H3316 • 2025

An Act to promote budget transparency and the public’s right to know

Budget Taxes

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Carol A. Doherty
Last action: 2026-03-02
Official status: Accompanied a study order, see H5168
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act to promote budget transparency and the public’s right to know

An Act to promote budget transparency and the public’s right to know By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

An Act to promote budget transparency and the public’s right to know By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
3316) of Carol A.
Doherty and James K.
Hawkins that the website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth contain the total amount of income tax paid by residents of the Commonwealth to the federal government and the percent of those dollars appropriated for certain discretionary spending.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-02 House
Accompanied a study order, see H5168
2025-09-25 House
Reporting date extended to Wednesday, December 3, 2025
2025-06-18 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 06/24/2025 from 10:00 AM-01:00 PM in A-1
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act to promote budget transparency and the public’s right to know
By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3316) of Carol A. Doherty and James K. Hawkins that the website of the Secretary of the Commonwealth contain the total amount of income tax paid by residents of the Commonwealth to the federal government and the percent of those dollars appropriated for certain discretionary spending. State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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Bill H.3316

Section 1. Chapter 10 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following new section:-

Section 79. The treasurer, in coordination with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, shall provide a short summary each year to be published on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website by March 15, which reports the total amount of income tax paid by Massachusetts residents to the federal government in the prior year, together with the percent of those dollars appropriated in the prior year’s congressional discretionary budget to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, biomedical research, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and defense spending, including nuclear weapons. The summary shall include this information in the form of a pie chart or bar graph, and using the budget numbers reported by the federal Congressional Budget Office. The summary shall also include information noting that Medicare and Social Security programs are financed as trust funds and are not financed through income taxes.

The summary shall also include a report on the Commonwealth’s annual budget for the prior fiscal year. The report shall communicate the percent of the budget allocated to housing, education, healthcare, public transit, criminal justice, veterans services, food stamps and assistance, environmental protection, and conservation and recreation. The report shall also include the contribution of federal funds being returned to Massachusetts in those categories. The report shall include this information in the form of a pie chart or bar graph.

The information required under this section may be acquired from any nonpartisan, third-party organization that regularly compiles such data; provided further, there may be an agreement with such an organization to produce the report.

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The General Court provides this information as a public service and while we endeavor to keep the data accurate and current to the best of our ability, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

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