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CLT UPDATE
Friday, January 18, 2013
A reawakened state’s antitax movement
|
Mass. Governor Deval Patrick was making his case
Thursday following announcing his plans to raise the state's income
tax, but the proposal might a tough sell to lawmakers and business
owners.
Governor Patrick says his tax code reform would
keep Massachusetts competitive with other states and put the state's
tax rates in about the mid-range compared to other states.
The first stop on Governor Patrick's tour
promoting his controversial income tax hike was to a friendly crowd
of businessmen and women interested in improving transportation and
education in the Middlesex 3 Corridor....
But not all businesses are as welcoming of the
Governor's plan that would raise the income tax from 5.25 percent to
6.25 percent, raise corporate taxes all while lowering the sales tax
to 4.5 percent.
"So it's very mixed, and I think some businesses
are probably going to be pleased by it, others not at all," Michael
Widmer of the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation said.
And there are anti-tax groups like Citizens
for Limited Taxation which are skeptical of the entire plan.
"He's trying to do a graduated income tax by
increasing the personal exemption. Large enough so that the rich
have to pay more. You're not allowed to do that," said Barbara
Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
Anderson says the state's Constitution doesn't
allow for a graduated income tax. She says it's been put on the
ballot three times and defeated each time.
"He just thinks he can do whatever Obama does and
Obama is saying get the rich, so he's going after the rich,"
Anderson said.
"That's not a bad way to go," Governor Patrick
said Thursday. "I mean, I'd like a graduated income tax. It takes
longer to do that. We've tried a bit because you have to change the
Constitution, but we built in the doubling of personal exemptions to
bring that progressivity into our model."
New England Cable News
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Mass. Gov. pitches tax plan to business leaders
VIDEO
Governor Deval Patrick unveiled more elements of
his tax plans Thursday, including proposals to gradually raise the
gas tax, MBTA fares, turnpike tolls, and Registry fees, plans he
says will stabilize the transportation system long into the future.
Patrick’s blueprints would also eliminate 45
personal tax deductions worth $1.3 billion annually, including
deductions for T passes, college scholarships, and dependents under
12.
The new elements follow Patrick’s announcement
Wednesday of what is the core of his tax plan: raising the income
tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent while cutting the sales tax
from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent. The changes, if approved, would
take effect in 2014 and would result in higher taxes for about 50
percent of residents, with the biggest burden on higher-income
earners....
Shor countered that even though Patrick’s plan
represents an overall tax increase, roughly half of taxpayers would
see either a cut or no change in their taxes.
That is because Patrick is seeking to double the
amount of earnings that are exempt from income taxes, going from the
current $4,400 for a single person to $8,800. That means workers who
earn $50,000 a year would pay income taxes on $41,200 of their
income, exempting a larger share of their paychecks from taxation
than workers who earn, say, $150,000 a year.
The goal, Shor said, is to push more tax burden
onto higher-income earners and reduce it for those earning less.
“You increase the fairness of the tax system
overall,” said Noah Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts
Budget and Policy Center, a liberal research group....
The overall tax increase of $1.9 billion is the
result of several changes to the tax code. Raising the income tax
rate and cutting the 45 deductions raises $2.8 billion, while
lowering the sales tax costs the state $1.1 billion. And eliminating
three corporate tax benefits raises $194 million.
The list of 45 deductions that Patrick is
targeting for elimination would affect a wide range of residents.
They include deductions and other existing benefits for removing
lead paint in a home and adoption fees, as well as capital gains on
home sales.
Some said the call for higher taxes could
reawaken the state’s antitax movement, which has scored notable
policy victories in the past but has been quiet in recent years.
One of those victories was passage in 2000 of a
ballot question to cut the income tax from 5.95 percent to 5
percent. In 2002, the Legislature effectively froze the rate at 5.3
percent, while adding triggers that would lower rates further only
if benchmarks were met.
Citizens for Limited Taxation, an antitax
group that helped push the ballot question, said it is clear that
Patrick is now trying to “tax the rich” disproportionately.
The Boston Globe
Friday, January 18, 2013
More tax hikes in Patrick’s blueprint
Gov. Deval Patrick’s top budget officials drilled
deeper into the governor’s tax reform proposal on Thursday,
revealing how the plan to be filed with the governor’s budget next
week would eliminate 45 personal tax exemptions and tie the 21-cent
gas tax to inflation, costing drivers an extra half penny per gallon
at the pump starting in July.
