CLT
UPDATE
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Some say tax issues aren't important
. . .
Yesterday (Labor Day) morning Barbara Anderson, CLT’s
executive director, joined Kerry Healey, Reed Hillman, and their
cheering supporters at a ballpark in Marlborough while the two
candidates signed a very large version of the Taxpayer Protection
Pledge, which states: I (Kerry Healey, Reed Hillman), pledge to the
taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that I will oppose and
veto any and all efforts to increase taxes....
We don’t know which is more annoying, Reilly’s sudden and unbelievable
conversion, or Gabrieli’s pie in the sky, never gonna happen "plan." And
the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is not a gimmick, Deval. It’s a message
sent by candidates to the Legislature: don’t spend the state into
another fiscal crisis.
CLT NEWS RELEASE
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Governor’s Race 2006: Tax Issue
The poll [survey of 501 likely Democratic primary voters],
taken Aug. 18-23 by the University of New Hampshire's Survey Center, indicated
that none of the three has been able to break into a lead for the Sept. 19
primary...
Asked about key issues that have surfaced in the race for governor, a majority
of those surveyed said they opposed in-state tuition rates for immigrants and
support a lower state income tax rate....
By a 57 percent to 35 percent margin, those who were polled said the state
should roll back the income tax rate to 5 percent from the current 5.3 percent.
Reilly supports an immediate rollback, Patrick opposes it, and Gabrieli has
proposed lowering the rate gradually. Conservatives, Gabrieli voters, and those
with lower levels of income and Catholics are the strongest supporters of the
rollback. Upper income voters, Patrick voters, and liberals, and those with post
graduate educations, oppose the income tax cut.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Poll finds 3-way tie in primary race
Asked about other issues in the campaign, the six voters
interviewed were split on whether illegal immigrants should have to pay
out-of-state tuition at state universities.
They were also divided on cutting the state income tax rate. Voters
overwhelmingly supported a 2000 ballot question to roll back the income tax to 5
percent, but the rate is now 5.3 percent.
"It's not super-important, but I don't like the idea you're asked to dictate
what's going to happen, and then you vote, and then it doesn't happen anyway,"
Royce said of the tax rate.
The Boston Globe
Monday, August 28, 2006
Undecided voters loom over primary
The sleepy governor's race stirred to life yesterday, with
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly charging that voters "cannot trust" Democratic
rival Deval L. Patrick on taxes, and Patrick firing back that Reilly has
switched positions on the issue....
Patrick's campaign countered, pointing out that Reilly has switched positions on
the rollback of the state income tax rate. Reilly opposed the rollback until
last year, when he called on the state to lower the rate to 5 percent from its
current 5.3 percent.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Democratic contenders clash over taxes
Cutting the state income tax rate immediately from 5.3 to 5
percent -- as proposed by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a Republican, and
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Democrat -- would take $675 million a year
from the state budget and deliver it to taxpayers, who voted for the cut in
2000.
But leading budget specialists warn that there would be little money left in the
state budget to increase spending in for local aid to struggling municipalities.
"We don't have the revenues for a tax cut without drawing on
reserves or cutting other programs or both," said Michael Widmer, executive
director of the business-funded Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "We need to
be cautious about building in either tax cuts or spending increases we can't
support. It is utter folly to be balancing budgets using reserves. It sets up
the state potentially for a fall." ...
Widmer, asked by the Globe to assess the candidates' tax
plans last week, criticized Reilly's approach because he said it appears to
depend on balancing the state budget by using reserves -- money that is supposed
to be used only in emergencies. State officials are relying on $550 million in
reserves to balance this year's budget....
Some specialists said that whatever the impact, the next governor should roll
back the tax rate because the voters approved it.
"The voters have said they wanted it, not only if there is no economic
downturn," said David Tuerck, executive director at Beacon Hill Institute, a
free market think tank at Suffolk University.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, September 3, 2006
Tax cut campaign proposals under fire
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, eager to position herself
as the only dependable firewall against tax increases in this year's
gubernatorial election, is trying to seize control of the tax debate raging
among the Democratic primary candidates.
Today, Healey, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, plans to sign a pledge to
"oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes," which was drawn up by
Citizens for Limited Taxation, an antitax group based in Massachusetts.
"Voters need to understand I'm the only candidate in this race who has committed
publicly and pledged not to raise taxes," Healey said in an interview....
Patrick said yesterday that he has repeatedly opposed an income tax increase,
but he would not sign the pledge because state tax cuts shift the tax burden to
local communities.
"The no-new-taxes pledge in Massachusetts has been a lie because what it has
become is the centerpiece of a fiscal shell game that has just led to higher
property taxes," he said....
Barbara Anderson, a Healey supporter, is the executive
director of the Citizens for Limited Taxation, whose antitax pledge
Healey will sign today. She said Weld and Cellucci used the pledge as a tool to
curtail legislative spending.
"That is the real power of it," she said....
Healey signed the pledge as a legislative candidate in 1998.
The Boston Globe
Monday, September 4, 2006
Healey will sign antitax pledge
Healey kicked off the day with a rally at the Marlborough
Little League Fields, where she and her running mate, Reed Hillman, signed a
pledge to keep the tax rollback permanent and not to increase taxes....
During the tax pledge rally, Healey said the Democrats do not support the 2000
initiative to drop the state income tax to 5 percent.
"We are the only candidates in this race that recognize the taxpayers’ vote to
roll back taxes," Healey said.
The Metrowest Daily News
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
A parade of candidates
Gubernatorial candidate Chris Gabrieli has a new TV ad that
challenges both of his democratic opponents on a hot-button issue, tax cuts – an
issue that has taken center stage in this race....
A solid majority of voters ordered the tax rollback six years ago, and the same
majority tell pollsters on Tuesday they're sick and tired of waiting for it to
happen.
Gabrieli Ad: No wonder voters haven't trusted a democrat to make the right
fiscal choices for our state. I'll cut the income tax responsibly by devoting 40
percent of any revenue increase to a tax cut.
But to understand what he's really proposing, you have to go beyond the video.
His plan would get the income tax rate down to five percent, but not until 2010,
and then only if state revenue growth remains robust. An economic downturn could
stop the Gabrieli tax cut in its tracks....
Just Monday, Healey signed a no new taxes pledge, and her support of the income
tax rollback is longstanding.
Reilly won't sign that pledge, nor will the other democrats ...
CBS4
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Keller Puts Gabrieli's Ad To The Truth Test
Jon Keller
Massachusetts taxpayers will get $60 million more back from
the state next April, and stay on track to see their income tax rate reduced, if
recent revenue trends continue.
State tax revenues swelled 6.1 percent between Fiscal Years 2005 and 2006
according to inflation-adjusted Department of Revenue figures, putting state
coffers far ahead of the sustained 2.5 percent growth needed to trigger
reductions in residents’ tax burdens....
When lawmakers chose in 2002 to halt the income tax rollback at 5.3 percent,
three-tenths of a point above the voter-approved rate, they installed benchmarks
that, if breached, would lead to reductions in the tax formula. First targets
are the personal exemption levels. If the state continues to attain the
thresholds through tax year 2009, stepped 0.05 percent decreases in the overall
income tax rate would kick in, followed by the restoration of charitable
deductions, a department spokesman said.
