Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ and senators’ votes from the week of Sept. 25 to 29.

Legislature approves tax relief package (H 4104)

The House, 155-1, and the Senate, 38-1, approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey the conference committee version of a tax relief package. It was drafted as a compromise to the different versions approved by the House and Senate. Supporters say this will provide $561.3 million in tax relief in fiscal year 2024 and $1.02 billion per year in subsequent years.

Provisions include increasing the rental deduction cap from $3,000 to $4,000; reducing the estate tax for all taxpayers and eliminating the tax for all estates under $2 million by allowing a uniform credit of $99,600; increasing the refundable tax credit for a dependent child, disabled adult or senior from $180 to $310 per dependent in taxable year 2023, and then to $440 in subsequent years while eliminating the child/dependent cap; doubling the refundable senior circuit breaker tax credit from $1,200 to $2,400; increasing the refundable earned income tax credit from 30% to 40% of the federal credit; and reducing the short-term capital gains tax rate from 12% to 8.5%.

Other provisions double the lead paint tax credit to $3,000 for full abatement and $1,000 for partial abatement; ensure that employer student loan payments are not treated as taxable compensation; make public transit fares, as well as ferry and regional transit passes and bike commuter expenses, eligible for the commuter expense tax deduction; increase from $1,500 to $2,000 the maximum that municipalities may pay seniors to do volunteer work to reduce their property taxes; and raise the annual authorization for the low-income housing tax credit from $40 million to $60 million.

“This is the most significant tax relief package in a generation,” said Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland. “This legislation is going to put real dollars into the pockets of the people who need it most, including parents, seniors, young people and middle class families who are struggling to keep up with rising costs. This bill includes a historic expansion of housing programs that will ignite affordable housing development and ease the housing crunch, as well as significant relief for families with young children. It will also make Massachusetts a more competitive place to live and work and encourages businesses to continue investing in our region.”

“This tax relief package strikes the critically important balance of providing permanent financial relief to residents and businesses across Massachusetts, without compromising the long-term financial security of the commonwealth,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy. “I’m confident that this tax reform legislation will help to make Massachusetts more affordable for all residents, while also helping to make the commonwealth more competitive with other states.”

“Back in April, I stood at the rostrum for about 13 minutes and expressed a mix of support for the many elements of this bill that will help working families and people experiencing poverty — while at the same time criticizing the elements of this bill that will benefit large corporations and the super-rich,” said Rep. Mike Connolly, D-Cambridge, the only House member to vote against the package.

“From my vantage point, this bill was significantly improved through the conference committee process, and there are several elements of the bill I enthusiastically support,” Connolly continued. “And yet, as I stand here today, I still cannot bring myself to support the total price tag of $1.1 billion once fully implemented. Not after we just spent a decade working to pass the Fair Share Amendment to gain desperately needed new revenue. … A lot more needs to be done, including bigger public investments in programs, services and infrastructure — investments that could be significantly constrained by the overall cost of today’s tax cut bill.”

The measure also includes two provisions that the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance says will result in tax hikes. One would require Massachusetts married couples who file income tax returns jointly at the federal level to do the same at the state level. The other changes the system under Chapter 62F that requires that annual tax revenue above a certain amount collected by the state go back to the taxpayers. Under current law, the money is returned to taxpayers based on what he or she earned and paid in taxes. The new tax package changed that and provides that each taxpayer will receive a flat rate refund, unrelated to what they earned or paid in taxes.

“Never before have so many waited so long for so little,” said Paul Craney, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “Leave it up to two career politicians to not only deliver a two-year late tax relief package while almost every other state saw immediate relief, but include tax hikes in their relief package. The speaker and Senate president’s proposal includes a marriage penalty, applying the new income surtax to married couples who have a combined income of over $1 million.”

Craney further explained that changing how Chapter 62F surplus money is distributed to taxpayers actually hijacks the system and turns it into a socialist wealth redistribution scheme.

A “Yes” vote is for the tax relief package.

Rep. Natalie Blais — Yes

Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes

Sen. Joanne Comerford — Yes

Sen. Paul Mark — Yes

$1 million for Head Start programs (H 4040)

The House, 156-0, overrode Gov. Healey’s veto of $1 million (reducing funding from $17.5 million to $16.5 million) for grants to Head Start programs.

“I am reducing this item to the amount projected to be necessary,” Healey said in her veto message. “The adjusted funding level proposed here is consistent with the fiscal year 2023 General Appropriations Act and sustains significant expansion to this line item in recent fiscal years.”

A “Yes” vote is for the $1 million.

Rep. Natalie Blais — Yes

Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes

$1.4 million for suicide prevention services (H 4040)

The House, 154-0, overrode Gov. Healey’s veto of $1.4 million (reducing funding from $1.8 million to $400,000) for suicide prevention programs.

“I am reducing this item to an amount consistent with my House [budget] ... recommendation,” Healey said in her veto message. “The program goals are sufficiently funded through an expansion in the Suicide Prevention and Intervention … line item.

A “Yes” vote is for the $1.4 million.

Rep. Natalie Blais — Yes

Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes

$250,000 for prostate cancer research (H 4040)

The House, 154-0, overrode Gov. Healey’s veto of $250,000 (reducing funding from $1.25 million to $1 million) for prostate cancer research.

“I am reducing this item to the amount projected to be necessary,” Healey said in her veto message. “This will allow the program to continue its current level of services.”

A “Yes” vote is for $250,000.

