By Bob Katzen

Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a $3.76 billion spending bill to fund an economic development package and a supplemental budget to close out the state’s books on fiscal 2022.

Absent from the package is millions of dollars in tax relief that was part of the original conflicting version approved by each branch including $500 million one-time tax rebates to an estimated 2 million eligible people. A $250 rebate would go to individual taxpayers and a $500 rebate to married taxpayers. Eligibility would be determined by annual income reported in 2021, with the minimum income required to be $38,000, and the maximum $100,000 for individual filers and $150,000 for joint filers. Beginning in 2023, several permanent tax reductions would take effect including increasing the Child and Dependent Care Credit from $180 per child to $310 per child, as well as eliminating the current cap of $360 for two or more children; increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit from 30 percent to 40 percent of the federal credit; increasing the senior circuit breaker tax credit cap from $1,170 to $2,340; increasing the rental deduction cap from $3,000 to $4,000; and increasing the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $2 million.

“The bill I am signing today authorizes $3.76 billion in gross spending, including certain transfers, funded from a combination of state and federal sources,” said Baker. “I am signing nearly all of the spending, which supports many of the critical needs proposed by our Administration across multiple supplemental budget proposals.”

“I was disappointed that permanent tax relief reforms were not included in this bill,” continued Baker. “The measures that I proposed in January and that were supported by the Legislature in earlier versions of this bill are affordable and sorely needed by Massachusetts taxpayers.”