Whether the state, buoyed by its rising revenues, should comply with the voter
mandate and decrease the income tax rate to 5 percent has burgeoned into a
gubernatorial campaign issue....
Barbara Anderson, president of Citizens for Limited Taxation, said
legislators in the past have retooled the fiscal yardsticks to prevent
additional revenues from flowing back to taxpayers.
"They moved the benchmarks and created new places for the money to go," Anderson
said. A Healey supporter, she also cast doubts on Democratic candidates’
sincerity about alleviating tax burdens.
"This is a weird election year," Anderson said. "Maybe they’re going to want to
help out the Democratic candidates who are completely unbelievable on the tax
rollback."
State House News Service
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
State headed for third straight year
of personal exemption increase
Is this gubernatorial campaign really so bereft of
original or substantive ideas that it has come back to this, a tired old
slugfest about a meaningless tax pledge?
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey makes much of little when she touts her
willingness to sign a pledge not to raise taxes if she is elected
governor. That gimmick has been around long enough for voters to
recognize an empty gesture when they see it....
The reckless tax pledge is yet another example of the ways in which
political candidates underestimate the intelligence of the electorate.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Reckless tax game
By Eileen McNamara
With the Democratic primary just two weeks away, the
conversation has become -- predictably enough -- all about taxes. But are we
talking about the right taxes?
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey has promised to swear unto Barbara Anderson
to "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes," and favors an
immediate rollback of the state income tax to 5 percent, from 5.3 percent. While
none of the Democrats has been willing to take The Pledge, Attorney General Tom
Reilly is now -- as opposed to before -- in favor of the income-tax rollback
voters approved six years ago. Deval Patrick is against cutting the income tax.
Chris Gabrieli has proposed a third way that ties future tax reduction to growth
in state revenues.
For all the focus on cutting the income tax, here is what it comes down to in
dollars and cents: $2.75 a week.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
$2.75 for your vote?
By Steve Bailey
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
On Tuesday, September 19, Democrats and some of us
Unenrolled independents will decide who the Democrat candidate for
governor on the
ballot in November will be. The issue of taxes has gradually if
quietly risen to the top of the debate over the summer months.
("If a tree falls in the woods and there's nobody around to hear it,
does it make a sound?")
The three Democrat candidates in the
upcoming primary election, Deval Patrick, Chris Gabrieli, and Tom
Reilly, all have different alleged plans for addressing taxes, and about
the voters' income tax rollback.
Only one of them is whatsoever believable:
Patrick, an unabashed liberal who opposes the tax rollback, declares
that the state can't afford parting with a cent, and is already talking
about new taxes. We know where "For-it-all Deval" stands and what
we can expect if he's ever elected. No voter-mandated rollback, more taxes, and perhaps at
least some honesty.
Less credible is Chris Gabrieli, with another
"economic triggers" shell game: Like the Legislature, he promises
to rollback the income tax -- someday or another, just trust him.
Haven't we heard that one before? -- like for the past seventeen
years. During the 2000 tax rollback ballot campaign, Gabrieli
opposed even the thought of keeping the promise made in 1989 that the
tax hike would be only "temporary." On October 18, 2000
he donated
$15,000 to our opponents, TEAM's (Tax Everything And More) ballot
committee, the "Campaign
for Massachusetts' Future," then tossed them another $100
on November 13.
Completely unbelievable is Tom Reilly, the state
Attorney General. Over all the years, nearing two decades now, he's never uttered a word in
support of rolling back the "temporary" tax increase -- until he decided
to run for governor and apparently looked at some polling data.
(Those taking part in the Boston Globe's recent poll, including
Democrats and independents, favored the rollback by a margin of 57-35
percent, close to the 2000 ballot question result, 60-40 percent.)
This abrupt conversion in support of an immediate rollback is just too transparently
cynical and self-serving -- blatantly a calculated political position
intended to get him elected. If it isn't, where's he been for the
past seventeen years minus conversion time? If he somehow manages
to get elected, all bets are off.
Meanwhile, Kerry Healey, the Lt. Governor and
Republican candidate for governor, asked to take the Taxpayer Protection
Pledge, and signed it at a public gathering, a local Republican Labor
Day rally. Healey signed her first pledge when she ran for state
representative in 1998. The Romney/Healey administration has been
filing annual budgets since taking office in 2002 which included a
rollback of the "temporary" tax, only to have it excised by the Democrat
majority in the Legislature. The Democrat pols have often
substituted "trigger" schemes, of which Garbrieli's is only the most
recent twist on that "Someday over the rainbow" tax rollback
promise.
All of this, of course, has the Boston Globe elites
in high dudgeon, its columnists falling over themselves as they attempt
to belittle and minimize the significance of the Taxpayers Protection
Pledge. They either completely miss its value as a tool, or
selectively choose to divert attention away from it. Its
effectiveness is in that all politicians recognize the weight of a
campaign promise and the risk from breaking one so publicly made.
Globe columnist Eileen McNamara wrote: "That
gimmick has been around long enough for voters to recognize an empty
gesture when they see it. Remember George H. W. Bush and 'read my
lips'?" But she selectively chose to ignore the consequence of
Bush-the-father's broken promise -- the election of Globe favorite Bill
Clinton.
Selective memory and selective points seem to be
running rampant at the Globe, as illustrated in McNamara's column, then
again in Globe business columnist Steve Bailey's alleged analysis.
"For all the focus on cutting the income tax, here is what it comes down
to in dollars and cents: $2.75 a week," he wrote, reminding me of our
opponents' argument against the rollback during the 2000 ballot
campaign, that it amounted to only "a pizza a week" or "a cup of coffee
a day."
So why is it that the state "can't afford" to give it
back to those who earned it, as mandated six years ago by the voters?
Why is it when the Globe reports the cost to the state, it notes that
the rollback: "would take $675 million a year from the state budget"?
Would rolling back the final remains of the 17-year old "temporary" tax
increase, the final point-three percent, be a lot or a little -- is it
insignificant, as Bailey claims, or is it significant, as Michael Widmer
of the so-called Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation can be counted upon
to insist would be devastating.
"We don't have the revenues for a tax cut without
drawing on reserves or cutting other programs or both," Widmer responded
by rote when "asked by the Globe to assess the candidates' tax plans."
This statement is approved by the Globe, as his comments usually are.
He's become the Globe's go-to guy for comments on taxes and reasons
against cuts for average taxpayers. More Is Never Enough.
Same old same old, here we go again. Those who
favor limited, efficient government and limited taxes against the
tax-and-spend crowd -- which will attempt to mask its true designs and
intent as usual while trying to get its comrades elected.
It's going to be an interesting fall, with a
potentially deadly election outcome. There's a lot hanging on who
is elected the next governor of the Commonwealth.
P.S. Barbara adds: Make sure to read a
very interesting overview of the present tax issue in Massachusetts that
ran in the summer issue of Commonwealth Magazine. ("It's
a simple fact of Bay State politics: Taxes decide gubernatorial
elections. Will this year be any different?" by Dave Denison)
Denison did an excellent job on the Prop 2½
issue, featured in Commonwealth's first issue ten years ago. Also read
my
response in the Commentary section.
 |
|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Poll finds 3-way tie in primary race
Gains for Patrick, Gabrieli are cited
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff
The three candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination for governor
are in a virtual dead heat with the primary election just over three
weeks away, according to a new Boston Globe poll of likely voters.
