Massachusetts residents could face the prospect of higher taxes as Beacon Hill struggles to balance its budget.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo will be a pivotal figure in deciding whether or not to seek a tax increase to cover budget expenditures such as state services and health care for the poor. DeLeo said Monday he needs input from public hearings in order to make that decision.
DeLeo said he is not eager to raise broad-based taxes. “But,” he added, “on the other hand, I think it’s only fair to give people their proper ability to raise their concerns about the budget and for those who wish to talk about increased taxes.... go through the process before making a final decision.”
Some resist this line of thinking. “As Governor Baker said, this $18 million pay hike package is fiscally irresponsible. The legislators knew the state’s financial picture and rammed it through anyway. The move was swift, slick and shameless.,” the Pioneer Institute’s Mary Z. Connaughton told WGBH News in an email.
Monday’s snowstorm postponed what would have been the House and Senate’s first major budget hearing. DeLeo said Monday he’ll rely on input from his budget chief Rep. Brian Dempsey and other government leaders to determine how much the state should spend in Fiscal Year 2018 and if taxes need to go up to cover it.
“I think this year we’re taking our time in terms of exactly seeing where we are fiscally and what we’re going to need to balance this year’s budget,” DeLeo said.
Lawmakers only struggled with one public hearing before making the decision last month to increase their own pay stipends and salaries for judges, money DeLeo said was already allocated for the current year.
“There was no need for any further money to come from any other source except for the accounting source that we have right now. In terms of next year’s budget, I’m not ruling out the possibility of any increase in taxes,” DeLeo said.
But that $18 million in additional pay will reoccur when the next fiscal year begins in July, and it will have to be allocated from the same declining revenue stream every other budget item draws from.
The Senate Monday moved to create a new leadership position for Democrats under Senate President Stan Rosenberg, adding a new $35,000 annual stipend to the cost of operating government.
