BHI, Mass. lawmakers again try to gauge revenues

From the State House News Service in the Berkshire Eagle:

BEACON HILL INSTITUTE

Forecasted fiscal 2019 growth: $690 million or roughly 2.8 percent

Paul Bachman of the Beacon Hill Institute said revenue growth has slowed down dramatically over the past few years, a situation he called "a little bit puzzling" given the 70,000 jobs created in the past year. But he said personal income growth has also slowed dramatically -- falling to 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 after having been over 5 percent in earlier quarters — and now may be on track for a rebound.

"That's what's driving the less than robust tax revenue collections," he said.