Demystifying the Capital Budget

The Affordable Homes Act represents a historic opportunity to address housing in the Commonwealth. Although the wide-ranging policy proposals in the bill have garnered unprecedented attention, the funding authorizations will be key to addressing the challenges we face.

Join CHAPA for a free virtual forum as we welcome Doug Howgate, President, and Meaghan Callahan, Director of Research, of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation to explain how state bonds work, how policymakers decide how capital funds are spent, and how the housing bond bill interacts with other state bond bills. Their presentation will be followed by a brief Q&A. The session will be recorded and shared with attendees after the event.
 

Doug Howgate is President at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Doug began as President in January of 2023, after two years as the Foundation’s Executive Vice President. This is Doug’s second stint at MTF, having served as Research Director between 2015 and 2018.

Prior to his time at the Foundation, Doug has held a number of policy positions in Massachusetts. He served as Senior Policy Advisor to Senate President Karen Spilka between 2018 and 2020, and Budget Director at the Senate Committee on Ways and Means between 2010 and 2014. He has also served as Deputy Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Port Authority and as a Senior Researcher at the Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center.

Doug has a B.A. in Political Science from Holy Cross and holds a Master’s degree from Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy.


Meaghan Callahan joined MTF in January of 2023 after most recently serving as the Deputy Budget Director for the Massachusetts State Senate Committee on Ways and Means, where she contributed to the development and passage of the state’s annual budget. Prior to serving as Deputy, Meaghan was a Senior Fiscal Policy analyst with the committee, focused on budget and policy issues related to public education. Meaghan has experience working on state and federal level political campaigns, and began her career in state government as Policy and Communications Director for Senator Julian Cyr.

Meaghan has a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College. She currently lives in Lowell, Massachusetts.