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"TELling" it like it is: How Massachusetts could eliminate its structural deficit and still spend generously on safety-net programs (BOSTON)
In a new study entitled Massachusetts Fiscal Policy: The Legend
v. the Facts, the Beacon Hill Institute shows how Massachusetts
could eliminate the "structural deficit" in its state
budget and still spend generously on safety-net services. The solution
is to adopt a TEL (Tax and Expenditure Limitation) that fixes the
growth of state spending at a rate equal to inflation plus the growth
of population. The study tackles two Massachusetts budget legends: 1) that the state is stingy toward the provision of safety-net services and 2) that it faces intractable "structural deficits." David G. Tuerck, Executive Director of the Institute and co-author of the study, observed that "both legends are regularly invoked to justify new taxes and both legends are based on fantasy, not facts." MORE |
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BHI
Forecast Update: State tax revenues to increase by 2.1% in FY 2010
and by 4.4%
The
Institute’s forecasts for state tax revenues are: The Institute estimates that while net income tax collections for FY 2010, the current year, will fall by 4.7% they will rebound by 5.5% in FY 2011. It also estimates that sales tax collections (which include revenues from the recent tax increase) will close out the fiscal year up by 8.4% and grow by 6.1% in FY 2011. Corporate excise tax collections are estimated to grow by 4.2% in FY 2010 and 2.6% in FY 2011. BHI's
Revised Revenue Forecast |
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BHI State Analysis Arkansas
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The Economic Effects of Proposed Cap-and-Trade Legislation President Obama and several members of Congress have proposed legislation to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. The Waxman-Markey Bill currently before Congress would bring GHG emissions, and hence carbon emissions, below 2005 levels in steps – 3% below those levels by 2012, 20% by 2020, 42% by 2030, and 83% by 2050. Waxman-Markey would create a “cap-and-trade” system, under which U.S. producers would receive tradable permits to emit greenhouse gasses. Producers buying the permits would, in effect, pay a tax for the privilege of emitting greenhouse gasses currently emitted without charge. The resulting “carbon tax” would have an effect on production and employment similar to an explicit excise tax on production. More
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Project Labor Agreements on Federal Construction Projects: A Costly Solution in Search of a Problem BOSTON, MA – A new study released today by the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) finds that Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), which will be permitted under an executive order from President Obama, will significantly increase construction costs on federal projects while doing nothing to protect the interests of federal taxpayers. The executive order reverses a prohibition on PLAs that was in effect during the Bush Administration. The purpose of the BHI study, which is entitled Project Labor Agreements on Federal Construction Projects: A Costly Solution in Search of a Problem, was to determine whether the reversal of this prohibition is in the interest of federal taxpayers. PLAs are agreements with contractors that establish the rules to be followed by firms that bid on construction projects. PLAs typically require a contractor to hire workers though union hiring halls, require non-union workers to pay dues for the length of the project and force contractors to abide by union rules on pensions, work conditions and dispute resolution. In February, President Obama issued Executive Order 13502, which allows executive agencies to require contractors to use PLAs on federal construction projects costing $25 million or more. The federal government’s deadline for accepting comments on the order is September 23, 2009.The purpose of a PLA is to assure labor “peace” during construction projects. But
a review by BHI of federal construction projects during the Bush
Administration found no instances of labor disputes that resulted
in significant project delays or increased costs.“Our examination
of the record produces no evidence of any systematic connection
between the absence of a PLA, on the one hand, and cost overruns
or delays caused by labor disputes, on the other,” said David
G. Tuerck, one of the authors of the study and Executive Director
of the Beacon Hill Institute. Therefore, the justifications offered
by the Obama Administration for reinstating PLAs are not supported
by the evidence. MORE Press
Release
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