SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1775        FILED ON: 2/18/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2031

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Joanne M. Comerford

_________________

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 advancing taxpayers' right to know.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

 

Joanne M. Comerford

Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester

 

Erika Uyterhoeven

27th Middlesex

2/26/2021

Jack Patrick Lewis

7th Middlesex

3/12/2021


SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1775        FILED ON: 2/18/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2031

By Ms. Comerford, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2031) of Joanne M. Comerford, Erika Uyterhoeven and Jack Patrick Lewis for legislation to provide federal and state budget information to residents of the commonwealth.  State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

 

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1819 OF 2019-2020.]

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

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

_______________

 

An Act advancing taxpayers' right to know.

 

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 7 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following new section:-

Section 63. 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, health care, 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, health care, 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, there may be an agreement with such an organization to produce the report.