Earlier this week, Gov. Maura Healey filed her FY24 state budget proposal, a $55.5 billion spending plan that was accompanied by a separate tax package seeking to provide almost $1 billion in tax relief to seniors, renters and low-income residents, with long sought reforms to the estate tax and a lowering of the short-term capital gains tax rate.

The budget is largely a straight spending plan, light on policy changes, reflective of the fact that Healey has only been in office for less than two months and is still molding her legislative agenda.  Spending priorities include the largest increase in Chapter 70 school aid in 25 years, a commitment to making community college free to more residents of the Commonwealth, a 25% increase in spending for the UMass system, and significant budgetary investments in child care, environment, energy, and transportation areas.
 
We were very pleased that for the first time in seven years the annual state budget filing does NOT include any mention of “Real Time” sales tax collection, a failed proposal favored by the previous administration.
 
The tax plan proposes increasing the rental deduction cap to $4,000, doubling the cap on the Senior Circuit Breaker program to $2,400, and expanding the Child and Dependent Tax Credit.  In addressing tax areas where the Commonwealth is an outlier, the plan reduces the short-term capital gains tax rate to 5%, and increases the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $3 million and provides a $182,000 credit for all estates, easing the “cliff effect” in the current system.
 
The budget also includes spending $1 billion in revenue expected to be generated by the new Millionaire’s Tax surtax, divided evenly between transportation and education proposals.
 
The House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means will next hold a series of public hearings on the budget, broken out by subject matter, over the next 6-8 weeks.  The House will then release and debate its budget plan in April. 

Annual Health Insurance Survey

Many small businesses renew their health insurance in the first quarter, or early second quarter of the year.  If you have already renewed, are reviewing your 2023 rates now, or may be receiving your renewal shortly, we would like to hear from you.   Collecting small business health insurance cost information from our members is critical for our efforts to seek fairness for small employers in choices and premiums. 

Please take a minute to respond to this brief survey.  Thank you.