House wants to spend Fair Share cash on the MBTA, schools
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The state has over $1 billion in "Millionaire's Tax" money to spend and House leaders want it to go the MBTA, special education and early childcare.
Why it matters: If passed into law intact, it would be one of the largest single deployments of Fair Share revenue since voters approved the income surtax in 2022.
By the numbers: The House rolled out a supplemental spending bill Tuesday using $1.3 billion from the Fair Share surtax surplus and $507 million in general tax dollars.
- $740 million would go to the MBTA. That's about 32% more than what's needed to deal with the agency's projected $560 million deficit this year and about 15% more than Healey's proposed allocation.
- The T would get $525 million to bail out its budget, $125 million for workforce and safety, $60 million for infrastructure and $20 million to fund reduced fares for poor riders.
Of the $417 million for education, $150 million would go to special education, another $150 million for early ed and the rest would fund a range of smaller programs.
Of note: House lawmakers are also trying once again to boost state funding for the World Cup matches set for this summer in Foxborough.
- $10 million would go to the FIFA World Cup host committee, Boston Soccer 2026, bringing the total taxpayer funding to $20 million.
Between the lines: The bill includes a tax policy maneuver to delay five federal tax code changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act by one to two years.
- That could spare the Massachusetts budget $442 million in revenue this fiscal year.
The intrigue: In another tricky move, the bill would decouple from those "big beautiful bill" tax credits if voters pass a ballot question later this year to lower the state income tax rate from 5% to 4%.
- Democratic lawmakers fear lowering the tax rate would blow a $5 billion hole in the state budget and force massive cuts to government services.
What's next: The bill has to go through the Senate, where it could face scrutiny over the World Cup funding.
- The scope of the MBTA allocation compared to Healey's budget proposal might give the governor some cause to bust out her veto pen.