Healey to sign tax relief bill Wednesday at Massachusetts State House

Gov. Maura Healey plans to sign a $1 billion-a-year tax relief bill Wednesday afternoon without making any changes to what lawmakers sent her last week, according to a spokesperson.

Nearly two years after some form of tax relief was first floated on Beacon Hill, Healey will join top Democrats at a 1 p.m. State House event to sign a bill, which her office touted as the “first cuts in more than 20 years and highlight the ways in which the package saves money for Massachusetts residents.”

The House and Senate passed a compromise version of the bill last week after reaching a deal in late September. The bill will cost $561 million in fiscal year 2023 and $1 billion annually starting in fiscal year 2027.

A Healey spokesperson said the governor could only sign or amend the proposal because it was not a spending bill. Healey had until Sunday to act on the measure.

The bill takes aims at a series of key credits and taxes that supporters have argued need updates to help residents deal with an ever increasing cost of living. But critics, including progressives, have bashed what they describe as tax breaks for the ultra-rich and even floated a potential legal challenge.

Healey praised the Legislature last month when a deal was announced, saying tax relief “is essential for making Massachusetts more affordable, competitive and equitable.”

Among boosts to the rental deduction cap and cuts to the short-term capital gains tax, the legislation also reworks the distribution method of a tax cap law known as Chapter 62F.