“[Losing donations] would mean we would have to not see as many young people,” said Elisabeth Jackson, CEO of Bridge Over Troubled Waters, which supports homeless and at-risk teens and young adults. “It might also mean [we have] to close programs.”

Of Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ $12 million budget last year, $2 million came from individual donors. If the cap takes effect, Jackson fears that segment of funding could decline.

“It’s not just a cap on the deductions given to individuals that give to a nonprofit. It’s the whole ecosystem of how that money gets used to service young people, to pay for staff and their livelihood,” said Jackson. “It would be just a whole ripple effect.”

The concerns are adding to what Jackson called a “double hit,” as many nonprofits face a climate of uncertainty amid the threat of federal funding freezes.

Healey has acknowledged the “evolving situation” of cutbacks in federal funding for nonprofits since she first filed her budget proposal. The governor said in a budget hearing March 6 she was open to revisiting the proposed cap.

“With what’s happened in the last few weeks, there’s been concern from not-for-profit organizations, which we know are going to probably be facing even greater strain than ever,” said Healey.

The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, which represents more than 700 of the state’s charities, opposes the cap and worries that it will threaten a substantial income source for vital community organizations, said CEO Jim Klocke.

“The state charitable deduction matters,” said Klocke. “It’s an important, significant, positive tool that promotes giving in Massachusetts, and we should not be cutting back on it in any way right now.”

Nonprofits’ funding often comes from a few different sources, such as government grants and foundation contributions, Klocke said, but individual donations are something nearly every nonprofit relies on.

“When one type of funding comes under attack, it can have very direct, very significant effects right away,” said Klocke.

In order to hit the maximum deduction, a person would need to donate $5,000 in a year – so the proposed cap would not impact many middle-class donors, experts said.

The “everyday American” is the target for the current state deduction, said Ray Madoff, a professor at Boston College Law.

The federal deduction more benefits the ultra wealthy, she said. Under the federal charitable deduction, 90 percent of Americans do not receive any tax benefits for what they donate because they claim the standard deduction, Madoff said. Meanwhile, she said, the wealthiest Americans can deduct up to 74 percent of what they donate in tax savings.

“For federal purposes, a wealthy donor who makes a well-planned donation can save income taxes, capital gains taxes, and estate and gift taxes. And that’s how it gets to be such a high number,” said Madoff.

The state charitable deduction was originally approved by 72 percent of voters in 2000, but Massachusetts lawmakers suspended it in 2002 and put its implementation on pause again in 2021 after rejecting a veto from former governor Charlie Baker. Massachusetts taxpayers have been able to claim the deduction in three years since the 2000 vote — 2001, 2023, and 2024.

The cap is a “sensible compromise,” said Phineas Baxandall, policy director at the left-leaning Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, as it would free up a large portion of the state’s budget for other initiatives and make the state tax system more equitable by limiting how much the wealthy can use the deduction to grow their wealth further.

More than half the people who take the state charitable deduction have incomes over $1 million, according to Baxandall. By placing a cap, he said, it allows the deduction to benefit middle-class donors most.

There is also no guarantee that people who take the deduction donated to a Massachusetts charity, a factor Baxandall said makes the costly deduction not directly benefit the state in many cases.

“For the state, the deduction is really a lose-lose with half the promise of a win,” said Baxandall.

With the heavy reliance on donations for many nonprofits, any loss of income can have long-lasting impacts. The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals depends on individual donors to fund many of its programs, said Mike Keiley, vice president of the MSPCA’s Animal Protection Division.

“Anything that runs a potential risk on limiting that is worrisome,” said Keiley.

In 2023, close to a third of the MSPCA’s budget came from donations, according to a spokesperson. Keiley said he’s optimistic state leaders will consider the stability of nonprofits, as he believes they have in recent years.

“We’re hoping for the best but are preparing for challenges ahead,” said Keiley.

Capping the state deduction could cause changes in how people plan out their giving. Financial planners often advise their clients on how to best time donations to claim maximum deductions, often leading to larger sums being shelled out to nonprofits. With the cap, this strategy would only go so far, lessening an incentive to donate big, said Jack Heintzelman, a financial planner at Boston Wealth Strategies.

