Below is a list of studies organized by topic, pertaining to the fiscal situation of Massachusetts. Please take some time to browse through the list and see what other organizations are saying about the state of affairs in the commonwealth.
Good Government
A ranking from the Sunlight Foundation on how transparent each state is: http://openstates.org/reportcard/
A ranking of all 50 governors performed by the Cato Institute: http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/fiscal-policy-report-card-americas-governors-2014
ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index reveals a pro-growth trend across the nation for 2017: https://www.alec.org/publication/rich-states-poor-states-10th-edition/
General Economy
This study from the Pioneer Institute looks at various characteristics of the Massachusetts economy: http://pioneerinstitute.org/download/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-eight-patrick-administration-budgets-later/
This report from the Mercatus Institute compares the fiscal condition of the fifty states: http://mercatus.org/publication/state-fiscal-condition-ranking-50-states
A CNBC ranking of all 50 states on competitiveness measures: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101758236
Taxes
An index from the Tax Foundation based on the business tax climate in all fifty states: http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/2014TaxFoundationIndex_FINAL.pdf
A study from the Tax Foundation looking at marginal capital gains tax rates in the fifty states: http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/FF414.pdf
A study from the Tax Foundation looking at tax information transparency in the fifty states: http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/ff365.pdf
Report from the Tax Foundation on sales taxes in the fifty states: http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/TaxFoundation_FF438.pdf
An analysis from New Jobs for Massachusetts on the impact of the inventory tax: http://www.newmassjobs.com/News_files/NJFM_INVENTORY_TAX_REPORT-12.pdf
Five vital questions to consider as the constitution is once again being re-evaluated for risky changes: https://www.masstaxpayers.org/publications/public_finance/taxes/income_tax/20170612/changing_constitution_5_questions_consider
Spending
A Cato Institute report on the fiscal state of education in Massachusetts: http://www.cato.org/cracking-books/massachusetts
This study from statebudgetsolutions.org looks at state debt throughout the United States: http://www.statebudgetsolutions.org/publications/detail/state-budget-solutions-fourth-annual-state-debt-report
A report from governing.com looking at per capita debt in the fifty states: http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-debt-per-capita-figures.html
A study by the Beacon Hill Institute about the impact of so-called "prevailing wage" laws: http://www.beaconhill.org/BHIStudies/PrevWage08/DavisBaconPrevWage080207Final.pdf
A Cato Institute study on the effects welfare programs have on work: http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/work-versus-welfare-trade
Regulation
A report from The Economist on the varying difficulty in starting a business in each of the fifty states: http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21606293-small-businesses-fret-less-about-taxes-over-regulation-red-tape-blues
Pensions
This study from the Pioneer Institute takes a close look at the MBTA’s pension plans: http://pioneerinstitute.org/download/myths-and-reality-about-mbta-pensions/
This scorecard from the Urban Institute gives each state plans a letter grade based on various characteristics of their public pension plans: http://datatools.urban.org/features/SLEPP/index.html
This study from the Pioneer Institute takes a close look at the public pension plans for teachers in Massachusetts: http://pioneerinstitute.org/download/the-costs-of-delaying-the-funding-of-public-pensions-in-massachusetts/
This study from the Heartland Institute grades states based on their public pension plans: http://heartland.org/sites/all/modules/custom/heartland_migration/files/pdfs/27578.pdf
Infrastructure
A report from the Reason Foundation comparing state highway systems: http://reason.org/files/21st_annual_highway_report.pdf
A report from the Pioneer Institute about the bidding process for the MBTA's commuter rail project: http://pioneerinstitute.org/featured/new-report-runaway-transportation-costs/
Another report from the Pioneer Institute about bus maintenance costs at the MBTA: http://pioneerinstitute.org/news/the-mbtas-out-of-control-bus-maintenance-costs/