MA Pension Fund Takes Big Hit MASSACHUSETTS’ state pension fund lost $521 million in value in the past fiscal year, as a result of its holdings in fossil fuel stocks. Boston-based Trillium Asset Management calculated that the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) fund’s...

Chicago to Consider Airbnb fee Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed an ordinance that would impose a 2-percent surcharge on home-sharing and vacation rentals like those offered through services like Airbnb and VRBO. The proposal also seeks to require home-sharing hosts to register with the city...

$1B Budget Shortfall in NJ NEW JERSEY Treasurer Ford Scudder announced last week that the state is facing a budget deficit of close to $1 billion for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 combined. But he said the state would be able to manage the shortfall with “reasonable spending restraints.”...

Leaner Sales Tax Holiday Season This Year Seventeen states are holding annual “back to school” sales tax holidays this year, but many of them are scaling back those events to reduce the revenue hit. FLORIDA is cutting the length of its tax holiday from 10 days to three and making computers...

AL Approves $1B BP Settlement Spending Plan ALABAMA lawmakers approved a plan last week to spend most of a $1 billion settlement with BP over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on debt repayments, Medicaid and highway projects in Baldwin and Mobile counties. The plan is now with Gov. Robert Bentley...

VMT Tax Still Possibility in MA Despite MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Charlie Baker’s (R) veto in August of a provision in a road funding bill passed by state lawmakers providing for a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax pilot program, the state hasn’t ruled out the possibility of imposing such a tax...

A lot of taxpayers are going to be waiting longer than usual for their state tax refunds this year. At least 21 states, including Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina and Wisconsin, say refunds could be delayed by weeks or even months. The reason, according...

States are projecting income tax revenue growth of 3.6 percent and sales tax growth of 3.1 percent this fiscal year, down from 4 percent and 3.6 percent respectively last fiscal year and well below annual averages prior to the Great Recession, according to analysis of state legislative budget reports...

Ten states started the 2018 fiscal year on July 1 without a budget in place, according to the Tax Foundation. A partial government shutdown in one of those states, Maine, ended on the 4th of July when Gov. Paul LePage (R) signed a budget compromise eliminating a controversial 3 percent income tax surcharge...

More than two weeks into the 2018 fiscal year, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed a $39.43 billion budget on Monday that increases spending by 1.7 percent over last year. Baker also vetoed $320 million from the budget bill lawmakers sent him, including $222 million in spending on MassHealth...

Seeking to mitigate fast-rising prescription drug prices, Massachusetts health leaders have asked the Trump administration for permission to limit the number of drugs that will be covered in its Medicaid program, including “drugs with limited or inadequate evidence of clinical efficacy.”...

TRUCKING INDUSTRY SUES RI OVER NEW TOLL SYSTEM The American Trucking Association and three companies - MASSACHUSETTS -based, convenience-store chain Cumberland Farms; MASSACHUSETTS -based cargo carrier M&M Transport Services; and NEW JERSEY -based New England Motor Freight - have filed a federal...

A growing number of states and municipalities are going “green” with their bond sales. Developed about a decade ago to allow environmentally conscious investors to identify investments aligned with that priority, green bonds have become a useful funding tool for state and local governments...

ONLINE SALES TAX PLAN FAILS IN NH In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair , allowing states to collect sales taxes from online sellers located out-of-state, the NEW HAMPSHIRE Senate, meeting in special session, unanimously approved a bill ( SB 1 a ) that...

A federal judge in Indiana ruled this month that denying or delaying treatment of prison inmates infected with hepatitis C constituted cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment. A similar ruling last year in Florida and settlements in Colorado and Massachusetts...

The older a state is, the more likely it is to have fiscal problems. That’s one of the findings of an analysis of state fiscal health by William Bergman, director of research for Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit that advocates for transparency in local, state and federal government finances. ...

Minnesota state Rep. Dave Baker (R) sponsored a bill ( HB 1440 ) this session that would have imposed a “penny a pill” fee on every opioid painkiller pharmaceutical companies sold in the state to provide funding for opioid abuse prevention and treatment. The measure was personal for...

CA RECEIVES NEARLY $1B REVENUE WINDFALL IN Q1 CALIFORNIA took in $990 million more in personal income tax revenues in the first three months of the current fiscal year (July 1 to Sept. 30) than projected in June. Sales tax revenues came in slightly below projections but corporate tax revenues were...

Conventional wisdom holds that cities need population growth to be economically healthy. But between 2000 and 2016 per-capita income in Pittsburgh rose 24 percent - well over the national average of 18 percent - while the city’s population shrunk by 4 percent, roughly 95,000 people. Similar trends...

Massachusetts voters legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2016. But over two years later, most pot sales in the state still take place on the black market. The main reason for that is the slow rollout of state-licensed pot shops, with only eight stores currently open. “They’ve...

MN GOV PROPOSES $1.3B IN BORROWING MINNESOTA Gov. Tim Walz (D) has proposed borrowing nearly $1.3 billion to provide more affordable housing, fix buildings on college campuses and repair transportation infrastructure. Although parts of the governor’s plan have broad appeal, the state’s...

In his budget address in late February, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) called for a tax increase on sodas and other sugary drinks. Soda tax legislation has also been introduced this year in California, Massachusetts New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures...

NYC EYEING ASSISTANCE FOR STRUGGLING TAXI DRIVERS New York City is considering eliminating up to $10 million in fees on taxi drivers. The proposal is part of several initiatives aimed at helping drivers struggling with debt after taking out loans to purchase medallions, the city permits allowing operation...

Seven states suffer from weak governance, according to a report released last week by credit-rating agency Moody’s Investor Service. What earned those states - Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin - the less than ringing endorsement from Moody’s...

Equifax has agreed to pay at least $650 million to settle claims originating from its massive 2017 data breach. A large chunk of that money, $300 million, will go toward claims from any of the 147 million-plus consumers - nearly half the U.S. population - impacted by the breach. Another $275 million...