Gov. Healey Brings her Tax Cut Tour to Haverhill; Residents Speak of Needed Savings

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Massachusetts Gov. Maura T. Healey used the backdrop of a Haverhill YMCA child care program to highlight her $1 billion tax cut, including, as the administration describes, “the nation’s most generous Child and Family Tax Credit.”

Healey came to the Y in downtown Haverhill yesterday to call attention to her signing this week of a tax cut law to provide savings for seniors, renters, businesses and others.

“We are really proud that we were able to work together and give the people of Massachusetts this much-needed tax relief. It’s real money. It’s going to help real people and it will help make our state more affordable, more competitive and more equitable.”

The governor, who was joined by Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll, called on two residents to discuss how they will benefit. Nineteen-year-old Sadé Pimental is a graduate of Haverhill’s Gateway Academy and a mother who works two jobs.

“I am very pleased and excited about the Child and Family Tax Credit. It will be an additional $440 to help me with the expenses, my daughter, rent and ultimately help me reach my goal of a college education. I aspire to be a mentor and a therapist,” she said.

Amanda Brown is a Haverhill mother of two girls, ages 4 years old and 17 months old, who are enrolled in Community Action’s Head Start program. She said she works full time as a personal care attendant and also substitutes at Head Start to supplement her income. She said she left the workforce during the pandemic.

“Fast forward three years to today, I’ve entered back to the workforce and it is still not easy. Rents are skyrocketing. Food stamps don’t go as far as they used to and the cost of everyday living expenses have just increased,” she said.

Brown added the tax credit will have “a big impact on both children and families.”

Healey’s tax cuts also mean an increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit, raising the rental deduction from $3,000 to $4,000, adds local bus fares and bicycle expenses as deductible commuter expenses and provides student loan repayment assistance.