#2021-14 May 7, 2021

Senate to Release Budget Tuesday, Debate Begins May 25

Senate leadership announced plans to release its FY2022 budget proposal on Tuesday, May 11 with plans to consider amendments on Tuesday, May 25.  Amendments to the Senate budget must be filed by Friday, May 14.

As we have reported previously, Governor Charlie Baker proposed a $45.6 billion state budget in January while the House passed its own $47.716 billion spending bill in April.  After Senate Ways & Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues introduces his committee’s budget, senators and their staffs will begin drafting amendments to be considered on the Senate floor.  More than 1,100 amendments were filed to the House budget, though many were withdrawn or addressed in large, consolidated amendments.  After the Senate passes its budget, a House and Senate will work to reconcile the spending plans before the July 1 start of the next fiscal year. 

House Vote on “Millionaire’s Tax” Possible this Fall

Representative Jim O’Day (D-West Boylston) and other proponents of the so-called “millionaire’s tax” constitutional amendment to impose a surtax on incomes over $1 million in the Commonwealth indicated this week that while no date has been chosen for the Constitutional Convention to consider the proposal, it could come before the Legislature later this year.  There is a joint session of the House and Senate planned for May 12, but the amendment has not been scheduled for debate.

As we have reported previously, Democrats on Beacon Hill have been pursuing the tax policy change for several years with supporters claiming the surtax will generate more than $2 billion per year for education and transportation in Massachusetts.  Opponents say it will encourage wealthy residents to move out of the state and discourage employers from locating in the Commonwealth, particularly as remote work trends become a more common.

On Wednesday, Raise Up Massachusetts said 73 percent of the 600 Massachusetts residents who responded to an online questionnaire said they support adding a 4 percent surtax on annual household income greater than $1 million.  A MassINC poll of registered voters found similar levels of support late last year.  In June 2019, House and Senate members voted 147-48 in favor of the amendment, which is required because the state constitution requires that a tax on income be applied evenly to all residents.  The amendment must win at least 101 votes in support among the 200 state legislators at a Constitutional Convention in the current legislative session to go on the November 2022 ballot.