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Gov. Maura Healey has until March 1 to file her first annual budget, and told reporters Monday that “the budget season is upon us.”

Flanked by House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka after they met on Monday, the governor said the three Democrats will have a better idea of what the budget will look like after the consensus revenue hearing later this month.

“Our teams are in close touch working through what the numbers are and what’s possible,” she said.

Mariano confirmed that the annual consensus revenue hearing – postponed a month this year to allow Healey to first take the corner office – has been scheduled, but said he didn’t know when it would be held. A Mariano aide later could not specify a date.

When asked how he stands on tax reform and tax relief, which legislators pledged last year but withdrew after a state law triggered $3 billion in tax relief, Mariano said “the consensus revenue hearing will be a big influence on what I decide.”

Healey agreed with Mariano when posed with a similar question about permanent tax relief.

“We’ve got to see what consensus revenue is,” she said. “We’re taking all of this in, we’ve all articulated priorities around the relief we want to provide to residents and to folks and entities across the state, and we’re just going to try to do so.”

Beacon Hill leaders in recent years have woefully underestimated tax receipts, leading to record surpluses that have fueled calls for both additional state spending and tax relief. Collections midway though the current year are blasting past benchmarks.

An agreement on the consensus revenue figure is due on Jan. 31. The state legislature’s budget chiefs will work closely with Healey’s new administration and finance secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz during the consensus revenue process.

Though neither chamber has officially organized yet, leaving the top jobs in each branches’ Ways and Means Committees open until they do so, the House on Monday created a temporary Ways and Means Committee consisting of the same members who were in the committee at the end of the 2021-2022 session. The Senate has not taken action yet to fill the committee temporarily.

Top Dems Defer to Revenue Hearing When Asked About Tax Relief

by State House News Service time to read: 1 min
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