“We might not need to accelerate or make a large, significant contribution, and we can just do it over several years if there’s not really much benefit in doing either,” said Heintzelman, who added his clients are passionate about their charitable causes and want to make donations in the most beneficial manner for both the organizations and themselves.

The Legislature will review the budget and vote on a final version that will take effect July 1. The Senate Ways and Means committee is reviewing the governor’s proposal now, said a spokesman for committee chair and Senator Michael J. Rodrigues, a Fall River Democrat, who added the budget should be one that “uplifts residents and increases opportunity while maintaining our fiscal discipline.”

Maren Halpin can be reached at maren.halpin@globe.com.

The Healey administration remains a staunch opponent of natural gas as a new poll indicates Bay Staters prefer the energy source over renewables, and as the feds aim to revive a pipeline project that could lower utility costs by $1 billion.

Gov. Maura Healey, a champion of renewable energy, especially wind, has felt pressure over the past few months as utility costs soared due to a combination of a bitterly cold winter and the state’s decarbonization agenda.

The governor has responded, rolling out a plan she’s said will eventually cut billions from taxpayer bills and ordering the state DPU to demand utility companies reduce costs by at least 5% for the remainder of the heating season.

The Department of Public Utilities approved rate hikes of upwards of 30% for the state’s primary gas companies, Eversource and Natural Grid, last fall.

As Bay Staters grapple with the sky-high bills, a new poll from nonpartisan watchdog Fiscal Alliance Foundation shows that likely voters view an expansion of natural gas pipelines more favorably than a full commitment to renewables.

Roughly 47% of the 800 likely voters who participated in the poll earlier this month supported the construction of new pipelines into the state, while 37% preferred a complete push to renewables.

Of the respondents, 48.2% were Independent, 40.6% Democrat and 11.1% Republican.

Healey critics have blamed the state Legislature’s mandate that the Bay State transition to renewable energy for the winter’s high utility costs, accusing the governor of “killing” two gas pipeline projects as attorney general within the past decade.

“Obviously, Gov. Healey as AG worked really hard to stop the pipelines — she bragged about it on the campaign trail,” Fiscal Alliance Executive Director Paul Diego Craney said in a briefing on Friday. “It seems like that’s kind of coming back to haunt her.”

After announcing that her administration will deliver a $50 utility bill credit in April to customers of Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil, Healey said that “people say a lot of things that are just not true” about her actions around pipeline development.

“Back when I was attorney general my job was to protect ratepayers whether you’re a homeowner or a business owner,” Healey said at an event last Monday.

A study that Healey’s office authorized in 2015 found that Massachusetts didn’t need a new natural gas pipeline as investing more in energy efficiency would ensure the electric grid’s reliability through 2030. Months later, energy giant Kinder Morgan Inc. backed out of a $3.3 billion natural gas pipeline proposed through Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

The plan Healey announced last week also orders the DPU to expand automatic discounted rate enrollment for low-income families and implement tiered discounted rates, among other duties.

According to the governor, her plan will save ratepayers $220 million immediately and $5.8 billion over five years.

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper highlighted how Massachusetts provides a “significant amount of natural gas to the entire region” through a ship at a liquefied natural gas facility in Everett.

“The issue that we have in New England is that for a few days of the year, prices are high maybe seven days,” Tepper said. “You don’t build a gigantic pipeline for seven days a year.”

Tepper’s comment has received sharp criticism on social media.

“There is no group of people more out of touch with reality than the individuals in the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Just a slap in the face to Massachusetts residents,” the Massachusetts GOP wrote in an X post on Friday. “With your help, the gaslighting will stop in 2026!”

State Rep. Marc Lombardo, a Billerica Republican, added Saturday: “This is why energy prices are through the roof. (Gov.) Healey and her Energy secretary are completely detached from reality! They think YOU are stupid.”

In a statement to the Herald last month, a governor’s spokesperson highlighted how Healey as AG, “successfully argued that the people of Massachusetts should not be footing the bill for two new natural gas pipelines.”

