The governor, House Speaker and Senate President held a leadership meeting at the State House Monday — where tax cuts and budget proposals undoubtedly came up.
“Lots of things that are coming up,” Senate President Karen Spilka said when asked specifically what the three lawmakers had discussed, without much in the way of further details.
The three exited the Senate President’s office about an hour after they had convened behind closed doors at around 3 p.m. Monday and were remarkably tight-lipped about their discussion topics when speaking with reporters during a press conference afterward.
House Speaker Ron Mariano eventually volunteered that the House’s plan to cut taxes would be unveiled Tuesday, a day before leaders from the lower chamber are expected to release their version of Gov. Maura Healey’s about $55 billion fiscal 2024 spending plan.
“It will be a separate stand alone bill,” he said. “We’ll be rolling it out tomorrow.”
According to the Speaker, the plan will look much like a similar tax cut scheme nearly approved by the Legislature last session, though not everything approved then will make this year’s reforms.
Healey has offered her own tax cut plan, an about $750 million proposal that would see the estate tax threshold raised, the short-term capital gains tax slashed, and tax incentives for renters and seniors offered.
It would also provide a $600 per dependent tax credit to families of young children or adults requiring care, with no cap on the number of dependents.
It’s unclear what, if anything, led the lawmakers to silence Monday, but when asked if disagreement over their differing proposals to make the state more affordable was the cause of their noticeable reluctance to speak, Mariano seemed to concede the three state leaders was indeed not coughing up much, but said it wasn’t because of disagreement over the tax plans.
“It’s not a bad question, but you’re wrong,” he said.
Regardless of what plan emerges from the House, Spilka said she has long committed to accepting a tax cut proposal that helps the state’s most vulnerable citizens, meaning there is at least consensus on Beacon Hill about the idea of tax reform, if not what shape it will take.
“I’ve said for months that I believe we should and could do progressive, permanent tax reform. I still believe that,” Spilka said.