it comes to buses, isn’t a fringe idea. It is a popular and proven method for increasing transit ridership and improving service. It’s time we start treating it as such.”

Bruce Mohl, “Senate budget embraces in-state tuition for undocumented students” (CommonWealth)

“While Massachusetts leads in so many areas in education,” she said, “we are falling behind other states, including the red states, in offering what is not only the right thing for these immigrant students but good for our atmosphere of inclusion, equity, and overall success. Twenty-three states plus DC already have this. We need to be competitive as well.”

Bruce Mohl, “Senate budget boosts RTA funding, backs fare-free buses” (CommonWealth)

“The $100 million in the Senate proposal includes $56 million for direct operating support, $25 million for innovation grants, $4 million for accessibility grants, and $15 million so each of the RTAs can launch six-month, fare-free pilots on their bus systems.”

Kristina Mensik and Adam Eichen, “It’s time to restore felon voting rights” (CommonWealth)

“As a new Sentencing Project report shows, disenfranchisement is associated with a range of adverse societal consequences that come at the expense of political and racial equality and the public good, ranging from lowered future political participation to roadblocks towards reintegration into society. One study has found that among individuals who had been arrested previously, 27 percent of non-voters were rearrested, versus 12 percent of voters.”