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NEW BEDFORD — “Disgusting.” “Angry.” “Unfair.” 

Those were words New Bedford residents scrawled onto notecards Thursday night when asked what corporate tax evasion made them think of. Their responses reflected frustration as Massachusetts braces for the impacts of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

At Protect Our Care’s town hall, organized by several local progressive groups, constituents spoke before lawmakers about impending federal cuts to health care, education and food assistance. To offset the losses, advocates are pushing a “Corporate Fair Share” bill in Massachusetts, which would require multinational corporations to pay more state taxes.

“We can’t evade our taxes, so these multinational corporations shouldn’t be either,” said Tracy Albernaz, representing one of the meeting’s sponsors, Massachusetts United Interfaith Action.

About 100 people attended the meeting, held at the Greater Southeastern Massachusetts Labor Council’s office.

The Trump administration’s bill, signed in July, is set to slash federal funding for Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, and student loans by over $1 trillion nationwide over the next several years. Massachusetts is facing an up to $3.5 billion reduction, threatening over 350,000 SNAP and Medicaid users.

“People are going to die because of this bill,” said Teia Searcy, a political organizer for 1199 SEIU, a health care union and local meeting sponsor.

The advocacy coalition Raise Up Massachusetts wants to soften the blow by targeting billionaire corporations such as Amazon, McDonald’s and Apple that use offshore tax havens.

The proposal builds on the state’s 2022 “Fair Share” amendment, or the millionaires tax, which added a surtax on income above $1 million to fund improvements to public education and transportation.

Advocates say the new legislation could raise over $400 million in state revenue. They also propose spending $1.2 billion from Massachusetts’ $8 billion stabilization fund to plug gaps left by federal cuts — though they support leaving a balance in the fund to “protect access to critical public services,” organizers said. 

“I think this is a no-brainer,” said Rep. Chris Hendricks, D-New Bedford, a long-time supporter and co-sponsor of the Corporate Fair Share bill.

About half of MassHealth, the state’s public health care program, is federally funded. Cuts are expected to strip $1.75 billion from the state’s Medicaid budget, according to Gov. Maura Healey’s administration. Two million of the state’s seven million residents are enrolled in MassHealth, including most patients of Southcoast Health, which serves New Bedford.

“There’s times that I couldn’t even get my own medication because they stripped my MassHealth away,” said Casey Vega, a caretaker and representative of 1199 SEIU. “I shouldn’t have to pick and choose what medications to get.”

Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, said the state’s rainy-day fund must be used carefully.

“We spend on MassHealth, anything from $22 to $24 billion, so $8 billion in the midst of that doesn’t even cover for that,” he said.

Residents also worried about cuts to education and food assistance. Michelle Willis, president of the New Bedford Federation of Paraprofessionals, relies on public safety nets like housing assistance, SNAP benefits and MassHealth.

“My job, my career is at risk,” she said. “The services that public schools provide for my students are possible because of public health insurance funds, speech, occupational therapy and adaptive physical education.” 

Local business owners said the cuts could ripple through the economy. Jenny Arruda, city councilor-at-large candidate and small business owner, said she is already seeing fewer customers.

“A lot of my customers, I’m sure, are afraid to spend money right now because they are all worried about what these cuts might do to impact them,” she said.

All six state representatives on the panel expressed support for the Corporate Fair Share bill, though some warned that revenue from offshore taxes would only go so far. Rep. Carol Faiola, D-Fall River, said the state needs to prioritize allocation of its rainy-day fund.

“Eight billion won’t be enough to fill a gap, so the $400 million that you anticipate from this offshore tax, believe it or not, is a small amount of money,” she said.

Faiola, the only non-co-sponsor on the panel, noted that the federal cuts remain projections, and the true severity of them is still uncertain. She said she plans to sign on as a co-sponsor once the bill moves forward.

Cabral urged constituents to keep perspective. Rep. Mark Sylvia, D-Fairhaven, said the Legislature may have to consider plugging the funding gaps with multiple bills. He mentioned one signed last week reserving $234 million for the Health Safety Net hospitals — community health centers that receive state funding for essential care — in anticipation of impacts from federal cuts.

“I can tell you that we will keep fighting hard to make sure that we can turn around what’s happening federally,” said Sylvia.

The Corporate Fair Share bill is scheduled for a joint hearing on Oct. 3.

Isabelle Oss is a graduate student in journalism at Boston University, covering state government for The Light as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.

17 replies on “Corporate tax fight hits home for New Bedford residents as federal cuts loom”

  1. Great article about the effects of the big ugly bill that has ramifications in the lives of most Americans. Sincerely hope Dems in the Senate stay strong in their opposition to the erasure of health care benefits.

    1. There is no “Erasure of Healthcare benefits”, what Democrats in DC are demanding another $1.5 Trillion tax payer dollars for, are to continue the ADDITIONAL tax payer dollars that provided additional money for the added healthcare costs for people enrolled in the “Affordable Care Act” during the COVID-19 pandemic. That law was passed in 2021, and it expires on December 31, 2025 because the additional tax payer dollars are ending when the pandemic is over. The law was passed when Democrats had the majority in the House of Representatives, an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate, with VP Kamala Harris casting every vote needed to break the ties for all Democrat legislation which basically made it a Democrat majority in the Senate, and of course Joe Biden signing every tax increase that came up in his four years in the White House.

  2. This is Far Left Liberal Leadership doing what they do best, expanding city and state government, and raising taxes. In the end will this drive every major company and their jobs out of Massachusetts ? ? ? Time for new leadership.

