Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: Possible Reforms to the Governor’s Tax Plan
ITEP Work in ActionIn his FY 2014 budget, the Governor proposes making significant new investments in education and transportation, as well as limiting cuts to other program areas. He proposes paying for these investments with a tax increase, one that would raise an estimated $1.9 billion in new, annual revenue and would do so in a progressive manner (i.e., most of the additional revenue would come from higher income households). The net revenue gain ($1.9 billion) would be the combined result of some half-dozen specific sets of tax code changes that together compose the Governor’s overall tax package.
Various elements of the Governor’s proposal could be changed in ways that would raise the same amount of revenue in a similarly fair way. To illustrate this point, in this Facts At A Glance we provide examples of four such alternatives, based on the Governor’s actual tax proposal.