House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said Wednesday that House leaders will propose no increases in major taxes or fees in their budget for the upcoming fiscal year, probably closing the door on large legislatively increased levies through June 2019.
“There will be no increase in any type of broad-based taxes,’’ the Winthrop Democrat said in an interview at the State House.
Because the state Constitution mandates that all “money bills’’ originate in the House, his word could and probably will foreclose the possibility of a major Senate-initiated tax hike, too.
DeLeo emphasized, however, that while his leadership team would not propose raising the state sales tax or income tax, he hopes for legislation that will make other more-targeted tax changes.
One example: crafting new regulations for hosts who use services such as Airbnb, some of whom effectively run hotels out of their houses but do not collect the 5.7 percent state room occupancy tax from guests.
“I want to make it clear that hopefully in the not-too-distant future we’ll be taking up a short-term rental property legislation, and, as part and parcel of that, I presume there is going to be a tax component,’’ he said.
A chipper DeLeo, in his 10th year as speaker and currently the most powerful legislator on Beacon Hill (the Senate has an acting rather than a permanent president), also floated the idea of other tax changes.
The wide-ranging federal tax overhaul recently passed by Congress and signed into law in December by President Trump is poised to limit the state and local property taxes that some earners can deduct from their federal taxes. That’s set to have an outsize effect on people in states like Massachusetts.
“Maybe there’s something we could do here,’’ he said, to offset “some of the negative consequences of that tax bill.’’
DeLeo said he is awaiting a report from the cochairman of the Joint Committee on Revenue, Representative Jay R. Kaufman, on what changes, if any, the Legislature ought to make.
The speaker ticked through several short-term priorities for his chamber. They include criminal justice reform — both the House and Senate have passed a major legislative package and are negotiating a compromise measure; authorization for housing initiatives, which would also expand several related tax credits; and a still-being-crafted House bill to control health care costs in Massachusetts.
In November, the Senate passed sweeping and deeply controversial legislation that aims to control the rising costs of medical care and prescription drugs. It would fine hospitals if spending rises too fast.
DeLeo indicated that the House would craft a health care cost control bill of its own.
The Democrat also weighed in on several hot-button ballot questions.
Last year, activists gathered enough signatures to send six initiative petitions to the Legislature. If lawmakers don’t act on them by April, proponents can gather about 11,000 more signatures to send the questions to the 2018 ballot.
DeLeo expressed hope that the Legislature and proponents might agree on three of them — measures to raise the minimum wage, reduce the sales tax, and mandate paid family and medical leave for workers — putting laws in place by House and Senate votes rather than by sending the measures to the November ballot.
“I’d like to see us, as best as we can, address these issues, keep them off the ballot,’’ he said. “But that remains to be seen.’’
And regardless of DeLeo’s tax pledge, there could be a big hike in the income tax paid by a small group of residents next year.
Barring an intervention by the courts, voters will have the opportunity to green-light a constitutional amendment that would raise taxes on the very wealthy. The so-called millionaires’ tax would impose an additional tax of 4 percent on annual taxable income in excess of $1 million, starting in 2019.
And that level would be tied to inflation, so the extra tax would continue to apply only to the rich.
The current state income tax for everyone in Massachusetts is 5.1 percent.
Joshua Miller can be reached at joshua.miller@globe.com.
