Friday, April 12, 2013
State lawmakers have proposed four ways to fund transportation going forward.
Officials, legislators and members of the public have debated four plans unveiled during the course of the past two months all with one goal: Paying for transportation in Massachusetts for the foreseeable future. Writers of these plans are trying to find ways to pump as much money as possible into the system, while trying to avoid dramatic fare increases, tax hikes and fees. These are the plans in chronological order based on the time of their announcements: Writer: Gov. Deval Patrick, Mass. Department of Transportation Money: $1 billion Date of Announcement: Jan. 14, 2013 Gov. Deval Patrick unleashed “The Way Forward: A 21st Century Transportation Plan” in Januray. The plan is an ambitious, multi-billion dollar budgetary proposal for …
The House proposal cuts out increased funding for early education, one of the centerpieces of Patrick's plan.
House leaders on Wednesday proposed a budget that was a billion dollars less than the one Gov. Deval Patrick put forth in January. The $33.8 billion House budget includes increased funding for higher education and local aid but not more money for early education, one of the centerpieces of Patrick's budget that emphasizes prekindergarten funding and investment in transportation. Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said the House budget would not increase these funds over concerns that the Department of Early Education and Care is inefficient and wasteful, the Boston Globe reported. Altogether, the House proposal would raise taxes by $500 million, compared to Patrick's proposed $1.9 billion tax hike. The House plan would result in a 3.9 percent …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, but Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK available once more.
More than three years after Gov. Deval Patrick said he'd make the State House grounds open to the public, the gates remain shut. The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, and Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK, in particular, available once more. However, Boston Herald reporters were recently turned away from the plaza and told that it is open during the summer during official tours of the State House, the Herald reported. The governor seemed unaware that the grounds were never reopened. “Well, the JFK statue is accessible now, which is great,” he told Herald reporters Friday. “The rangers can take you out. You just have to ask them. It doesn’t have to be a tour, and that’s a great thing.” …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Sherri Killins stepped down Monday as the head of the Department of Early Education and Care after reports she spent significant time in a superintendent training program.
Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday that nothing was illegal about Early Education and Care Commissioner Sherri Killins continuing to collect her $200,000 annual salary while she took time to train to be a superintendent and lived in Connecticut. Killins stepped down from the post earlier this week amid questions about her participation in a training program in Ware, which required a significant time investment and had some wondering whether it was cutting into the time she spent on the job. Patrick said Thursday that Killins did the training during her vacation time and other time off, and that there is no rule against living in another state while serving as a top Massachusetts official, the Associated Press reported. The administration …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
The program also allows users to develop their own plan and see its effects on their tax bill.
In an effort to further promote his proposed $34.8 billlion budget, Gov. Deval Patrick this week rolled out an online tool that would help families see the effect his plan would have on their bottom line. The tool was released less than a week after Patrick unveiled 400 online maps showing what each district would receive in transportation and education benefits under his tax plan. "We are proposing meaningful investments in education and transportation, and people want to know what that means for them," Patrick said. "Last week, with the maps, we showed what long-postponed projects would get done in each community. Now, with this tool, we show just what the costs or savings will be for individual households." The program not only lets …
Monday, March 4, 2013
The tool includes a maps for transportation funding and educational funding for each legislative district.
In an effort to promote his $34.8 billion budget proposal, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled an online tool with 400 maps that shows what each legislative district would receive in education funding. “This tool will help people see exactly what to expect in their own backyard as part of the investments we’ve proposed,” Patrick said. “Meaningful investments in education and transportation today will significantly improve our economic future both in the short term and for generations to come.” There are two maps per district – one displaying transportation investments and one displaying education investments in each community. "Governor Patrick’s budget plan includes a $1 billion annual investment in the Commonwealth’s transportation system…
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Gov. Deval Patrick told the crowd that his proposed budget will make college more affordable and accessible.
Hundreds of college students rallied at the State House Tuesday to urge legislators to increase funding for financial aid programs. Telling lawmakers that college has become increasingly unaffordable without government help, the students advocated for greater state support. Gov. Deval Patrick, who addressed the crowd, said his proposed budget does exactly that. "We have made great strides in higher education, but there is more to do to make sure everyone can get to college, no matter their income," Patrick said. The administration's proposed 2014 budget invests $6.79 billion in education – $152 million of that directed at making college more affordable and accessible, according to an administration press release. This money would be used …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
While specific deductions would end, personal exemptions would double under the Patrick budget.
A recent analysis of Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed budget finds that it eliminates 44 tax breaks that benefit a large slice of Massachusetts taxpayers. Patrick's $34.8 billion FY2014 budget includes not only a 1 percentage point hike in the income tax – from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent – but the end of such deductions such as the capital gains from the sale of a person's primary home, college tuition, and contributions to a health savings account. The analysis, by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, found that the eliminations would raise an additional $1 billion for the commonwealth. But Patrick's assistant secretary for fiscal policy, Gregory R. Mennis, told The Republican that that amount would be offset by the doubling of personal…
Monday, January 28, 2013
Legislators weighed in on Patrick's budget plan.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proposed a $34.8 billion budget on Wednesday. A few Brookline legislators weighed in on the plan. "I am excited that transportation policy was such a focus of Governor Patrick's budget proposal,” Rep. Ed Coppinger said. “In order to prevent a repeat of that fight, we need to be talking about transportation and the Governor has taken the lead in doing so. I was very pleased to see that a significant part of his plan focuses on bringing the MBTA's aging infrastructure up to date and also invests in bike and pedestrian infrastructure and facilities.” “Governor Patrick's budget is just the first step in a long process so I look forward to debating his proposals and working on the House of Representatives' …
Friday, January 25, 2013
The plan focuses on investments in transportation and education while calling for an income tax increase coupled with a lower sales tax.
In submitting his $34.8 billion budget to the Legislature Wednesday, Patrick said the proposed income tax hike is part of a comprehensive package aimed at investing in the state's infrastructure and in driving growth. The proposal asks for an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent coupled with a reduction in the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent. It also doubles personal exemptions. Despite the proposed income tax hike, Patrick says that low and modest-income workers will pay less in taxes under his proposal, and only the "more fortunate see a larger increase." "I do not submit this proposal lightly. I understand that many households in Massachusetts continue to struggle from the impact of the Great …
MoonBeamWatcher
2:21 am on Saturday, March 30, 2013
Speaking about benefits to citizens of Brookline . . . So many seniors have property as part of RETIREMENT package would it be of benefit to escape the Obama Property Tax to support OBAMAcARE? What with the very short interest earned on retirement savings to have our profit further reduced to so much less is a penalty for sound savings and business practices which is a PUNISHMENT rather then the … more ›