Former chief federal civil rights prosecutor Deval Patrick was supported
by 31 percent of those surveyed, businessman Christopher Gabrieli was
backed by 30 percent, and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly by 27
percent, the survey of 501 likely Democratic primary voters indicated.
The poll, taken Aug. 18-23 by the University of New Hampshire's Survey
Center, indicated that none of the three has been able to break into a
lead for the Sept. 19 primary, despite millions of dollars in television
advertising by Reilly, Gabrieli, and more recently, Patrick, over the
last several weeks. The totals included those respondents who said they
were definitely supporting a candidate or leaning toward one. The margin
of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
A significant bloc of likely primary voters -- 27 percent -- said there
was a good chance that they could change their minds before the primary
election. Only 35 percent said they plan to stick with their choice
among the three candidates in the race, while 37 percent said they would
"probably" vote for the candidate they are now backing. Eight percent
said they were undecided, while 4 percent chose another candidate. The
undecided voters tended to be women, moderates, and those less likely to
vote.
"It is still a wide open race for any of the three candidates to win,"
said Andrew E. Smith, the survey center's director.
The poll indicated major gains over the past six months by both Gabrieli
and Patrick, and a continued decline by Reilly, once the front-runner. A
poll in March by the Globe found that 35 percent of likely primary
voters supported Reilly, 22 percent backed Patrick, and 4 percent
supported Gabrieli, who did not officially enter the race until April.
Asked about key issues that have surfaced in the race for governor, a
majority of those surveyed said they opposed in-state tuition rates for
immigrants and support a lower state income tax rate. Just under 50
percent said they supported longer school days.
In the race for governor, Reilly, a two-term attorney general who is
well known around the state, was seen as the Democrat with the best
chance to win in the Nov. 7 general election. Thirty-seven percent of
the Democrats surveyed said Reilly had the best chance of winning the
general election, while 23 percent named Patrick, and 21 percent chose
Gabrieli.
The poll found that Patrick had the most loyal supporters, and enjoyed
backing among liberals, those who are well educated, and younger voters.
Gabrieli draws his greatest strength from conservative primary voters
and those who may change their minds in the race, while Reilly is strong
among older voters, those with lower levels of income and education.
Susan Francis, a 66-year-old home health aide from Chicopee, said that
she is supporting Patrick because he represents a "breath of fresh air"
for Beacon Hill. He served as chief of the US Justice Department's civil
rights division under President Clinton, and later worked as general
counsel at both Coca - Cola and Texaco.
Francis said that she made her decision to back Patrick after watching
him several months ago being interviewed on a Springfield public
television program. "In Massachusetts, you have too much of the old boys
hanging around," said Francis, who agreed to be interviewed by the Globe
after participating in the poll. "Those running state government are
embedded in the network."
Seventy-eight percent of Patrick's supporters in the survey said they
would definitely, or probably, vote for him, while 20 percent said there
is a good chance they would change their minds. Some 68 percent of
Reilly's backers and 68 percent of Gabrieli's supporters say they would
definitely or probably vote for their choices. Thirty percent of
Reilly's voters and 32 percent of Gabrieli's said there is a good chance
they might switch to another candidate.
Patrick's strong appeal to his liberal political base, which has
considerable influence in party primaries, allowed him to husband his
resources this summer. He launched an advertising campaign on Aug. 18,
the first day of the survey, and plans to stay on the air until the
primary. Gabrieli has spent $2.45 million on ads since July 21, having
spent $3 million last spring to raise his profile. Reilly has spent over
$2 million since mid-July.
There is no sign Reilly's role in the Big Dig crisis has helped him
politically. Meantime, Gabrieli's heavy advertising has boosted his
favorable name recognition significantly, the poll found.
Gabrieli has doubled his favorability rating among primary voters since
last spring. Last week's survey indicated that 55 percent view him
favorably, compared with 23 percent in the Globe poll in March when he
was publicly mulling a late entry into the race. His unfavorable rating
is now 14 percent, close to the 11 percent in the poll six months ago.
Likewise, although his current ads had only been on the air for several
days when the poll was taken, Patrick's favorable rating rose from 36
percent to 51 percent, and his unfavorable rating -- 10 percent now, 9
percent in March -- remained almost the same. He has had a strong
standing in the polls since winning the Democratic Party's endorsement
in June.
The poll found that Reilly is still popular among Democrats, with 52
percent saying they viewed him favorably and 24 percent viewing him
unfavorably. But that is a drop from the 60 percent favorable, 21
percent unfavorable rating that he had in the March poll.
Mary Mason, a 73-year-old widow who lives in an elderly housing complex
in downtown Worcester, said she has been swayed by Reilly's ads touting
his proposal to increase education funding and criticizing Governor Mitt
Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey for cutting education. She
described herself as conservative on social issues -- opposing abortion
rights and gay marriage, both of which Reilly supports -- but considers
herself an activist for more spending on elderly issues. She has backed
liberal Democrats, such as US Representative James P. McGovern, a
Worcester Democrat and a Patrick supporter.
"I just watched him [Reilly] on television," said Mason, a retired
hospital aide who agreed to be interviewed by the Globe after answering
the poll questions. "It was talking about the cutting of the money for
education. I want to see kids get more education."
The voters surveyed supported a longer school day, which Gabrieli has
touted, with 47 percent backing the idea, 37 percent opposing it, and 13
percent saying they are neutral on the issue. Gabrieli's backers were
more likely to support the longer school day proposal than those
supporting his rivals.
The poll found a majority of likely primary voters opposed to providing
in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities to
undocumented immigrants. Fifty-three percent said they opposed the idea
and only 35 percent supported it, while 11 percent said they were
neutral or didn't know enough about the issue. Both Reilly and Patrick
support the lower, in-state tuition rates for immigrants, while Gabrieli
is opposed. The in-state tuition proposal drew support in the survey
from liberals, from Patrick's voters, and from those with higher levels
of education.
By a 57 percent to 35 percent margin, those who were polled said the
state should roll back the income tax rate to 5 percent from the current
5.3 percent. Reilly supports an immediate rollback, Patrick opposes it,
and Gabrieli has proposed lowering the rate gradually. Conservatives,
Gabrieli voters, and those with lower levels of income and Catholics are
the strongest supporters of the rollback. Upper income voters, Patrick
voters, and liberals, and those with post graduate educations, oppose
the income tax cut.
Asked about the candidates' experience, voters surveyed said they had no
clear preference between someone with private sector or government
experience. Only 23 percent said they prefer a candidate who has held
state office. Thirty-four percent said they prefer someone from outside
government, while 34 percent said it does not matter.
Kevin Kraus, a 41-year-old photographer from Wakefield who describes
himself as a conservative on fiscal issues, believes Gabrieli, seen as
an outsider with a business background, is the best of the candidates to
tackle the state's fiscal problems.
"He probably represents a business perspective that is more fiscally
responsible and would give the economy more of a jump than we've had
before," said Kraus, who closely follows politics. He and his wife
organize regular political discussions at their home. "The economy needs
to rebound before the state can start to tackle the needs of its people,
particularly social programs."
Reilly received the highest marks -- 26 percent -- when the respondents
were asked which candidate is best qualified to handle the Big Dig.
Patrick got 15 percent and Gabrieli received 23 percent. Twelve percent
said none of the three is qualified.
Return to top
The Boston Globe
Monday, August 28, 2006
Undecided voters loom over primary
Tight race makes their support key
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff
Liz Royce , 47, an unemployed healthcare worker from Springfield, wants
to elect a governor who will find enough money for textbooks in her
children's schools. Anne Wiley, 57, a professor at Greenfield Community
College, wants a candidate who is passionate about social services and
environmental protection. J. William Breslin, 58, a retired editor from
Rockport, is desperate to find a Democrat who can win.
"Can they electrify people?" he asked. "Can they beat Kerry Healey?"
With a Globe poll indicating that the three-way Democratic primary race
for governor is in a virtual tie, such undecided voters as Royce, Wiley,
and Breslin will help decide the party's nominee in the Sept. 19
primary. The Globe poll found that 8 percent of likely primary voters
were undecided and identified another 4 percent of respondents who said
"other."
The campaigns will work furiously to attract these voters in the
climactic weeks of the primary race. Among the 501 likely Democratic
primary voters surveyed Aug. 18-23 , 31 percent supported Deval L.
Patrick, 30 percent backed Christopher F. Gabrieli, 27 percent went with
Thomas F. Reilly, and 3 percent named some other candidate. The margin
of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
So who are the undecideds? The poll indicated that undecided voters are
more likely to be women, more likely to live in Southern or Western
Massachusetts, and more likely to describe themselves as moderates. They
are also less likely to be interested in the primary, and less likely to
vote.
And they are picky. Bernice Darish, a grandmother from Malden, couldn't
get Gabrieli on the phone to talk with her about her top issue,
extending the school day.
"If he doesn't have time for me now before he's elected, what makes me
think he's going to have time for me after the election?" she said in an
interview. "Think about it."
Darish was one of six undecided voters surveyed by the Globe who agreed
to be interviewed for this story.
Education was by far the most important issue to the group, who all
worked as teachers, had friends who did or had children or grandchildren
in the schools. Darish said she worried that Massachusetts schools are
not preparing children to survive in a global economy.
"Competing with Revere and Chelsea and Newton and Lenox is long gone,"
she said. "Now you're competing with India and Russia and Third World
countries."
But in a campaign season with little drama and no galvanizing issue,
none of those interviewed saw any of the Democratic candidates as an
obvious choice.
"There hasn't been any one stand out candidate that has struck me as
either someone who has done something great," said Deirdre Stevenson, a
34-year-old Dorchester resident who works for a software company.
Some said they were too preoccupied with vacations, jobs, and family
obligations to tune in to politics this summer. But others paying
attention to the race seemed more certain about the candidates' flaws
than their strengths.
"They all seem to have a negative side to them," said Daniel Colchamiro,
a 32-year-old registered Democrat from Mansfield who works as a middle
school science teacher. "They've all made mistakes."
Both he and Breslin said they initially preferred Reilly, but that they
had been deeply disappointed with his campaign.
Both cited Reilly's selection of Representative Marie St. Fleur as his
running mate. St. Fleur withdrew within a day of being named after the
Globe revealed her numerous tax delinquencies.
Colchamiro also recoiled when he read about the Reilly campaign's
behind-the-scenes discussions about promoting a critic of Patrick's
record at Coca-Cola. Breslin pronounced Reilly's television ads
"horrible" and his work on the Big Dig disappointing.
"He just comes across as old news," he said. "He has not come across as
someone vibrant who can deal with the problems of today."
Stevenson said she liked Patrick but wanted to learn more about his
corporate record as an executive at Coca-Cola and other controversial,
multinational corporations. From the little she knows, she said,
Patrick's business experience was "coming across as kind of seedy."
Colchamiro worried Gabrieli, who has pumped almost $7.5 million of his
money into the race, "has had so few contributions from other people,
it's almost like he's trying to buy the election."
Asked about other issues in the campaign, the six voters interviewed
were split on whether illegal immigrants should have to pay out-of-state
tuition at state universities.
They were also divided on cutting the state income tax rate. Voters
overwhelmingly supported a 2000 ballot question to roll back the income
tax to 5 percent, but the rate is now 5.3 percent.
"It's not super-important, but I don't like the idea you're asked to
dictate what's going to happen, and then you vote, and then it doesn't
happen anyway," Royce said of the tax rate.
Wiley, in a separate interview, disagreed: "As far as I'm concerned, you
could increase taxes a little bit if it went to supporting public
education, adequate housing, protecting the environment."
And though they were disgusted with the Big Dig's safety and financial
problems, they were reluctant to vote based on that issue.
Andrew E. Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire's Survey
Center, which conducted the poll, said undecided voters, when asked
which candidate would be best qualified to manage the Big Dig, were much
less likely to name a candidate.
Smith said this was because they tended to have paid less attention to
the race.
With Labor Day approaching, the campaigns are feeling the pressure of
the need to make the sale.
Patrick is holding community meetings and focusing on local outreach.
Reilly is traveling around the state to meet voters. Gabrieli, in a
potentially risky strategy for a Democratic primary, is emphasizing his
nonpartisan approach to governing, saying in ads that he doesn't care if
an idea is Democratic or Republican as long as it is good.
"We believe that's what people want to hear -- a candidate not talking
about ideology but specific plans for how you would get the job done,"
said Gabrieli spokesman Joe Ganley. Unenrolled voters can vote in the
primary.
Colchamiro said he is looking for a candidate "who is honest, and who
actually looks out for Massachusetts." He finds himself leaning toward
Patrick, who he said "is most in-tune with my ideas, which are fairly
liberal."
Breslin remains flummoxed.
"I'm not thrilled with any one of them," he said. "I'm not sure a rich
businessman, an old-line politician or a Clinton administration official
who's in with the liberal wing of the party have enough moderate stuff
in them.... We need to go after independents and get them to care about
their candidacy."
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The Boston Globe
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Democratic contenders clash over taxes
Reilly charges voters 'cannot trust' Patrick;
Patrick accuses Reilly of flip-flopping on issue
By Russell Nichols, Globe Staff
The sleepy governor's race stirred to life yesterday, with Attorney
General Thomas F. Reilly charging that voters "cannot trust" Democratic
rival Deval L. Patrick on taxes, and Patrick firing back that Reilly has
switched positions on the issue.
Reilly's campaign said Patrick supported proposals that would raise
excise and payroll taxes last year, but has since denounced new taxes.
"Voters need to know they will have a strong, unwavering voice to stand
up and hold the line on taxes," Reilly communications director David
Guarino said in a statement. "Deval Patrick should stand up and tell the
truth -- that he has already proposed raising new taxes that would have
crippled businesses and further burdened residents."
Patrick's campaign countered, pointing out that Reilly has switched
positions on the rollback of the state income tax rate. Reilly opposed
the rollback until last year, when he called on the state to lower the
rate to 5 percent from its current 5.3 percent.
"If he handles our taxes like he has the Big Dig's cost overruns, then
voters have many reasons to worry," Richard Chacón , communications
director for the Patrick campaign, said in a statement.
A Globe poll published Sunday found that the three-way primary race is
in a virtual tie as the Sept. 19 primary approaches. The poll also found
that a majority of likely primary voters surveyed said they supported an
income tax rollback.
In 2000, voters approved a gradual lowering of the income tax rate from
5.85 percent to 5 percent. But in the depths of the state's fiscal
crisis in 2002, the Legislature froze the rate at 5.3 percent.
Patrick opposes an income tax rate rollback, saying a cut would push up
property taxes. Reilly supports an immediate rollback. Democrat
Christopher F. Gabrieli supports a gradual rollback. Gabrieli held an
education event yesterday, and was drawn into the back and forth after
the Globe asked him for a response to the charges between Reilly and
Patrick.
"Tom Reilly and Deval Patrick are both wrong on taxes," Dan Cence , a
spokesman for Gabrieli's campaign, said in an e-mailed statement. "Tom's
promising an immediate tax cut that will never happen, and Deval Patrick
opposes any income tax cut. Chris Gabrieli has released a common-sense
plan to cut taxes to 5 percent."
Yesterday, Reilly's campaign cited three instances last year when
Patrick said he would raise taxes. They pointed to Patrick's support of
a plan to establish universal health coverage in Massachusetts by hiking
cigarette taxes 50 cents a pack and by creating a new payroll tax for
employers that do not offer worker health plans. They also said Patrick
proposed giving cities and towns authority to raise additional revenue
with a "reasonable local meals tax" on patrons.
Reilly's campaign launched the attack after a Boston Herald columnist
quoted Patrick as saying, "There is no way that the public would be
interested in tax increases. And no reason I can think of for asking for
them."
Yesterday, Patrick's campaign maintained that he has been "consistent
and honest" about his stance on taxes and said Reilly's "latest position
... would mean even higher property taxes for Massachusetts homeowners."
Until late last year, Reilly repeatedly said the state could not afford
the estimated $600 million in revenue it would lose annually if the rate
were rolled back to 5 percent.
But by the end of 2005, Reilly said that the Legislature should roll
back the state income tax rate because the state's revenues had grown.
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The Boston Globe
Sunday, September 3, 2006
Tax cut campaign proposals under fire
Three gubernatorial candidates seek rollback
By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff
With three of the candidates for governor calling for a rollback of the
state income tax, some budget specialists warn that Massachusetts cannot
afford to lose the revenue and also question whether the candidates'
numbers add up.
Cutting the state income tax rate immediately from 5.3 to 5 percent --
as proposed by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a Republican, and
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Democrat -- would take $675 million
a year from the state budget and deliver it to taxpayers, who voted for
the cut in 2000.
But leading budget specialists warn that there would be little money
left in the state budget to increase spending in for local aid to
struggling municipalities.
"We don't have the revenues for a tax cut without drawing on reserves or
cutting other programs or both," said Michael Widmer, executive director
of the business-funded Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "We need to
be cautious about building in either tax cuts or spending increases we
can't support. It is utter folly to be balancing budgets using reserves.
It sets up the state potentially for a fall."
Noah Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy
Center, a liberal think tank, also said that only after the state budget
is balanced should any new governor consider a tax cut.
"Any new revenue growth should go first toward balancing the budget
without using rainy day funds," he said. "After that there are choices
-- whether you want to restore local aid, funding for education, or
whether your top priority is new tax cuts."
Of the other Democrats, Christopher F. Gabrieli wants to cut the state
income tax gradually by diverting a portion of state tax revenue when
the economy is growing. Democrat Deval L. Patrick opposes an income tax
rollback, saying it would force cities and towns to increase property
taxes to make up for the lost revenue.
Taxes dominated the three-way Democratic race for governor last week, as
the candidates positioned themselves on a potent political issue. Voters
in 2000 called for the income tax to be lowered from 5.85 percent to 5
percent over three years, but the Legislature has left it at 5.3
percent, first citing the fiscal crisis that began in 2002 and then the
continued demands for state spending.
A Boston Globe poll published Aug. 27 found that 57 percent of likely
Democratic voters surveyed supported the rollback to 5 percent. The
figure among Republicans is undoubtedly higher. Strategists for Healey
were pleased last week when the Democrats -- who generally are thought
to be weaker on fiscal issues than Republicans -- began talking about
tax cuts.
"Clearly, our opponents have shown that taxes are the top issue in this
race," said Tim O'Brien, Healey's campaign manager. "We welcome the
debate because Lieutenant Governor Healey is the only candidate the
voters can trust to actually push for the rollback."
Reilly, who opposed the tax rollback until last year, has been telling
audiences that the rollback would cost $264 million. That figure is an
estimate of what it would cost if it went into effect in January,
halfway through the fiscal year.
According to state revenue officials, the rollback would trigger a
second tax break that would make taxpayers happy, but drain more money
from the budget. Under state law, a rollback also would resume after one
year, a charitable tax deduction eliminated in 2002. Restoring the
charitable tax deduction, state revenue officials said, would cost the
Commonwealth millions in lost revenue -- as much as $243 million a year
by 2010.
Widmer, asked by the Globe to assess the candidates' tax plans last
week, criticized Reilly's approach because he said it appears to depend
on balancing the state budget by using reserves -- money that is
supposed to be used only in emergencies. State officials are relying on
$550 million in reserves to balance this year's budget.
Widmer took particular issue with Reilly's assertion, repeated often on
the campaign trail, that as governor he would have an extra $500 million
in revenue to spend -- even after a tax cut. If there were additional
revenue, it should be used to reduce the state's use of reserves, Widmer
argued.
Reilly's campaign, asked to respond to the critique, insisted the state
can afford a tax cut.
"The $250 million needed to fund the first year of the income tax cut is
about 1 percent of the state budget," said Reilly's spokesman, Corey
Welford. "Do our opponents think they cannot find 1 percent of waste and
inefficiency in the $26 billion state budget to give people the tax
relief they voted for?"
Widmer gave Gabrieli's proposed tax rollback a better review. Gabrieli
calls for a gradual rollback of the tax rate if tax revenues increase
substantially -- more than the rate of inflation. Under his plan,
Gabrieli would apply 40 percent of the revenue above inflation to a tax
cut.
"It's a very sensible concept," said Widmer, who is not backing any
candidate . "It provides a hedge against a recession so that if tax
revenues did not rise at the rate of inflation, there would be no tax
cut."
As for Healey's plan, O'Brien said Healey plans to pare down the budget
to offset a tax cut. She hasn't provided a detailed list of potential
cuts, but said she will, among other things, seek to eliminate 104 local
pension boards, for a savings of $200 million a year.
"Lieutenant Governor Healey will take the money off the table and set a
responsible budget after we give the taxpayers back the money they voted
for," O'Brien said.
The discussion of tax cuts sets up a familiar political dynamic,
allowing Republicans to boast their candidate should be elected governor
to balance the Democratic legislature. Governor Mitt Romney has called
for a rollback repeatedly, but the Legislature refused.
In May, the State Senate voted to lower the tax rate from 5.3 percent to
5 percent if state spending on education and local aid were restored to
levels last seen before the fiscal crisis of 2002. It was part of a
package of tax cuts.
"This action dispels the notion the Democrats are averse to tax cuts,"
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini told the Globe at the time. The
House did not go along with the rollback.
Last week, House minority leader Bradley Jones, a Republican from North
Reading, complained Reilly has not described what spending he would cut
to offset the tax cut and that Gabrieli's plan may never become reality.
"None of them talk about places where we can cut," said Jones. "Show us
the cuts. For better or worse, you can point to Kerry Healey and
Governor Romney and say they've done vetoes where they thought money
shouldn't be spent or money was overspent."
Gabrieli's plan "sounds really appealing," but he said it is unclear
whether the tax cut would ever kick in because under state law, much of
any increase in tax revenues must go to fund public transportation and
schools.
"I think it's a victory that this is the issue we're talking about,"
said Jones. "But I'm hard-pressed to believe voters will buy into the
idea that the Democratic Party is the one that will watch out for their
tax dollars."
Stephen P. Crosby, dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy
Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said the details
of the candidates' tax plans are less important than the philosophy they
reflect.
"Looking past the numbers, their positions say a lot about the
candidates' belief in the role of government, and to a modest extent the
role of tax policy to redistribute income. You have Reilly and Healey
taking the conservative position -- that the government should be able
to make do on 5 percent," said Crosby, secretary of administration and
finance under Paul Cellucci, a former Republican governor.
Patrick believes taxes represent "small money for a lot of public good,"
while Gabrieli is offering himself as a more centrist,
"roll-up-your-sleeves, don't take a philosophic position" alternative to
Reilly and Patrick, Crosby observed.
"You can get hung up debating the arithmetic, but it's not really about
arithmetic," he said.
Some specialists said that whatever the impact, the next governor should
roll back the tax rate because the voters approved it.
"The voters have said they wanted it, not only if there is no economic
downturn," said David Tuerck, executive director at Beacon Hill
Institute, a free market think tank at Suffolk University.
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The Boston Globe
Monday, September 4, 2006
Healey will sign antitax pledge
3 in 4 candidates support rollback
By Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, eager to position herself as the only
dependable firewall against tax increases in this year's gubernatorial
election, is trying to seize control of the tax debate raging among the
Democratic primary candidates.
Today, Healey, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, plans to sign a
pledge to "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes," which
was drawn up by Citizens for Limited Taxation, an antitax group based in
Massachusetts.
"Voters need to understand I'm the only candidate in this race who has
committed publicly and pledged not to raise taxes," Healey said in an
interview.
Previously, Healey signed a pledge that was distributed to all the
gubernatorial candidates by the Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington,
D.C.-based group. None of the three Democratic primary contenders has
signed the pledge.
Last week, the tax issue took on new prominence in the Democratic
gubernatorial primary. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly dubbed Deval L.
Patrick "For-it-all Deval," citing Patrick's support of a bill that
would allow communities to raise the meals tax and two other taxes that
would help fund a plan to expand healthcare. Then, in a new television
ad, Democrat Christopher Gabrieli went after Healey, Reilly, and Patrick
on the tax issue, asserting that his plan to cut the income tax
gradually from 5.3 percent to 5 percent is the only responsible one.
Healey and Reilly want an immediate rollback and Patrick opposes it.
Yesterday, Healey said the Democrats could not be depended upon to keep
taxes down. She said Reilly had opposed an income tax cut as recently as
last year, and that Gabrieli's plan was too gradual.
"In good times, it's easy for the attorney general and Gabrieli to jump
on board, when we've created a $1 billion surplus through fiscal
discipline during the last three years," she said. But when a recession
created a state fiscal crisis in 2003, she said, "they would have given
in to pressure to raise taxes and we wouldn't have a budget surplus
today."
Patrick said yesterday that he has repeatedly opposed an income tax
increase, but he would not sign the pledge because state tax cuts shift
the tax burden to local communities.
"The no-new-taxes pledge in Massachusetts has been a lie because what it
has become is the centerpiece of a fiscal shell game that has just led
to higher property taxes," he said.
The Gabrieli campaign refused to say yesterday whether Gabrieli would
sign the pledge. Reilly spokesman David Guarino said in an e-mail that
Reilly "is the only Democrat who has been clear he won't raise taxes"
and who favors an immediate income tax rollback.
The state and local tax burden in Massachusetts is the 28th-highest
among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Tax
Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research organization based in Washington,
D.C.
Yet taxes remain a potent issue in Massachusetts gubernatorial
elections. A Globe poll last month found that 57 percent of likely
Democratic voters surveyed supported a rollback of income taxes. The
three fiscally conservative Republicans who won the last four
gubernatorial elections, despite a Massachusetts electorate that
otherwise tends to support Democrats, talked tough on taxes.
Two of them, William F. Weld and Paul Cellucci, took the pledge.
Barbara Anderson, a Healey supporter, is the executive director
of the Citizens for Limited Taxation, whose antitax pledge Healey
will sign today. She said Weld and Cellucci used the pledge as a tool to
curtail legislative spending.
"That is the real power of it," she said.
Four years ago, Mitt Romney broke with GOP tradition and refused to sign
the pledge, though he repeatedly said he had no intention of raising
taxes. A spokesman for Romney then called the pledge "government by
gimmickry." Healey signed the pledge as a legislative candidate in 1998.
Romney and Healey relied on increasing fees and closing corporate tax
"loopholes" -- which some business owners considered tax increases -- to
help close the budget deficit they inherited.
Healey said yesterday that she might be willing to revisit some of those
corporate tax changes to ease burdens on small businesses.
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The Metrowest Daily News
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
A parade of candidates
By Charlie Breitrose, Daily News Staff
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
MARLBOROUGH -- Several people who hope to be the state’s next governor
marched through the city yesterday as the four major party candidates
joined Labor Day celebrations.
Marlborough’s annual Labor Day parade attracted the three Democrats
vying for victory in the Sept. 19 primary -- Thomas Reilly, Deval
Patrick and Chris Gabrieli -- and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, the lone
Republican. Each had a contingent of supporters holding signs, and
handing out stickers and balloons.
Other candidates who will appear on the November general election
ballot, independent Christy Mihos and Green-Rainbow candidate Grace
Ross, did not attend.
The entire MetroWest area plays an important role in the state, said
Gabrieli, who has been involved with companies in the area as a
businessman and worked on education issues.
"I was deeply involved in Framingham before I became a candidate,"
Gabrieli said. "I helped expand the after-school programs in middle
school."
The high technology firms along Interstate 495 play a valuable role in
the state’s economy, and Gabrieli said, "I feel like they deserve a lot
of attention."
Patrick arrived a few minutes after the start of the parade after being
held up in traffic. He joked about how that shows how difficult it is
for an outsider to break into state politics.
On the campaign trail, Patrick said he often hears how people in
communities outside Rte. 128 feel like Bay State politics are
Boston-centric.
Improving transportation and developing new housing near transit stops
would be a focus for Patrick, and he wants to work regionally to get
that done.
"You can talk about building housing near the train, but if the train
doesn’t come, it doesn’t matter," Patrick said. "You don’t plan trains
town by town, you need to work regionally."
For Reilly, the parade felt like a homecoming. The current attorney
general represented the area as Middlesex district attorney before
winning his current post.
"As I walked the route, so many people remembered me -- what I did for
them when I was district attorney and attorney general," Reilly said.
"When I was district attorney, I had an office in Framingham, and as
attorney general I have an office in Worcester."
His experience should give him a leg up on his Democratic opponents,
Reilly said.
"The focus on MetroWest, I know will continue," Reilly said. "They want
leadership that is tested and proven, and they know me."
Healey kicked off the day with a rally at the Marlborough Little League
Fields, where she and her running mate, Reed Hillman, signed a pledge to
keep the tax rollback permanent and not to increase taxes.
For local residents, Healey said she believes bringing more mass transit
to the area is a priority.
"I am very dedicated to improving transportation in and out of
Worcester," Healey said. "I know it would make it easier for people in
the area."
During the tax pledge rally, Healey said the Democrats do not support
the 2000 initiative to drop the state income tax to 5 percent.
"We are the only candidates in this race that recognize the taxpayers’
vote to roll back taxes," Healey said.
GOP candidates, Gabrieli responded, have made such statements in other
election years. He has proposed a plan to cut the tax rate by 0.1
percent a year until it reaches 5 percent by 2010.
"I feel that is an election year promise, but Massachusetts has seen too
much of that," Gabrieli said. "Mine is the only plan that is
economically viable and fiscally responsible."
Patrick said rolling back the income tax would have other consequences.
"Anyone rolling income taxes back is talking about increasing property
taxes," Patrick said. "I want to return the money to cities and towns in
local aid."
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CBS4
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Keller Puts Gabrieli's Ad To The Truth Test
Jon Keller, Reporting
(CBS4) BOSTON -- Gubernatorial candidate Chris Gabrieli has a new TV ad
that challenges both of his democratic opponents on a hot-button issue,
tax cuts – an issue that has taken center stage in this race.
And with republican Kerry Healey making support for the income tax
rollback the centerpiece of her campaign, the Gabrieli ad tries to
answer to a key question facing democratic primary voters - What's the
best way to counter the Healey anti-tax offensive?
"Two of my opponents claim we can cut taxes to 5 percent immediately.
We've heard that election year promise before, but it's not just an
election year promise," said Gabrieli.
A solid majority of voters ordered the tax rollback six years ago, and
the same majority tell pollsters on Tuesday they're sick and tired of
waiting for it to happen.
Gabrieli Ad: No wonder voters haven't trusted a democrat to make the
right fiscal choices for our state. I'll cut the income tax responsibly
by devoting 40 percent of any revenue increase to a tax cut.
But to understand what he's really proposing, you have to go beyond the
video.
His plan would get the income tax rate down to five percent, but not
until 2010, and then only if state revenue growth remains robust. An
economic downturn could stop the Gabrieli tax cut in its tracks.
Four years ago, Gabrieli was part of a losing ticket that also tied the
tax cut to economic growth. So while there may be merit to Gabrieli's
plan, his claim that it's a passport to victory in November doesn't pass
the truth test.
Deval Patrick and fellow candidate Tom Reilly are under fire for their
positions on tax cuts in a new TV ad created by Gabrieli.
Voters ordered the income tax cut to five percent six years ago, and
Gabrieli glossed over the fact that his plan would mean further delays,
but what about his claims about the tax-cut positions held by his two
primary opponents?
"Two of my opponents claim we can cut taxes to five percent immediately.
We've heard that election year promise before," said Gabrieli in his TV
ad.
On this score, Gabrieli's ad tells the truth. Just Monday, Healey signed
a no new taxes pledge, and her support of the income tax rollback is
longstanding.
Reilly won't sign that pledge, nor will the other democrats, but his
support for the rollback couldn't be more clear.
Keller: If you're elected governor, you will immediately file a bill
lowering the income tax rate to five percent?
Reilly: Yes I will.
Keller: Is that what you're pledging?
Reilly: Yes I will.
"My other opponent says taxes are at the right level now. With that kind
of thinking, no wonder voters haven't trusted a democrat to make the
right fiscal choices for our state," said Gabrieli in his TV ad.
Gabrieli's claim that freezing tax rates is political poison is
debatable, but he isn't distorting Patrick’s position.
Here's what Patrick said in the CBS4 debate last spring. "I think the
tax rate is about what it ought to be right now."
There may be less than meets the eye to Gabrilei's solution, but his
portrayal of where his opponents stand passes the truth test.
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State House News Service
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
State headed for third straight year
of personal exemption increase
By Jim O’Sullivan
Massachusetts taxpayers will get $60 million more back from the state
next April, and stay on track to see their income tax rate reduced, if
recent revenue trends continue.
State tax revenues swelled 6.1 percent between Fiscal Years 2005 and
2006 according to inflation-adjusted Department of Revenue figures,
putting state coffers far ahead of the sustained 2.5 percent growth
needed to trigger reductions in residents’ tax burdens.
If the revenues remain above that threshold through November, the state
would boost personal exemption amounts by $275 for individuals (to
$4,400), $425 for heads of households (to $6,600), and $550 for joint
filers (to $8,800).
A preliminary statement about exemption amounts by Revenue Commissioner
Alan LeBovidge is due Oct. 15, and a final statement Dec. 15, the
commissioner said in an Aug. 30 letter to the Romney administration’s
top finance official.
Regular reports over the last several months of higher-than-forecast
revenue intakes left observers of the state’s finances unsurprised at
indicators of what would be the third straight year of personal
exemption increases. Another year would restore the levels to pre-2002
figures, a department spokesman said.
"Given the overall growth, which is stronger than expected, and the
statutory triggers, we’re almost sure to have an increase in the
personal exemption," said Scot Keefe, research director for the House
Committee on Revenue.
"I don’t think it’s any big surprise," Keefe said. "At this rate, the
triggers are almost certain to be met."
When lawmakers chose in 2002 to halt the income tax rollback at 5.3
percent, three-tenths of a point above the voter-approved rate, they
installed benchmarks that, if breached, would lead to reductions in the
tax formula. First targets are the personal exemption levels. If the
state continues to attain the thresholds through tax year 2009, stepped
0.05 percent decreases in the overall income tax rate would kick in,
followed by the restoration of charitable deductions, a department
spokesman said.
Whether the state, buoyed by its rising revenues, should comply with the
voter mandate and decrease the income tax rate to 5 percent has
burgeoned into a gubernatorial campaign issue.
Both Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Democratic Attorney General
Thomas Reilly want the 5 percent rate restored quickly. Democratic
venture capitalist Christopher Gabrieli favors a plan under which 40
percent of revenue growth would go toward a tax cut. Convenience store
magnate Christy Mihos, running as an independent, prefers a rehaul of
the state’s property tax policies. And Democrat Deval Patrick, a former
civil rights and corporate lawyer, has said the rate is about where it
should be.
Patrick on Tuesday unveiled his proposal to eliminate fees imposed on
public school students for busing and extracurricular activities,
promising $34 million in addition to a local aid increase he wants to
fund from the state’s budget surplus.
Barbara Anderson, president of Citizens for Limited Taxation,
said legislators in the past have retooled the fiscal yardsticks to
prevent additional revenues from flowing back to taxpayers.
"They moved the benchmarks and created new places for the money to go,"
Anderson said. A Healey supporter, she also cast doubts on Democratic
candidates’ sincerity about alleviating tax burdens.
"This is a weird election year," Anderson said. "Maybe they’re going to
want to help out the Democratic candidates who are completely
unbelievable on the tax rollback."
Legislators this year would be hard-pressed to tailor the benchmarks
before the triggers are tripped. Although lawmakers appear likely to
return for a special formal session, Republicans will likely influence
their agenda. During informal sessions, the objection of just one
lawmaker can doom a bill.
A spokesman for the House Ways and Means Committee said the Legislature
acted in 2002 to allow tax cuts "if we can afford them."
"This is certainly encouraging news and an indication that the existing
tax-cut trigger is working the way it’s supposed to work, and we are
cautiously optimistic that the next few months will show positive growth
and allow additional monies to be returned to the taxpayers," said James
Eisenberg.
The overall return, if the personal exemption trigger is pulled, would
be $60 million, Eisenberg said.
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The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Reckless tax game
By Eileen McNamara, Globe Columnist
Is this gubernatorial campaign really so bereft of original or
substantive ideas that it has come back to this, a tired old slugfest
about a meaningless tax pledge?
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey makes much of little when she touts her
willingness to sign a pledge not to raise taxes if she is elected
governor. That gimmick has been around long enough for voters to
recognize an empty gesture when they see it. Remember George H. W. Bush
and "read my lips"?
As Governor Mitt Romney's deputy for the last four years, Healey owns
the millions of dollars in fee increases that this administration has
imposed in the last four years while claiming to have kept its promise
not to raise taxes. A fee? A tax? A distinction without a difference.
That's pretty much what Romney said in 2003 when he accused
administrators at the state's public colleges of "fee abuse" for
claiming to have held tuition costs steady for a decade even as they
hiked student fees to cope with drastic cuts in state aid.
For Republicans, the mantra of no new taxes is election-year
boilerplate. For Democrats, it is quicksand -- and two of the three
rivals for the nomination are diving in headfirst. Attorney General
Thomas F. Reilly favors an immediate rollback of the state income tax
from 5.3 percent to 5 percent, a new position he can expect Healey to
deride as an election-year-conversion if he wins the primary Sept. 19.
Christopher Gabrieli, the millionaire philanthropist, promises to reach
the 5 percent benchmark with incremental tax cuts.
Deval L. Patrick, a former corporate lawyer and civil rights chief in
the Clinton administration, would hold the line on taxes, accurately
describing the proposed rollback as a shell game that will just force
the state's 351 cities and towns to raise property taxes or cut
services.
Reilly has mocked Patrick as "For-it-all Deval" for supporting
legislation that would give cities and towns the power to raise the
meals tax to deal with such skyrocketing expenses as health insurance
costs.
Does that make Reilly's pal, the mayor of Boston, "More-for-me Menino"?
Thomas Menino, in response to state cuts in local aid, has lobbied
relentlessly on Beacon Hill for years to win exactly that option for
local communities.
The reckless tax pledge is yet another example of the ways in which
political candidates underestimate the intelligence of the electorate.
Voters want a governor who is capable of fiscal restraint, but they also
want one who will deal with the lack of affordable housing, the loss of
jobs, and the state of public education. To promise to roll back or
never to raise state taxes is to pretend to know the future.
Massachusetts voters know it is hard enough to govern in the present.
Who knew last year that the Legislature would need to authorize $20
million for repairs to the Big Dig, an amount that is certain to rise,
given the $4.5 million invoice from the Illinois engineering firm Romney
has hired just to make sure the road and tunnel system is now sound?
Counting on recovering the cost of repairs from contractors and project
managers is a far from certain bet. Years of litigation loom involving
the $14.6 billion highway project, not least of all from the survivors
of the Jamaica Plain woman killed in the ceiling collapse in July.
Who knows how the landmark legislation requiring all residents of
Massachusetts to have health insurance will be working next year?
Already, advocates for low-income people say the price of "affordable"
health plans will be too high.
Employers that do not offer health insurance say the $295 they will be
assessed (read: taxed) by the state is more than they can afford.
There is no dedicated revenue stream for this ambitious initiative and
more than one analysis has concluded that the state will not have the
money to fund it.
What good will the tax pledge be then?
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The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
$2.75 for your vote?
By Steve Bailey, Globe Columnist
With the Democratic primary just two weeks away, the conversation has
become -- predictably enough -- all about taxes. But are we talking
about the right taxes?
Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey has promised to swear unto Barbara
Anderson to "oppose and veto any and all efforts to increase taxes," and
favors an immediate rollback of the state income tax to 5 percent, from
5.3 percent. While none of the Democrats has been willing to take The
Pledge, Attorney General Tom Reilly is now -- as opposed to before -- in
favor of the income-tax rollback voters approved six years ago. Deval
Patrick is against cutting the income tax. Chris Gabrieli has proposed a
third way that ties future tax reduction to growth in state revenues.
For all the focus on cutting the income tax, here is what it comes down
to in dollars and cents: $2.75 a week.
That number is a little more if you make more, a little less if you make
less. The numbers come from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue,
which calculated what cutting the income tax rate to 5 percent would
mean in the 2008 tax year. For a married couple with a household income
of $60,000 (slightly more than the median household income) the tax
rollback would cut their state income tax by $143 a year, or $2.75 a
week. A married couple with two kids and a household income of $80,000
would save $175 a year. A single person making $50,000 would save $131.
A married couple with two kids making $100,000 a year would save $235.
Now any tax savings is a good savings in my house. But what has been
going on with property taxes during the Romney years makes the income
tax savings look like chump change.
Let's go back to the Revenue Department numbers. Since fiscal year 2002,
the average single-family property tax bill statewide has risen from
$3,015 to $3,799 in 2006 -- a 26 percent increase, or $784 a year. Check
your bill; it may well be higher. Overall, the residential property tax
levy has increased statewide by $1.8 billion, or 32 percent.
These are big increases. And your property tax, unlike your income tax,
doesn't go down when you've had a tough year on the job. It just demands
to be paid, good year or bad.
The surge in property tax has been created by two factors: most
importantly, the huge cut in local aid forced by the state's fiscal
crisis. And secondarily by the shift from commercial taxpayers to
residential taxpayers as home prices climbed and commercial property
values declined.
"The real problem we have is not so much the income tax. It is that
despite Proposition 2½ there have been very rapid increases in
residential property taxes -- underline residential property taxes,"
says Barry Bluestone, dean of Northeastern University's new School of
Social Science, Urban Affairs and Public Policy.
The result: Across the Commonwealth, local taxpayers are paying more and
getting less in municipal services.
Four years ago Mitt Romney broke with the Republican tradition of
signing the no-new-taxes pledge, calling it "government by gimmickry."
As it turned out, it just wasn't his gimmick of choice. Shifting the tax
burden on cities and towns was.
Of all the major candidates, Patrick and Gabrieli have emphasized
property tax relief the most. Gabrieli has been most thoughtful and most
specific. He would devote 40 percent of the state's new revenue growth
to expansion of local aid and new investments, 40 percent to income tax
reduction, and 20 percent to the rainy day fund.
That kind of balanced approach is a lot harder to explain in a 30-second
TV spot than taking The Pledge. But long after the TV ads are gone, I'll
still have to pay my property-tax bill -- which continues to rise.
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