Letter to Charlie Murphy, the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, outlining my state budget priorities.
Budget
budget and local aid updates, community preservation act, financial outlook, local aid policy, priorities/requests, resources, revenue, taxes
Income tax reform
A proposal to raise the personal income tax exemption and simultaneously raise the rate — so as to make the income tax more progressive — has merit, but it is not politically viable at this time.
Money Issues in 2009-2010
An outline of the financial issues that will be front and center throughout the coming legislative session.
Gas Tax
Most feedback to me has been overwhelmingly supportive of the gas tax — simple, fairer than high tolls, environmentally sound, definitely needed, a broad-based mechanism to fund a broadly-used commonwealth asset.
Gas tax increase
A conversation is developing about the gas tax and also about how to protect low and middle-income tax payers from additional financial stress.
Cutting the state budget
Observations about where Massachusetts stands in the crisis, how the state is responding, and how the cuts affects our local communities.