BUSINESS & ECONOMY

House Speaker Ron Mariano expects voters to pass an income tax cut this year. He warns that if it passes, the state may have to hike other taxes or slash spending.

This week, The Rundown discusses furloughs at a Springfield rail car maker, contracts awarded by ICE to a Pittsfield armored car company, and a multimillion dollar windfall for the Hampden County District Attorney’s office.

The rail car shells coming from China and bound for Springfield had been held by federal authorities amid a dispute. This led to the company, CRRC, furloughing more than 140 workers this week.

Chinese-owned CRRC manufactures rail cars in Springfield for the Boston-area transit agency, the MBTA, and for a system in Los Angeles. Necessary parts and materials coming from China have been held up by the government, leading to the furloughs.

Population growth is important for a thriving community. A recent UMass Donahue Wayfinders report projected population declines in all four WMass counties between 2020 and 2035.

The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.31 a gallon in Massachusetts this week, up 40 cents from a week ago. That's according to the weekly survey from the auto club AAA.

A Legislative budget hearing focused on the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Executive Office of Transportation and the Registry of Motor Vehicles will be held this week.

In for Carrie Saldo, NEPM's Jill Kaufman and panelists discuss Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development Eric Paley's visit to Franklin County, Amherst's new resolution to hold ICE agents accountable when they violate state laws, and more.

About 30 business leaders and local officials from around Franklin County met with Eric Paley in Greenfield last week, telling the state's relatively new economic development secretary about the wonders and the challenges around the state's most rural county.

According to a survey by the auto club AAA Northeast, more than 900 million people flew last year. That’s less than one percent increase from 2024, but still a record.