“Once the companies learned that they were going to have to pay for the pipelines without passing the costs onto consumers, they withdrew their proposal,” the spokesperson said.

Delivery charges spiking bills through the roof over the winter have been tied to increased funding for state environmental initiatives including Mass Save, a program that supports Massachusetts’ “statutorily-required greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.”

The Trump administration is looking to revive a 124-mile pipeline that would carry gas from Pennsylvania across New York to Albany, where natural gas would enter New England through other pipelines.

Opposition from environmental activists prompted the state of New York to block the project in 2020. President Trump met with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday, discussing the pipeline’s future, according to national reports.

The Hartford Courant has reported that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is backing the project.

Trump posted on Truth Social ahead of his meeting with Hochul that the pipeline could save New England households $2,500 to $5,000 a year. An independent analysis found that the project could cut energy costs by $1 billion.

Healey has voiced alarm over the Trump administration’s tariff spat with Canada and how the president has ordered a memorandum halting the development of new offshore wind, an energy source proven turbulent in Massachusetts.

“We have the Saudi Arabia of wind right off our shores,” Healey said last week, “we have some of it churning already, we’ve got other projects in deployment. That’s going to be a game changer, that’s going to drive down people’s bills for businesses and homeowners.”

“I don’t want to be subject to the wills of Russia and international markets,” the governor added.

Originally Published: March 15, 2025 at 6:04 PM EDT

Senior wrestling captain Sidney Tildsley of Shawsheen Tech High School of Billerica, Massachusetts, just become the winningest high school wrestler in Massachusetts history.

Few names will resonate in wrestling history as much as Tildsley’s. Since his career began at Shawsheen Tech, he has spent the past 3 out of 4 years competing in the 138-pound weight-class, spending only his freshman year in the 132-pound class.

During this time, Sid won the state title every single year. Yes, you read that right. Sid Tildsley has captured the Massachusetts state championship 100% of his high school career. Tildsley puts himself in elite company and, over the past four years, has been borderline unstoppable. Over his career, he has achieved some great things. His combined record throughout his freshman and sophomore years totaled 131 wins and 2 losses. He is a 4-time sectional champion, a 4-time state champion, a 4-time all-state champion, and a 3x New England Champion and owner of countless Massachusetts state records.

In his last match against Andover not to long ago, he clinched his fourth straight against Andover’s Jason Ballou in just 3 minutes and 22 seconds, securing that historic fourth straight title.

Tildsley won countless invitational tournaments, such as the Lowell Holiday Tournament. Ironically, he wasn’t just a winner on the wrestling mat, but he also led the Shawsheen Tech football team to a D5 Super Bowl this past fall as their starting quarterback.

Tildsley became such a dominant wrestler because of two people. His older sister, Tayla, who was a successful wrestler at the tech and National Wrestling Hall of Fame Member and Tidsley’s coach until 2021, Mark Donovan. Sadly, Donovan passed away in 2021 after a battle with cancer but left his imprint on wrestling forever. After over three decades of mentoring athletes, Billerica dedicated March 19th as Coach Donovan Day in honor of the impact he left on the community.

During his time coaching at Shawsheen, he had his wrestlers in peak condition, and be respectful win or lose but still ultimate competitors, so it makes sense that he had his boys “wrestle up” in division 1. This translated into Tildsley’s game; you would never find him showboating after a victory, just shaking hands with his opponent and minding his business.

Funny enough, the Tildsley wrestling bloodline doesn’t end with Tayla and Sid. The youngest brother, James, recently claimed his second straight state title in the 150-pound weight class for Shawsheen as well. He went 62-0 on the year and didn’t allow a single match to be decided on points.

Wrestling runs in the Tildsley’s veins as you can see. Sid had an incredible run during his time at Shawsheen High School, stunning teammates and coaches along the way to making history. In honoring their late coach, Mark Donovan, the Tildsleys exemplify the connection between athlete and mentor, showcasing how personal bonds can fuel incredible achievements.