Expect minimal action on taxes in budget
When Speaker Robert DeLeo put his foot down and said there would be no tax hikes in 2012 he was not joking. Out of the hundreds of proposed amendments to the FY 2013 budget only 36 are in the revenue category, according to a State House News Service review. The majority of amendments in the revenue category are, actually, proposals to reduce taxes and they have as much chance as passing as the proposals to raise revenues: none.
So far the majority of amendments addressing taxes and revenue have been either rejected or withdrawn.
The one tax proposal I am watching and that I think has a snowballs chance is the Meals Tax Holiday. If enacted it would suspend the meals tax for a week in October. Again, it is a longshot, but this legislature under DeLeo has shown support for holidays on voluntary taxes.
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