Press Release: 7/8/2025

Recap on the State Budget

Over the long weekend, Governor Maura Healey quietly signed a bloated $60.9 billion state budget. While the spending increased by more than 5 percent over inflation and is up 7 percent from last year, it’s what was left out that shows the real impact of your voice.



Thanks to you and thousands of others who responded to our Calls to Action, shared our videos, and contacted your legislators, nearly all of the Governor's originally proposed tax increases were stripped from the final budget.



One of the worst was a prescription drug tax that was buried deep in the original proposal. Our policy team uncovered it and brought it to the public's attention. Once the truth came out, the pressure campaign worked. That tax, and several others, were removed before final passage.



Other rejected tax proposals included:




  • A cap on charitable deductions

  • A new excise tax on candy and synthetic nicotine

  • A tax on complimentary hotel rooms



This budget process followed a familiar Beacon Hill pattern. Hide the tax hikes, rush the bill, and hope no one notices. But this time, you noticed. And you pushed back.



Unfortunately, while the tax hikes were stopped, the budget still fails to address the deeper problems facing Massachusetts. Spending is climbing rapidly, prioritizing local aid is being put on the back burner with delays, and the Governor is now asking for emergency powers to make mid-year cuts if revenues fall short. This is all while the Governor and leaders on Beacon Hill are whistling past the graveyard regarding the need for reform of failing costly policies. Some low hanging fruit include our state’s magnet policies that attract unlawful migrants to swarm in to take advantage of our generous taxpayer funded benefits. In this budget, they actually touted an immigration legal assistance fund that will spend more taxpayer dollars on the growing problem.

 







The budget also includes a 12 percent increase for Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office, giving her office a $9 million bump that lawmakers claim is needed to defend Massachusetts from federal policy changes. It looks a lot like a reward for silence. The voters passed a law requiring the legislature to be audited, and the Attorney General has refused to enforce it. Now her office is getting a massive budget increase.

 

If the budget were truly balanced and responsible, the Governor would not be asking for emergency powers and delaying basic payments. The Governor knows this budget is a gamble, and taxpayers will be the ones left holding the bag when it collapses.



This is not fiscal leadership. It is short-term politics with long-term consequences.



Your advocacy made a difference, and we are grateful. But this fight is not over. We will continue to monitor the fallout from this budget and push for real reform that prioritizes taxpayers, not Beacon Hill insiders.



Thank you for standing with us,





Laurie Belsito

Policy Director

Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance