2008 Massachusetts Question 1: Difference between revisions
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==Supporters of the income tax repeal== |
==Supporters of the income tax repeal== |
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The official proponent of the measure is the '''Committee for Small Government'''. [[Michael Cloud]] and [[Carla Howell]] lead the committee. |
The official proponent of the measure is the '''Committee for Small Government'''. [[Michael Cloud]] and [[Carla Howell]] lead the committee.<ref> [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121789224035011709.html?mod=googlenews_wsj ''WSJ Online:'' "Boston Tax Party," Aug. 5, 2008]</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Initiative supporter Michael Cloud believes that the measure will lower the budget from about $28 billion to $17 billion which is approximately the size of the 1995 state budget.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/24/4_ballot_petitions_clear_1st_obstacle?mode=PF ''Boston Globe:'' "4 ballot petitions clear 1st obstacle," Nov. 24, 2007]</ref> |
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"The idea here is to stop being on the defensive in fighting against big government and to start taking the political offensive," says Ms. Howell. <ref> [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121789224035011709.html?mod=googlenews_wsj ''WSJ Online:'' "Boston Tax Party," Aug. 5, 2008]</ref> After recent polls have shown Question 1 in an almost dead heat, Ms. Howell responded, "I don't think there's anyone who doubts the possibility we're going to win this time."<ref>[http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13686 ''American Spectator:'' "Taxachusetts, RIP," Aug 12, 2008]</ref> The poll shows that 46 percent of those asked support the measure before hearing any of its details, and 40 percent still supported it after hearing about the measure in depth.<ref>[http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2008/08/08122008_Washington-View-Another-tea-party-brewing-in-Massachusetts.cfm ''The Colombian:'' "Washington View: Another tea party brewing in Massachusetts," Aug 12, 2008]</ref> |
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Polling shows that 46 percent of those asked support the measure before hearing any of its details, and 40 percent still supported it after hearing about the measure in depth.<ref>[http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2008/08/08122008_Washington-View-Another-tea-party-brewing-in-Massachusetts.cfm ''The Colombian:'' "Washington View: Another tea party brewing in Massachusetts," Aug 12, 2008]</ref><ref>[http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13686 ''American Spectator:'' "Taxachusetts, RIP," Aug 12, 2008]</ref> |
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===Arguments in favor of Question 1=== |
===Arguments in favor of Question 1=== |
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* State politicians have not kept faith with their promises to taxpayers. The [[Massachusetts State Legislature]] blockaded a ballot question approved by the citizens of the commonwealth in 2000 that would have reduced the state income tax to 5%. |
* State politicians have not kept faith with their promises to taxpayers. The [[Massachusetts State Legislature]] blockaded a ballot question approved by the citizens of the commonwealth in 2000 that would have reduced the state income tax to 5%. |
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* 3 million Massachusetts taxpayers would |
* 3 million Massachusetts taxpayers would save an average of $3,600 each annually. |
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* People would find the Bay State a more attractive place to live, work, invest, and raise families |
* People would find the Bay State a more attractive place to live, work, invest, and raise families. |
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* From 1991-2007 more than 550,000 people moved out of Massachusetts, ranking the commonwealth as the 49th worst state in the US in terms of population loss. |
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* Income tax receipts in Massachusetts account for 39 percent of overall state revenue. State legislators would still have $18 billion to spend |
* Income tax receipts in Massachusetts account for 39 percent of overall state revenue. State legislators would still have $18 billion to spend if the income tax is repealed.<ref>[http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2008/07/17/columns/3348391.txt ''The Sun Chronicle:'' "Ban income tax and transform Massachusetts," July 17, 2008]</ref> |
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Counter arguments include: |
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* An income cut from 5.3% to 0% is unrealistic. Many state services cannot legally be cut, so those that could would have to be cut deeply. While there is some waste in state government, nobody has identified waste that comes anywhere close to 45% of state revenues. |
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* Cuts at the state level could include unintended consequences. For example, charter schools depend 100% on state revenues, through reimbursements from the chapter 70 aid allocated to towns. Some cuts in state school funding would be necessary to fill a 45% budget gap, and muncipalities supported by their property taxpayers may demand that cuts fall disproportionately on charter schools. |
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* Given that the income tax rate was cut from 5.95% to 5.3% in recent years, while the outflow of residents accelerated, it is doubtful that eliminating the income tax would encourage more people to live in Massachusetts. |
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* Massachusetts overall tax rates are already below the national average, as a percentage of incomes. |
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===Funding=== |
===Funding=== |
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==Opposition== |
==Opposition== |
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===Individual Opponents=== |
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Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, has said that "eliminating the income tax would deal an $11 billion blow to the state, with ripple effects throughout state government. Efforts to cut education and Medicare would spark lawsuits with the courts likely siding against the cut."<ref>[http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5101705&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 ''Ballot Question Would Eliminate Income Tax In Mass.'', MyFox Boston, Dec. 2, 2007]</ref> |
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Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed '''Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation''', <ref>[http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5101705&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 ''Ballot Question Would Eliminate Income Tax In Mass.'', MyFox Boston, Dec. 2, 2007]</ref> |
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Gov. Deval Patrick<ref>[http://wbztv.com/local/state.income.tax.2.792800.html ''WBZtv.com'' "Ballot Question Rattles Nerves On Beacon Hill," Aug 11, 2008]</ref> |
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The Selectman in the town of Wayland voted unanimously to oppose the initiative. |
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Gov. Deval Patrick in early March declared that the initiative is "irresponsible".<ref>[http://www.smallgovernmentact.org/shns-030308.html ''State House News Service:'' "Patrick Lends Voice to Those Opposing Income Tax Repeal," March 3, 2008]</ref> The Berkshire Eagle editorialized in May 2008 that the initiative, if it passes, would be "ruinous to anyone who supports schools, social programs and snow-plowing."<ref>[http://www.berkshireeagle.com/editorials/ci_9241477 ''Berkshire Eagle:'' "Bad idea reborn," May 13, 2008]</ref> |
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State Rep. Tom Conroy, D-Wayland<ref>[http://www.wickedlocal.com/wayland/news/x1001332735/Selectmen-oppose-elimination-of-state-income-tax ''WickedLocal.com:'' "Selectmen oppose elimination of state income tax," Sep 3, 2008]</ref> |
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===Organizations Against Measure=== |
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If Question 1 passes, Massachusetts would lose about 40 percent of its annual revenues. Gov. Patrick has already hinted at the need for more revenue, possibly through more or higher taxes. "We are going to have to make some investments in ourselves, in our infrastructure, and in our people in order to ensure our long-term prosperity." As for the idea of doing away with income tax altogether, Patrick said it's "a dumb idea."<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/08/10/mass_gov_doesnt_know_if_new_taxes_needed/?page=2 ''Boston.com:'' "Mass. Gov. doesn't know if new taxes needed," Aug 10, 2008]</ref> "Nobody likes paying taxes, nobody," Patrick said. "I don't like paying taxes, but I do think there is a price for civilization."<ref>[http://wbztv.com/local/state.income.tax.2.792800.html ''WBZtv.com'' "Ballot Question Rattles Nerves On Beacon Hill," Aug 11, 2008]</ref> |
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'''Coalition for Our Communities''', an organization created by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO that reportedly has $1.34 million with which to mount an effort to defeat the measure. The Coalition's funds are derived mainly from unions, including $750,000 from the '''National Education Association'''.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/09/10/ap5408804.html ''Forbes.com:'' "Backers of tax question have just $24,753 in bank," Sep 10, 2008]</ref><ref>[http://www.amherstbulletin.com/story/id/107783/ ''Amherst Bulletin:'' "Efforts under way to defeat income tax ballot measure," Sep 5, 2008]</ref> The group also received $250,000 from '''American Federation of Teachers Solidarity Fund'''. Both the NEA and the AFTSF are based in Washington, D.C.<ref>[http://www.telegram.com/article/20080921/APN/809212019 ''Worcester Telegram & Gazette:'' "DC donations flood Mass. ballot question campaigns," Sep 21, 2008]</ref> |
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===Editorial Opposition=== |
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| ⚫ | The proponents submitted about 100,000 signatures to the Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth|Massachusetts Secretary of State for the first phase of signature collection. 76,084 of those signatures were determined to be valid, with a requirement that 66,593 must be valid for the initiative to proceed to the next step.<ref>[http://thetowncrank.blogspot.com/2008/04/2nd-american-revolution.html ''The 2nd American Revolution'']</ref> The next step was for the [[Massachusetts State Legislature]] to take up the measure. They declined to pass it by the first Wednesday in May 2008, meaning that the proponents had to collect an additional 11,099 valid |
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'''The Boston Globe''' has officially asked voters to vote "no" on Question 1.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2008/09/28/this_question_is_not_the_answer/ ''Boston.com:'' "This Question is Not the Answer," Sep 28, 2008]</ref> |
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| ⚫ | The proponents submitted about 100,000 signatures to the [[Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth|Massachusetts Secretary of State]] for the first phase of signature collection. 76,084 of those signatures were determined to be valid, with a requirement that 66,593 must be valid for the initiative to proceed to the next step.<ref>[http://thetowncrank.blogspot.com/2008/04/2nd-american-revolution.html ''The 2nd American Revolution'']</ref> The next step was for the [[Massachusetts State Legislature]] to take up the measure. They declined to pass it by the first Wednesday in May 2008, meaning that the proponents had to collect an additional 11,099 [[valid signature]]s by June 18, 2008. On July 3, it was announced that 15,913 additional certified signatures had been filed, making the measure extremely likely to appear on the ballot.<ref>[http://politicker.com/ballot-initiative-abolish-income-tax-will-appear-november-ballot ''Politicker:'' "Ballot initiative to abolish income tax will appear on November ballot", July 3, 2008]</ref>,<ref>[http://capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/115934/group-wants-to-abolish-state-income-tax/Default.aspx ''CapitalNews9.com:'' "Group wants to abolish state income tax," May 19, 2008]</ref> |
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| ⚫ | The [http://www.massteacher.org/ Massachusetts Teachers Association] admitted in December 2007 that it had made phone calls to people who signed the petition to place the income tax repeal on the ballot, inquiring about whether their signature was valid. The calls were made from a group identifying itself as the "Committee for our Communities" |
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| ⚫ | The [http://www.massteacher.org/ Massachusetts Teachers Association] who's mailing address is the same as the "Committee for our Communities", admitted in December 2007 that it had made phone calls to people who signed the petition to place the income tax repeal on the ballot, inquiring about whether their signature was valid. The calls were made from a group identifying itself as the "Committee for our Communities".<ref>[http://www.wickedlocal.com/swampscott/homepage/x469064996 ''WickedLocal.com:'' "Union group made calls to tax cut petition signers, challenge seems unlikely"]</ref> |
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Carla Howell, leader of the income tax repeal committee, noted that the mailing address of the "Committee for our Communities" is the same as the mailing address for the Massachusetts Teachers Association. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 06:21, 1 October 2008
The State Income Tax Repeal is also known as Massachusetts Question 1. It is an initiated state statute that will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot in Massachusetts.[1]
If the measure passes, it will end the state's current 5.3% income tax on wages, interest, dividends and capital gains. If that happens, Massachusetts will join Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming in not taxing income. Two other states, New Hampshire and Tennessee, have an income tax, but only on interest and dividends.
Specific provisions
This proposed law would:
- Reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2009.
- Would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.
- The personal income tax to which the initiative applies is the "income received or gain realized by individuals and married couples, by estates of deceased persons, by certain trustees and other fiduciaries, by persons who are partners in and receive income from partnerships, by corporate trusts, and by persons who receive income as shareholders of “S corporations” as defined under federal tax law."
- The proposed law would not affect the tax due on income or gain realized in a tax year beginning before January 1, 2009.
- The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.
2002 attempt to repeal income tax
The Committee for Small Government tried to pass a similar initiative, called the Massachusetts End the Income Tax Initiative (2002)|End the Income Tax initiative in 2002. That measure received an unexpected 885,683 votes, or 45.3 percent.[2]
Supporters of the income tax repeal
The official proponent of the measure is the Committee for Small Government. Michael Cloud and Carla Howell lead the committee.[3]
Initiative supporter Michael Cloud believes that the measure will lower the budget from about $28 billion to $17 billion which is approximately the size of the 1995 state budget.[4]
Polling shows that 46 percent of those asked support the measure before hearing any of its details, and 40 percent still supported it after hearing about the measure in depth.[5][6]
Arguments in favor of Question 1
Arguments that supporters of Question 1 have put forward include:
- State politicians have not kept faith with their promises to taxpayers. The Massachusetts State Legislature blockaded a ballot question approved by the citizens of the commonwealth in 2000 that would have reduced the state income tax to 5%.
- 3 million Massachusetts taxpayers would save an average of $3,600 each annually.
- People would find the Bay State a more attractive place to live, work, invest, and raise families.
- From 1991-2007 more than 550,000 people moved out of Massachusetts, ranking the commonwealth as the 49th worst state in the US in terms of population loss.
- Income tax receipts in Massachusetts account for 39 percent of overall state revenue. State legislators would still have $18 billion to spend if the income tax is repealed.[7]
Funding
According to campaign finance reports, as of September 15, 2008 The committee has raised approximately $270,000 since creation and has $7,125.11 cash left with $13,307.35 in liabilities. [8]
Opposition
Individual Opponents
Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, [9]
Gov. Deval Patrick[10]
The Selectman in the town of Wayland voted unanimously to oppose the initiative.
State Rep. Tom Conroy, D-Wayland[11]
Organizations Against Measure
Coalition for Our Communities, an organization created by the Massachusetts AFL-CIO that reportedly has $1.34 million with which to mount an effort to defeat the measure. The Coalition's funds are derived mainly from unions, including $750,000 from the National Education Association.[12][13] The group also received $250,000 from American Federation of Teachers Solidarity Fund. Both the NEA and the AFTSF are based in Washington, D.C.[14]
Editorial Opposition
The Boston Globe has officially asked voters to vote "no" on Question 1.[15]
History of petition drive and blocking allegations
The proponents submitted about 100,000 signatures to the Massachusetts Secretary of State for the first phase of signature collection. 76,084 of those signatures were determined to be valid, with a requirement that 66,593 must be valid for the initiative to proceed to the next step.[16] The next step was for the Massachusetts State Legislature to take up the measure. They declined to pass it by the first Wednesday in May 2008, meaning that the proponents had to collect an additional 11,099 valid signatures by June 18, 2008. On July 3, it was announced that 15,913 additional certified signatures had been filed, making the measure extremely likely to appear on the ballot.[17],[18]
The Massachusetts Teachers Association who's mailing address is the same as the "Committee for our Communities", admitted in December 2007 that it had made phone calls to people who signed the petition to place the income tax repeal on the ballot, inquiring about whether their signature was valid. The calls were made from a group identifying itself as the "Committee for our Communities".[19]
See also
External Links
- Committee for Small Government
- Summary from Massachusetts AG of the initiative
- Campaign finance filing statement of Small Government Committee
- Tax revolt in Tea Party Zone
- Memorial Day Moneybomb
References
- ^ Berkshire Eagle: "Income tax repeal gets 1st ballot slot," July 11, 2008
- ^ Committee for Small Government
- ^ WSJ Online: "Boston Tax Party," Aug. 5, 2008
- ^ Boston Globe: "4 ballot petitions clear 1st obstacle," Nov. 24, 2007
- ^ The Colombian: "Washington View: Another tea party brewing in Massachusetts," Aug 12, 2008
- ^ American Spectator: "Taxachusetts, RIP," Aug 12, 2008
- ^ The Sun Chronicle: "Ban income tax and transform Massachusetts," July 17, 2008
- ^ commitee for small government campaign finance report
- ^ Ballot Question Would Eliminate Income Tax In Mass., MyFox Boston, Dec. 2, 2007
- ^ WBZtv.com "Ballot Question Rattles Nerves On Beacon Hill," Aug 11, 2008
- ^ WickedLocal.com: "Selectmen oppose elimination of state income tax," Sep 3, 2008
- ^ Forbes.com: "Backers of tax question have just $24,753 in bank," Sep 10, 2008
- ^ Amherst Bulletin: "Efforts under way to defeat income tax ballot measure," Sep 5, 2008
- ^ Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "DC donations flood Mass. ballot question campaigns," Sep 21, 2008
- ^ Boston.com: "This Question is Not the Answer," Sep 28, 2008
- ^ The 2nd American Revolution
- ^ Politicker: "Ballot initiative to abolish income tax will appear on November ballot", July 3, 2008
- ^ CapitalNews9.com: "Group wants to abolish state income tax," May 19, 2008
- ^ WickedLocal.com: "Union group made calls to tax cut petition signers, challenge seems unlikely"