The proposal, which would begin dedicating all
state sales tax revenue to transportation and infrastructure, would
also rely on periodic increases in MBTA fares, highway tolls and
Registry of Motor Vehicle fees to fund an administration-identified
$1 billion a year gap in needed transportation improvements and
available resources....
“The proposal, in its entirety improves the
fairness of the tax code. It takes a tax code that right now imposes
a higher effective tax rate on lower-income tax filers, and a lower
effective tax rate on higher-income tax filers, and flips that,”
Administration and Finance Secretary Glen Shor said.
While the state’s Constitution prohibits a
graduated income tax, Shor explained how the blend of tax policies
recommended by Patrick, in their estimation, would fall
disproportionately on wealthier individuals....
Shor said the governor favors “periodic and
consistent fare, fee and toll increases,” and supporting
documentation shows how Patrick will recommend 5 percent fare
increases at the MBTA every two years starting in fiscal 2015, 10
percent RMV fee increases every five years starting in fiscal 2016,
and 5 percent toll increases every two years starting in fiscal
2015.
State House News Service
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Patrick seeking regular increases in gas tax, tolls, MBTA fares, RMV
fees
Lawmakers fielding an
onslaught of calls over
Gov.
Deval Patrick’s tax-hike proposal danced around making a
commitment to the controversial plan yesterday, realizing that when
taxes go up, lawmakers often get voted out.
“Members on either side aren’t immune to public
pressure. We’re keen observers of our district,” said state Sen.
Mike Knapik (R-Westfield),
referring to the 1990 statewide election
just months after Gov. Michael Dukakis inked the largest tax
increase in state history where 57 legislators lost their jobs....
More details of Patrick’s plan came out yesterday
as budget officials announced the 21-cent gas tax could be tied to
inflation if the governor gets his way, costing drivers an extra
half-penny per gallon at the pump starting in July. This means the
gas tax could rise from 21 cents to 24.6 cents in 2021.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Cautious pols not quick to back Gov. Deval Patrick
Last night Gov. Deval Patrick declared war on the
taxpayers of Massachusetts, proposing the largest tax hike in state
history — nearly $2 billion.
Today it’s time for voters to demand that their
elected representatives choose up sides. They can give in to this
lame duck governor intent on bringing taxpayers to their knees and
economic growth to a standstill, or they can side with their
hard-pressed constituents.
A Boston Herald editorial
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Gov, this is WAR!
Deval said the “T” word — taxes — and the sheeple
in the Legislature applauded. They cheered. They clapped like
trained seals.
What more do you need to know? We’re screwed....
“Let’s have a serious, respectful, fact-based
debate.”
In moonbat parlance, that means Deval wants a
“dialogue.” The Beautiful People are always “willing to listen.”
After which they tell you to shut up. If you try to get in a word
edgewise, it’s “hate speech.” They have “facts,” you have
“anecdotes.”
The door is open, the mind is closed.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Hacks cheer
By Howie Carr
Well, well — it turns out Charlie Baker was
right after all!
In the heat of his 2010 campaign for
re-election Gov. Deval Patrick — whose record at the time
included signing a 25 percent sales tax hike into law, OK’ing
tax increases on restaurant meals, proposing a gas tax increase,
and routinely pitching new taxes on candy and soda — denied any
interest in raising the state’s *income* tax. In fact, Patrick’s
spokesman at the time accused Baker of resorting to “distortion
and demagoguery” by even suggesting Patrick would raise income
taxes in a second term.
“You’ve never heard that proposal from me,”
the governor huffed during a debate a week before the election.
Well, now we have....
Patrick wants a “fact-based” debate, so here
are a few facts taxpayers should know. At $32.5 billion the
state budget today is nearly 30 percent larger than the final
budget signed by Mitt Romney. The state expects to collect
nearly $13 billion in revenue from income taxes alone this year,
$1.1 billion more than when Patrick took over in 2007, even
after the huge drop that came in the recession years and with a
state unemployment rate that is climbing.
But surely Massachusetts taxpayers know that
when it comes to “revenue” — also known as your income — “more”
is never enough.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Taxachusetts, here we go again
By Julie Mehegan
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Editorial cartoon by David Hitch
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Editorial cartoon by Jerry Holbert
The Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Friday, January 18, 2013
Editorial cartoon by David Hitch
|
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
"Some said the call for higher taxes could
reawaken the state’s antitax movement, which has scored notable
policy victories in the past but has been quiet in recent
years."
