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THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2024 Page 15 Senate 10-29, rejected an amendment that would abolish the current requirement that Massachusetts married couples who fi le income tax returns jointly at the federal level do the same at the state level. Amendment supporters said that since these mararied couples are currently required to fi le jointly at the state level, their combined income can total more than $1 million and the 4 percent surtax applies to them and many more fi lers which is not what the voters approved on the November 2022 ballot question imposing the 4 percent surtax. “This amendment would have restored the original language of the surtax which would have allowed married couples in Massachusetts to fi le state taxes separately despite fi ling jointly for federal taxes,” said Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “In doing so, couples in Massachusetts would have had the opportunity to keep more of their hardearned income versus sending it over to the state.” Amendment opponents said requiring married couples who fi le jointly at the federal level to fi le jointly with the state is reasonable and is working well. They noted the surtax is raising more money than predicted and is allowing funding of some of the most important programs in the budgets including universal free school meals, breakfast and lunch, for every student; free community college; and increased scholarships — none of that would be possible without the surtax revenues. (A “Yes” vote is for the amendment abolishing the joint filing requirement. A “No” vote is against the amendment and favors requiring joint fi ling.) Sen. Lydia Edwards No CAPITAL GAINS TAX (S 4) Senate 4-35, rejected an amendment that would retain a current law that requires any excess revenue in capital gains revenue over $1 billion to annually automatically be transferred as follows: 90 percent to the Rainy Day Fund; 5 percent to the State Retiree Benefi ts Trust Fund; and 5 percent to the State Pension Liability Fund. The $1 billion would remain in the General Fund and be spent by the Legislature with no restrictions. The proposed Senate budget changes that for only fi scal 2025 by raising the threshold by $375 million so that any excess over $1.375 billion would automatically go to those three funds if the secretary of administration and fi nance makes a determination that the funds are needed to achieve balance for fi scal year 2025. The $1.375 billion would remain in the General Fund to be spent on by the Legislature with no restrictions. “This amendment would have restored the original language of the capital gains law that allows transfers of excess gains collections over $1 billion in one fi scal year,” said Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “Changing this language for one year … would create a precedent that would mean less transparency year after year by allowing a greater amount of taxpayer money to be used outside of the intended purpose of the capital gains tax.” Opponents said the additional $375 million is needed in the General Fund this fi scal year to fund many useful new programs in the budget including the new free community college program. They noted that the state estimates that there will be $513 million in excess capital gains this fi scal year which means that a total of $138 million will still be deposited in the Rainy Day Fund and the two other retirement funds. They noted that a little less money for the Rainy Day Fund this year is acceptable because there is a healthy balance of $8.4 billion currently in the Rainy Day Fund. (A “Yes” vote is in favor of any excess capital gains revenue above $1 billion going to the Rainy Day Fund and the two retirement funds. A “No” vote is for raising the threshold to $1.375 billion.) Sen. Lydia Edwards No CONTINUE SESSION BEYOND 8 P.M. Senate 36-3, approved a motion to suspend Senate rules to allow the Senate budget debate session on May 22 to continue beyond 8 p.m. Under Senate rules, the Senate cannot meet after 8 p.m. unless the rule is suspended. The session lasted two hours and 15 minutes beyond 8 p.m. and adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Supporters of rule suspension said that the Senate has important work to continue on the fi scal 2025 budget and should stay in session to work on it. Opponents of rule suspension said it is irresponsible for the Senate to debate and vote late at night when taxpayers are asleep. (A “Yes” vote is for meeting beyond 8 p.m. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes $350,000 MORE FOR YWCAs (S 4) Senate 39-0, approved an amendment that would increase funding for YWCAs by $350,000 (from $650,000 to $1 million). “For close to 150 years, YWCAs around the world and the nine YWCAs in Massachusetts have stood beside our young women as a pillar of support and empowerment and across the state they are working hard to expand outreach, staffi ng, programming and support services to hundreds of at-risk girls,” said Sen. Robyn Kennedy (D-Worcester), the sponsor of the amendment. “This $350,000 amendment is critical to the continuance of our investment in gender specifi c youth violence prevention.” (A “Yes” vote is for the $350,000.