MOSES Board of Directors, October Meeting: Legislative Update Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Provided by Steven Smalley, Legislative Director Federal Update After weeks of optimism that a deal would finally be reached on the next stimulus package that would provide aid to states, cities, businesses and citizens, President Trump has called off negotiations until after the election. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin have been trying to negotiate between the $1.6 trillion offer that Trump supported and the $2.2 trillion proposal that the U.S House approved. Tax Revenue Update Massachusetts recorded $4.144 billion in tax collections for the month of September which was $46 million or 1.4 percent less than September 2019. Year-to-date tax collections total roughly $7.27 billion through three full months of FY 2021, which is $69 million or 1 percent more than was collected during the same period in FY2020. The decline in September collections is due mostly to withholding in income and meals taxes, but partially offset by higher increases in regular sales taxes and motor vehicles sales taxes. September is a significant month for revenue collections as it generally produces 10% of the state’s annual revenue. State Revenue Estimates Update On October 7th, Ways and Means chairmen Sen. Michael Rodrigues and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and ANF Secretary Michael Heffernan convened a group of experts to offer their latest forecasts to help craft a budget for the remainder of FY2021. State tax collections this fiscal year could range anywhere from $25.9 billion to $29.8 billion, according to estimates by economic experts that point to a likelihood that the state will see a year-over-year decline in tax receipts. The estimates all fall below the $31.15 billion revenue estimate that Gov. Baker's budget office agreed to in January before the pandemic occurred. DOR projected a tax haul in the range of $25.918 billion to $28.387 billion. Three other speakers offered estimates of about $29 billion, below the $29.596 billion collected in FY2020. The range offered would represent a drop of anywhere from 4.1 percent to 12.4 percent from FY2020 collections, or $2.764 billion to $5.233 billion below initial FY2021 estimates. While there has been optimism that an FY2021 budget would be taken up by the end of this month, it is more likely that it would now be taken up after the November election due to uncertainty of federal stimulus aid. MOSES Primary Election Update MOSES has finalized its endorsement for the upcoming November election which is three weeks away. Letters to our members in the specific districts have been sent out notifying them of these endorsements. Below are the MOSES endorsed candidates (names in BOLD face no challenger in November): 1 House Candidate District Timothy Whelan 1st Barnstable District Daniel Ryan 2nd Suffolk District Joan Meschino 3rd Plymouth District Michael Kushmerek 3rd Worcester District Natalie Higgins 4th Worcester District Paul Donato 35th Middlesex District Christine Barber 34th Middlesex District Joseph McGonagle 28th Middlesex District David Rogers 24th Middlesex District Brad Jones 20th Middlesex District Tram Nguyen 18th Essex District Rob Consalvo 14th Suffolk District Meghan Kilcoyne 12th Worcester District Kathleen LaNatra 12th Plymouth District John Rogers 12th Norfolk District Normal Orrall 12th Bristol District Mark Cusack 5th Norfolk District Jerry Parisella 6th Essex District Josh Cutler 6th Plymouth District Michelle DuBois 10th Plymouth District Ted Phillips 8th Norfolk District James Dever 5th Barnstable District Jessica Giannino 16th Suffolk District Steven Owens 29th Middlesex District Deborah Busser 1st Middlesex District Christina Eckert 2nd Essex District Adam Scanlon 14th Bristol District Emmanuel Dockter 5th Plymouth District 2 Senate Candidate District Nick Collins 1st Suffolk District Patricia Jehlen 2nd Middlesex District Mike Brady 2nd Plymouth and Bristol District Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, and Ann Gobi Middlesex District Walter Timilty Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth District Patrick O'Connor Plymouth and Norfolk District John Cronin Worcester and Middlesex District Susan Moran Plymouth and Barnstable Becca Rausch Norfolk, Bristol and Worcester District Adam Gomez Hampden District 3 .