HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1446        FILED ON: 2/5/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3123

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Carol A. Doherty

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act providing federal and state budget information to residents of the Commonwealth.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Carol A. Doherty

3rd Bristol

2/5/2021

Patrick Joseph Kearney

4th Plymouth

2/22/2021

Erika Uyterhoeven

27th Middlesex

2/26/2021

Jack Patrick Lewis

7th Middlesex

3/10/2021

Lindsay N. Sabadosa

1st Hampshire

3/3/2021

Marcos A. Devers

16th Essex

3/11/2021

Natalie M. Higgins

4th Worcester

5/10/2021

Tommy Vitolo

15th Norfolk

12/6/2021

Marc R. Pacheco

First Plymouth and Bristol

3/17/2022


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1446        FILED ON: 2/5/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3123

By Ms. Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3123) of Carol A. Doherty and others that the State Treasurer annually mail to resident taxpayers of the Commonwealth information on the federal and state budgets.  State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

_______________

 

An Act providing federal and state budget information to residents of the Commonwealth.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1. Chapter 10 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following new section:-

Section 79. The treasurer, in coordination with the secretary of the commonwealth, shall provide a short summary each year to be mailed to Massachusetts resident taxpayers by March 15, which reports the total amount of income tax paid by Massachusetts residents to the federal government in the prior year, together with the per cent of those dollars appropriated in the prior year’s Congressional discretionary budget to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, biomedical research, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and defense spending, including nuclear weapons. The summary shall include this information in the form of a pie chart or bar graph, and using the budget numbers reported by the federal Congressional Budget Office. The summary shall also include information noting that Medicare and Social Security programs are financed as trust funds and are not financed through income taxes.

The summary shall also include a report on the commonwealth’s annual budget for the prior fiscal year. The report shall communicate the per cent of the budget allocated to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, criminal justice, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and conservation and recreation. The report shall also include the contribution of federal funds being returned to Massachusetts in those categories. The report shall include this information in the form of a pie chart or bar graph.

The information required under this section may be acquired from any nonpartisan, third-party organization that regularly compiles such data; provided further, there may be an agreement with such an organization to produce the report.