BOSTON — Though Gov. Maura Healey maintains that she is not raising taxes, the budget she rolled out Wednesday could apply existing taxes to some purchases, or decrease how much residents are able to write off on their tax returns.

The governor wants to newly apply tobacco taxes to popular synthetic nicotine products, like ZYN or VELO pouches, as well as begin taxing candy.

Her budget also recommends capping how much taxpayers could claim under a charitable deduction that went into effect in 2023, a change that officials say is worth up to $164 million.

Asked by reporters on Tuesday if she was planning to raise taxes to pay for new investments in education and transportation, Healey responded, “Hell no.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” she said.

There is currently no limit on how much taxpayers can claim from the charitable deduction that was implemented in 2023, after more than two decades of delay. Voters approved the tax relief in 2000, but lawmakers suspended the law in 2002 and it was dormant for 21 years. Now that it’s in effect, Healey is recommending the state cap the deduction at $10,000 for a couple and $5,000 for an individual.

“It was not until 2023 that people in Massachusetts had the ability to also take a state charitable deduction — we’re not getting rid of that. In fact most states, or at least half the states, if not the majority of states in New England, don’t offer a state charitable deduction,” Healey said at a press conference Wednesday. “We do, and that will continue.”

She said the administration did a review last year and she does not think limiting the deduction will change how much people donate to charities.

As for applying the sales tax to candy, Healey said, “I love candy,” then listed off a few of her favorite types, including peanut M&Ms and Mounds. She continued, “this isn’t about a new tax.”

“What this is doing is simply saying when you go to the grocery store, instead of having candy treated like a purchase of bread and eggs and milk, you know, essential groceries, that candy is now going to be treated in the same way as when you go to the bakery in the back of the grocery store and pick up cupcakes for your kids. We think that makes sense,” Healey said.

Meals, hotel taxes

The governor attached the policy plans to her annual budget filing, and also signaled plans to refile a proposal to allow municipalities to raise taxes on meals and hotels. The local option tax plan hit a dead end last year.

Last year’s version would have enabled cities and towns to generate more revenue by raising the maximum local option tax on hotels, motels and other rentals from 6% to 7% of the price of a room. In Boston, the bill would have allowed local officials to raise the tax from 6.5% to 7.5%.

The local options meal tax would have been allowed to increase from 0.75% to 1% under the governor’s plan.

During a budget briefing Wednesday morning, Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz declined to answer a question about the details of the new bill Healey plans to file.

At a press conference later in the day, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll suggested the new municipal options bill would once again target hotel and meal tax increases.

“Not every community that has, right now, the ability to have a meals tax has done that, or hotels tax,” Driscoll said. “This is really providing flexibility to cities and towns to understand what their needs are, and then to have some tools to try and meet them.”

Asked about the proposal raising costs for residents, Healey and Driscoll said municipalities have limited ways to raise revenue and have asked their administration to give them more options.

“You think about the costs that municipalities are incurring, and we really have one primary revenue source, and that’s property taxes,” Driscoll said. “Having other ways to raise revenues [would] certainly provide a little bit of, I would say, flexibility for communities. That’s funding schools, that’s funding public safety, that’s funding public works. We’re doing as much as we can to help.”

Cameras for traffic enforcement

In addition to tax changes, Healey is also sponsoring a new plan to deploy camera enforcement of traffic violations through the budget. Lawmakers have been cool to the idea in the past, though it has support among some circles of legislators.

Former Gov. Charlie Baker filed a bill during the 2021-2022 session to allow red-light cameras in any interested city or town, which ultimately failed in the Legislature. The next session, a more narrow version filed by Rep. Steven Owens, also failed. It would have launched a pilot program allowing up to 10 municipalities to install a limited number of cameras to monitor for certain traffic violations.

Healey’s recommendation is to allow municipalities to opt in to the camera enforcement program, which would be administered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Fines would be assessed on the registered owner of the vehicle for violations — not necessarily the driver, to protect drivers’ identities, according to an Executive Office for Administration and Finance official.

They are also recommending that images taken by the traffic cameras be exempted from public records law. Eighteen other states use cameras to impose fines for traffic violations, according to the Executive Office for Administration and Finance official.

Excessive drug pricing, Connector Care

Healey on Wednesday also backed a penalty that drug manufacturers would pay for “excessive drug pricing” or if the cost of certain medicines exceeded the rate of inflation.

The penalty for excessive drug pricing would generate $60 million, according to state budget officials, who believe the plan will incentivize fair drug prices and enable individuals to access lifesaving medications.

In a major health policy bid, Healey also wants to extend the state’s two-year ConnectorCare pilot, allowing low- and middle-income residents to continue to receive health insurance with heavy public subsidies.

A two-year pilot program — with 2025 marking the second year of the initiative — expanded ConnectorCare income eligibility from 300% of the federal poverty level to 500%. Individuals earning up to $75,300 and families of four earning up to $156,000 this year can enroll in the expanded ConnectorCare plans.

The pilot features lower-premium and no-deductible policies, plus no-cost prescriptions for chronic diseases including diabetes and hypertension. More than 58,000 people have gained access to insurance through the two-year program, according to the Connector’s executive director.

Healey’s fiscal year 2026 budget recommends extending the expanded income level Connector pilot for one additional year. The annual cost of the pilot has been around $130 million, an Executive Office for Administration and Finance official said. Another section of the budget would extend the time period the auditor’s office has to conduct its audits from every three years to five years, a change sought by Auditor Diana DiZoglio.

The additional time is critical as DiZoglio’s office deals with months-long delays to obtain the information it requests from state agencies and departments, the auditor has said. She likened the process to waiting to hear back on public records requests.