  3. Very comprehensive Report, including enough detail to justify the angry reactions of the real people who are going to be impacted by these senseless cuts. The GOP is not even trying to defend the BUB, just Daddy told us to do it. Ugh!

    1. Senseless cuts? Have you seen what the federal debt is? If you haven’t, it’s $36 Trillion+ and growing daily.
      The federal budget for FY 2024 Was 6.75 Trillion dollars, revenue collected for that same period was $4.92 Trillion, that’s $1.83 Trillion less than what was spent.

      Stay tuned, things are going to get much worse.

  5. This article fails to provide a few important details, while it does state the Massachusetts population is approximately 7 million people, it doesn’t mention 1.3 million are 18 or under, and 1.2 million are 65 or older, and 3.67 million people are enrolled in a healthcare plan thru their employer with shared costs which means 6,170,000 of the 7 million people have healthcare coverage thru their employers, their children are also covered until age 26, and people 65 and over have healthcare covered by Medicare.
    That’s a total of 88.14% of MA residents who have healthcare coverage without Medicaid/MassHealth.

    So with the exception of people who are disabled, 830,000 people in Massachusetts between 18 to 64 years old without children under 18 will have to get a job and work 20 hours per week, or they’ll have to perform community service for 20 hours per week/80 hours per month to continue receiving their Medicaid health coverage, is that really so terrible?
    Or do you think people who work full time 40+ hours per week and pay for their healthcare premiums, plus federal taxes, state taxes, social security taxes, Medicare taxes, AND in Massachusetts, pay the new additional taxes to provide paid sick days for people who work for employers who don’t offer any paid sick days, while you all continue to receive your Medicaid/MassHealth coverage at zero cost to you?

    “Two million of the state’s seven million residents are enrolled in MassHealth, including most patients of SouthCoast Health, which serves New Bedford”.

    1. The coming cuts to Medicaid will affect the ability of some health agencies to operate, according to this article: (link to article attached below_

      Impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Medicaid Support for In-Home and Nursing Home Care
      ” The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by nearly $800 billion over 10 years. For most nursing home residents in the United States, Medicaid is the primary source of funds. It also provides essential funding for a variety of in-home care options. …The Act limits state-directed payments to nursing homes, which could reduce revenue for these facilities. …Some nursing homes may be forced to close or cut back on staff and services, making it more difficult for elders and disabled persons to find adequate care. For a host of reasons, nursing homes in Massachusetts are already in trouble and closing. The further loss of Medicaid dollars will make it worse.”
      https://alexislevitt.com/2025/07/10/impact-of-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-on-medicaid-support-for-in-home-and-nursing-home-care/

      This is something that will affect a lot of elderly, disabled, and their families.

  7. Thanks for your comments. What do you think the best road forward would be in addressing the state’s Healthcare problems?

    1. The MA healthcare problems are the same as the national/federal healthcare problems, there are millions more people who depend on healthcare at little to no cost to them, and the ratio of people who have become dependent on MassHealth is growing faster than the number of tax payers funding the program. It’s no different than the number of people borrowing money for student loans is larger than the number of people repaying the loans. Another example is credit card debt at a record high in the US, here are the facts;
      “As of the second quarter of 2025, total U.S. credit card debt reached a record-high of $1.21 trillion, a 2.3% increase from the previous quarter and nearly 6% higher than a year ago, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This rising debt coincides with elevated credit card delinquency rates, with nearly 7% of balances becoming delinquent over the past year.”
      The aren’t just New Bedford, or just MA problems, it’s nation wide with a really ugly end coming in the not too distant future. Jeff, you see, hear, and read the same news and data I do, you know this isn’t going to end well for most people, if not all people in America, but 95% of Democrats in the US Senate are insisting the Schumer Shutdown continues if Republicans don’t add $1.5 Trillion in spending to continue the COVID-19 tax credits for Obamacare, and return the $800 Billion dollars in Medicaid funding, and restart the Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants across America, all paid for by the US TAX PAYERS, LOL, What a great idea.

  8. When looking at school administrator wages on go salaries it clearly state 65% over the average, 73% over the average pay. This is where a lot of the increase in budget for the city has absorbed as Jeff R continuously reports, stop the waste.

  10. If we had a Governor and Legislative body of intelligent and fiscally conservative people that realize you can’t spend money you don’t have Our state wouldn’t ve in the JAM we’re in SHAMEFUL.

  12. Most reasonable people know that with the federal debt currently over $36+ Trillion dollars will force the cuts to beade annually and much higher cut rates are on the horizon. $24 to $26 Billion per year in MassHealth/Medicaid is unsustainable, and with the American population getting older, tax increases won’t be possible, and benefit cuts will be necessary, not optional.
    Just imagine how many people are currently use MassHealth as their only medical coverage, and it has become far more than a safety net, it’s their ONLY healthcare option by choice, not because they can’t work, with many, the choose not to work and pay for their own healthcare, so costs will continue to rise, and taxes can only be increased by so much that cuts for all tax payer funded programs annually.
    MassHealth, and Obamacare have become overused, and underfunded just like Social Security, but at a much faster rate. Social Security isn’t a retirement plan, but more people continue to expect Social Security to be their sole source of retirement funding, and will expect their low income rates to qualify them for SNAP, Fuel Assistance, Low Income housing, and free transportation provided by SRTA that is currently free since June of 2024, and when that free ride is over, the people who have become dependent on it will also expect all of these “free services” to go on forever,but that’s just not possible because they’re not free, they’re tax payer funded, and just like the American population isn’t growing, neither is the number of tax payers.

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