By Bob Katzen

“These numbers are absolutely staggering and prove what [we] have warned from the start—Massachusetts has created the perfect environment for illegal smuggling. Our members are losing customers to the illicit market every day, and the state is bleeding tax revenue because criminals are filling the void created by excessive taxes and product bans.”

—Peter Brennan, executive director of The New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association, arguing that increased tobacco taxes and more flavor bans are fueling a booming illegal tobacco market, costing the state hundreds of millions in lost tax revenue while devastating law-abiding local retailers and flooding the state with uninspected and potentially harmful nicotine products.

“Massachusetts is home to the first public school in the United States, and we have the #1 schools in the country. Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Linda McMahon’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education means students and schools would lose out on $2 billion in federal funding for our schools. That means bigger class sizes, fewer reading specialists and support for students with IEPs, less funding for poorer and rural school districts and an end to after school programs.”
—Gov. Maura Healey on President Trump’s attempt to dismantle the federal Education Department.

“Women in Construction Week is an opportunity to showcase the amazing women in construction, celebrate increased exposure for girls to learn about careers in construction and encourage women to join the industry. Through the recent executive order, continued investment in Registered Apprenticeship, and great partnerships, we are working every day to increase access to training and career opportunities right here in Massachusetts for women and people of color.”
—Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones.

“This is a tax-and-spend budget through and through. Gov. Healey is quietly raising taxes while pretending to offer relief. Allowing municipalities to hike their meals tax and triple their auto excise taxes will hit working families hard, while her prescription drug tax will make healthcare more expensive for patients.”
—Paul Craney, spokesman for the Mass Fiscal Alliance.