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes $1 MILLION MORE FOR CIVICS EDUCATION (S 4) Senate 39-0, approved an amendment that would increase funding for civics education in schools across the state by $1 million (from $1.5 to $2.5 million). “I am so proud to support our continued investments in civics education, which empowers young people and gives them the tools to make their voices heard as they advocate for social, racial, economic and environmental justice,” said amendment sponsor Sen. Becca Rausch (D-Needham). “My amendment fully funds the Civics Project Trust Fund, boosting our school systems’ ability to implement civics education curricula and support student civics projects. I’ve met and corresponded with hundreds of students about their civics projects, and I can say with confi dence that our investments in civics education are paying off .” (A “Yes” vote is for the $1 million.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes BAN HOME EQUITY THEFT (S 4) Senate 39-0, approved an amendment that would prohibit cities and towns that foreclose on properties on which the owner owes back property taxes, from keeping all of the profits when the city or town sells the property at auction. Current Massachusetts law allows this practice. The bill would allow the city or town to keep only the amount owed in back taxes and send the remainder to the owner. Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled that cities and towns that foreclose on properties on which the owner owes back property taxes, cannot keep all of the profi ts when the city or town sells the property at auction. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, writing a unanimous decision about a similar Minnesota law, said that “a taxpayer who loses her $40,000 house to the state to fulfi ll a $15,000 tax debt has made a far greater contribution to the public fi sc than she owed.” BEACON | SEE Page 16 How to Find Reliable Health Information Online Dear Savvy Senior, How can I tell if the health info on a website is trustworthy? I usually do a Google search on a symptom, drug or health condition when I want to research something, but with so much information out there I’m not sure what I can trust. Skeptical Sal Dear Sal, You’re wise to be skeptical! There’s an overwhelming amount of health advice on the internet today and it can be hard to tell what’s credible. To help you sort through the online clutter and locate reliable, trustworthy health information, here are a few tips to follow, along with some toprated sites you can turn to with confi dence. Savvy Searching First, know that Google or Bing is not always the best place to start a search. You’ll increase your odds of finding reliable health information if you begin with websites run by government agencies (identified by URLs ending in.gov), medical associations (often.org) or academic institutions (.edu). Commercial websites (usually ending in.com), such as drug or insurance companies who may be trying to sell you their products, are usually not the most trustworthy options. To fi nd out who’s sponsoring a site and where the information came from, click on the “About Us” tab on the site’s home page. Also note that good health and medical information changes all the time so check the date that information was published to make sure it’s current. Some other areas you need be wary of include online symptom checkers and artifi - cial intelligence (AI) tools. While symptom checkers do off er potential diagnoses that could fi t your set of symptoms, they are often inaccurate, and tend to err on the side of caution says Ateev Mehrotra, MD, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. AI tools, like ChatGPT, can also be wrong or generate false but scientifi c sounding information. You also need to be cautious about using medical information from social media, online forums or YouTube. Comments in these places may sound authoritative even if the authors have no medical training or expertise. Top Health Sites While there are many excellent websites that provide reliable health and medical information, one of the best all-purpose sites that’s recommended by Consumer Reports for researching symptoms and conditions is MedlinePlus (medlineplus.gov). A service of the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library, and part of the National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus provides high-quality, trustworthy health and wellness information that’s easy to understand and free of advertising. Here are a few additional websites, recommended by the Medical Library Association and others, to help you fi nd reliable information on specifi c diseases, conditions and treatments. Cancer: National Cancer Institute (cancer.gov), American Cancer Society (cancer.org) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (nccn.org). Heart disease: American Heart Association (americanheart.org), National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (nhlbi.nih. gov). Diabetes: American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org). Alzheimer’s disease: Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) and Alzheimers.gov. Public health and vaccines: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov). Alternative medicine: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (nccih.nih.gov) and the National Institutes of Health’s Offi ce of Dietary Supplements (ods. od.nih.gov). Any research you do online before seeing a doctor, be sure to save or print your fi ndings out on paper, including the site you got your information from, so you can review it together. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

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