Maura Healey

Cries of "shame" echoed in front of the State House as speakers like Rebekah Gewirtz of the National Association of Social Workers deplored how the cuts will mean "more desperately hard times" for residents including "the most vulnerable kids."

Healey signed the tax relief into law on Oct. 4, less than a year after voters approved a new income surtax -- which Healey and legislative Democrats supported -- on high earners designed to generate more revenue for transportation and education investments.

"I think one way the commission can be helpful is to help us promote that tax credit because it's only been on the books for ... really a couple of fiscal years. I don't think people are aware of it as perhaps they can be," Cutler told the Legislative and Budget Subcommittee of the Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

Heeding Gov. Maura Healey's calls for the Bay State to better compete for federal dollars, legislators are moving ahead with one of the governor's plans to attract more funds from the feds into the state.

Halfway through fiscal year 2024, the state has now brought in $769 million or 4.1 percent less than the projections used to craft an annual budget featuring steep spending increases.

Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues didn't jump on board Wednesday with Gov. Maura Healey's proposal to drain $700 million in one-time funds to cover expenses related to the state's overflowing emergency shelter system.

While the Legislature voted in October to restore millions of dollars that Gov. Maura Healey vetoed, leaders of four organizations say the funds have yet to start flowing or be committed through contracts with the state.

More than six months after auditors discovered the Baker administration mistakenly used federal funds to pay jobless benefits during the COVID-19 emergency instead of the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, there's still no clarity on whether Massachusetts will need to repay that money or how.

Regulating artificial intelligence, creating an agricultural disaster relief fund and boosting food security emerged as areas of focus that lawmakers could tackle in 2024 following a batch of committee votes.

December is a "significant month" for state tax collections, but receipts through the month's halfway point trailed last December's pace by more than 8 percent.