Rep. Natalie Blais — Yes

Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes

$250,000 for Parent-Child Plus Program (H 4040)

The House, 131-24, overrode Gov. Healey’s veto of $250,000 (reducing funding from $4.25 million to $4 million) for the Parent-Child Plus Program. According to its website, “The goals of this intensive, evidence-based home visiting model are to promote school readiness and academic success by strengthening parent-child verbal interaction and reading and play activities in the home.”

“I am reducing this item to the amount projected to be necessary,” Healey said in her veto message. “The adjusted funding level proposed here is consistent with the fiscal year 2023 General Appropriations Act and sustains significant expansion to this line item in recent fiscal years.”

A “Yes” vote is for the $250,000.

Rep. Natalie Blais — Yes

Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes

$880,000 for Massachusetts Service Alliance (H 4040)

The House, 130-24, overrode Gov. Healey’s veto of $880,000 (reducing funding from $2.28 million to $1.4 million) for the Massachusetts Service Alliance. According to its website, the Massachusetts Service Alliance is a “nonprofit … established in 1991 that expands volunteerism and service in Massachusetts. It provides funding, training and support to individuals and organizations, enabling them to tackle pressing issues, strengthen communities and make our commonwealth a better place to live.”

“I am vetoing this item because it is not consistent with my House [budget] … recommendation,” Healey said in her veto message. “This is a pass-through and will not impact core Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development programming.”

A “Yes” vote is for the $880,000.

Rep. Natalie Blais — Yes

Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes

Suspend rules to allow amendments to tax package (H 4104)

The Senate, 3-33, voting along party lines, rejected a motion to suspend the Senate rule that prohibits amendments from being proposed to the conference committee version of the tax package. Republicans supported rule suspension while Democrats opposed it.

Supporters of rule suspension said Senate rules allow only a “yes” or “no” vote on the tax package. They argued there are some flaws in the bill and that rule suspension is the only way to allow amendments to be proposed.

Opponents of rule suspension said suspending the rule would result in hundreds of amendments being proposed to the package and lead to starting tax relief debate all over again. They noted that both Republican members of the conference committee signed off on the bill.

A “No” vote is against rule suspension.

Sen. Joanne Comerford — No

Sen. Paul Mark — No

Also up on Beacon HillIncrease minimum wage (H 1925, S 1200)

The Labor and Workforce Development Committee held a hearing on legislation that would raise the current $15 minimum hourly wage for workers, including municipal workers, by $1.25 per year until it reaches $20 per hour in 2027. Other provisions index the minimum wage to inflation beginning in January 2028; and increase the minimum wage for tipped workers from $6.75 to $12 by 2027, and then set it at 60% of the full minimum wage in future years.

“Increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour has had a tremendously positive impact on hundreds of thousands of working individuals and families in the commonwealth who have seen their take-home pay increase and improve their standard of living,” said Senate sponsor Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester. “However, due to high inflation, the buying power of $15 has been significantly eroded, and it is estimated by the MIT Living Wage Calculator that a single person living in the Greater Boston area would need to earn more than $22 per hour just to cover the basic necessities of life — and far more to support a family. This is why we need to start phasing in another increase to the minimum wage in Massachusetts.”

“We know that working families and individuals are under enormous financial stress with rising inflation and increased costs of housing and living,” said House sponsor Rep. Tram Nguyen, D-Andover. “As workers are struggling to meet their basic needs and provide for their families, I am glad to [file] this bill to provide fair wages in our commonwealth.”

Unbiased summaries in child removal cases (H 182)

The Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities held a hearing on a proposal that would require the Department of Children and Families (DCF), when considering a child’s removal from his or her family, to establish a case review team that produces summaries that do not include demographic and identifying information such as gender, race, ethnicity, disability, geographic location and socioeconomic status.

Sponsor Rep. Joan Meschino, D-Hull, said the bill is designed to prevent discrimination in the child removal processes.

“The goal is for DCF to provide a bias-free summary of a child’s situation that takes into account safety and risk factors, the family’s strengths and opportunities for supportive interventions before removing a child from their home,” Meschino said.

Allow cities and towns to impose a new 2% alcohol tax (S 1773)

The Revenue Committee held a hearing on a bill that would allow cities and towns to impose a local sales tax of up to 2% on alcoholic beverages sold at retail, bars or at restaurants. Municipalities that choose to impose the local tax would be required to use the revenue for substance abuse prevention and for protecting the public health.

“There is tremendous unmet need for substance use disorder treatment in every community in Massachusetts,” said Sen. Cindy Creem, D-Newton. “This bill would enable interested cities and towns to expand their addiction and public health programming to meet that need.”

$4 million for security at faith-based organizations

The Healey administration announced that more than $4 million in federal funds have been awarded to address priority security needs at faith-based and community service organizations that are at heightened risk of a hate crime or terror attack.

“Communities rely on nonprofit and faith-based organizations for essential social services, spiritual support and guidance,” said Gov. Healey. “Our administration is deeply committed to ensuring these vital organizations have the tools and resources needed to create safe, inclusive and protected environments. These federal funds provide critical support to our nonprofit and faith communities while strengthening Massachusetts’ ability to uphold our values and celebrate our diversity.”

$5.2 million for recycling, composting and waste reduction

The Healey administration announced nearly $5.2 million in grant funding to 283 municipalities to bolster their recycling, composting and waste reduction programs.

“Residents partner with their communities to help protect the environment by recycling and reusing as much as possible,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “This important funding will help municipalities implement innovative programs and policies that are proven to maximize reuse, recycling and waste reduction.”