Council in the News
Massachusetts High Technology Council media coverage.
What is and isn’t in Healey’s budget
Maura Healey’s first budget proposal is a $55.5 billion blueprint for how the new governor plans to make good on her promises to spend more on education, transportation, and energy and environmental agencies.
Healey pitches her budget and tax reform plans to Boston’s business community
A day after unveiling her $55.5 billion state budget, Gov. Maura Healey is on the road trying to garner support for her plan. She made a pitch Thursday morning to 800 members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Healey tells Boston Chamber her tax relief plan will make Massachusetts more competitive
Her plan would reduce the tax rate on investments held for less than a year from 12 percent to 5 percent, bringing it in line with the state’s taxes on long-term capital gains and personal income. Only two other states, Healey told the chamber, tax short-term gains at a higher rate than long-term gains. Meanwhile, she would offer a credit that would essentially raise the threshold for the estate tax from $1 million to $3 million; she noted only one other state has such a low threshold, and most states have no estate tax at all.
Healey seeks to cut estate, capital gains taxes. Business groups want more.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey told business leaders on Thursday that she sees proposed cuts to estate and capital gains taxes as “the start of a conversation” about ways to make Massachusetts more economically competitive.
Ahead of FY24 Budget Filing, Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll Announce MassReconnect, Workforce Development Investments
Governor Maura T. Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kimberley Driscoll announced that their Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget will include funding to create the MassReconnect program, which will cover the cost of community college for all Massachusetts resident aged 25 or older without an equivalent credential.
The Massachusetts High Technology Council’s Statement on Governor Healey’s FY24 Budget
The High Tech Council is pleased the Governor’s budget invests in programs that expand educational and career opportunities for Massachusetts students and adults.
Elizabeth Mahoney joins Massachusetts High Technology Council as VP of policy
Elizabeth Mahoney, a former senior adviser to former Gov. Charlie Baker, has joined the Massachusetts High Technology Council as vice president of policy and government affairs.
What’s Ahead in 2023? Here’s what several Massachusetts business leaders expect will be the biggest challenges to their industries in the coming year.
What’s ahead in 2023? Several Massachusetts business leaders share what they expect will be the biggest challenges to their industries in the coming year.
Former Baker adviser joins Massachusetts High Technology Council
The Massachusetts High Technology Council’s next public-policy leader comes directly from the office of former-Gov. Charlie Baker. The organization today announced Elizabeth Mahoney as its new vice president of policy and government affairs, responsible for developing and executing its public policy agenda. Mahoney previously worked for Baker as deputy chief of staff and policy director, and then as a senior adviser.
Editorial: Beware of unintended policy consequences
The Boston Business Journal asked some of the region’s most prominent business leaders — in real estate, technology, health care, and retail, among others — to provide a glimpse into the economic future. One recurring theme in their answers has been dealing with the unintended consequences of policies that sound good on the surface but end up undermining other efforts.
Business community has a big ask of new governor: Tackle taxes
As Healey takes office, business leaders are looking for her to tweak the state’s tax structure to make Massachusetts more competitive in a work-from-anywhere world.
Editorial: Our economic success needs a strategic vision
If we don’t look ahead to the next 30 years — and anticipate what actions we can take now to set up New England for success — there’s no guarantee that the successes we’ve enjoyed will continue. The Massachusetts High Technology Council, with the help of McKinsey & Company, recently kicked off what they’re calling MassVision2050 with an eye toward doing just the kind of strategic planning the region will require.
Viewpoint: A vision for Massachusetts in 2050: In pursuit of steady excellence
The Massachusetts High Technology Council has a bold vision for Massachusetts in 2050. High Tech Council Board Chair Robert Reynolds, CEO of Putnam Investments, and Director Navjot Singh, Ph.D., senior partner at McKinsey & Company, detail the strategy in a Boston Business Journal Op-Ed.
Voters have repeatedly said no to raising taxes on the highest earners. This time might be different.
Question 1 on the November ballot is billed as an effort to raise more money for education and transportation by increasing taxes on households with an annual income greater than $1 million. This is the sixth attempt to persuade voters to undo the state’s flat income tax rate. Each previous time — 1962, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1994 — proponents lost in a landslide.
Is Massachusetts losing its competitive edge? Business groups say they’re worried.
Steep housing prices might be the biggest threat perceived by the business community. While companies aren’t leaving in droves, many are choosing to expand elsewhere, while the widespread acceptance of remote work means many office employers can hire from just about anywhere in the country.
Ready to sue to protect tax cap giveback
Legislators seemingly forgot the law, known as Chapter 62F, existed, and were caught flat footed when Gov. Charlie Baker announced that it would likely be triggered this year and deliver nearly $3 billion (roughly 7 percent of all income tax collections in 2021) in tax relief back to the people who actually paid the taxes.
‘Free’ getting another test during Orange Line shutdown
Hoping to cram five years of weekend and night work into a single month, the MBTA shut down the entire Orange Line on Friday and sought to minimize the inconvenience for riders by deploying a fleet of free shuttle buses. So far, the replacement system appears to be holding together.
Bump dismisses claim of tax cap pressure on her office
Bump claims that her office is handling the tax cap the way it has every other year. She said the Legislature isn’t pressuring her office, and that they will calculate how much money should go back to taxpayers in September.
Legal teams ready to defend Massachusetts tax relief law
Should Beacon Hill officials try to duck the tax relief requirements of Chapter 62F over the next month, at least two groups of taxpayers, newly including one supported by major right-leaning groups like Citizens for Limited Taxation, have organized themselves to be prepared to ask the state’s court system to step in.
Six Years After Her Passing, One Woman’s Life’s Work Continues To Save Taxpayers Billions
Massachusetts taxpayers are poised to get back billions of dollars when they do their taxes next year due to chapter 62F, which stipulates that state revenue collections in excess of the rate of wage and salary growth must be refunded to taxpayers.
Opinion/Stead: Somewhere in heaven Anderson – who fought for limited taxation – is laughing
A provision of a 1986 state tax law, Chapter 62-F, is being called “obscure” in order to set the stage to possibly refuse to obey the existing law. CLT sponsored the act along with the Massachusetts High Technology Council. The clause in the law states simply that when tax revenue goes beyond a threshold, the tax money must be rebated to the taxpayers who provided it.