Do you think, maybe?
". . . But surely Massachusetts taxpayers know
that when it comes to 'revenue' — also known as your income — 'more'
is never enough."
I've heard that before —
here. Thank you Julie Mehegan of the Boston Herald for
spreading the word!
More Is Never Enough (MINE), and never will
be.
By now this is obvious. Too obvious.
Every day we all learn more about what's packed
inside Gov. Patrick's taxpayer assault —
dribble by dribble. Each day his transformation proposal becomes
scarier.
Apparently he has nothing to lose, as he's not
running for re-election again. He may have his sights on
higher office, but not here in just Taxachusetts.
Incrementally taxes, tolls, and fees creep upward
— relentlessly. Even when we citizens
demand by our vote that they go down, they go up regardless.
There are two hundred souls in the Legislature
who don't have Patrick's luxury. They will each be up for
re-election next year. Potentially we can rid ourselves of them.
Look at the shocked reaction when Obama voters
just discovered the "Fiscal Cliff" deal hiked their (payroll)
taxes too.
We "high-information" taxpayers must stop this
assault there, in our state Legislature.
I'd really prefer to not do another
petition drive, and I expect you feel the same. But it is
always an option.
Imagine having the repeal of a massive tax
hike on the 2014 ballot — while each of
those legislators who voted for it are campaigning to keep their
sinecures?
It's a consideration we may need to confront this
year.
If we put a repeal on the ballot, we also must
reject those who'll have made it necessary —
our otherwise-unnecessary time and money to make it happen.
We will advocate for whatever is necessary.
"The call for higher taxes could reawaken the
state’s antitax movement."
Do you think?
What choice do we have —
but picking up and moving to some state that's more rational?
|
 |
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|
Chip Ford |
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|
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New England Cable News
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Mass. Gov. pitches tax plan to business leaders
By Alison King
Mass. Governor Deval Patrick was making his case
Thursday following announcing his plans to raise the state's income
tax, but the proposal might a tough sell to lawmakers and business
owners.
Governor Patrick says his tax code reform would keep Massachusetts
competitive with other states and put the state's tax rates in about
the mid-range compared to other states.
The first stop on Governor Patrick's tour promoting his
controversial income tax hike was to a friendly crowd of businessmen
and women interested in improving transportation and education in
the Middlesex 3 Corridor.
"I think the Governor is absolutely right that the private sector
has to have a voice and has to carry many of these issues forward in
conjunction with the administration because it is the future of the
Commonwealth," Bob Buckey, a Middlesex 3 board member, said.
But not all businesses are as welcoming of the Governor's plan that
would raise the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent, raise
corporate taxes all while lowering the sales tax to 4.5 percent.
"So it's very mixed, and I think some businesses are probably going
to be pleased by it, others not at all," Michael Widmer of the Mass.
Taxpayers Foundation said.
And there are anti-tax groups like Citizens for Limited Taxation
which are skeptical of the entire plan.
"He's trying to do a graduated income tax by increasing the personal
exemption. Large enough so that the rich have to pay more. You're
not allowed to do that," said Barbara Anderson, executive director
of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
Anderson says the state's Constitution doesn't allow for a graduated
income tax. She says it's been put on the ballot three times and
defeated each time.
"He just thinks he can do whatever Obama does and Obama is saying
get the rich, so he's going after the rich," Anderson said.
"That's not a bad way to go," Governor Patrick said Thursday. "I
mean, I'd like a graduated income tax. It takes longer to do that.
We've tried a bit because you have to change the Constitution, but
we built in the doubling of personal exemptions to bring that
progressivity into our model."
Widmer feels the bigger issue for the majority of the business
community is whether the Governor's tax plan is the best one for
such a fragile economy.
"I think in the end the question is just does this basic structure
hold together with changes of individual pieces of it or does the
Legislature start from scratch?" Widmer said.
Governor Patrick concedes his plan is going to take some significant
lobbying and promoting on his part, and knows full well he's not
going to get everything he wants, but he does say he's convinced
that his plan is the right thing for the Commonwealth.
The Boston Globe
Friday, January 18, 2013
More tax hikes in Patrick’s blueprint
By Michael Levenson and Noah Bierman
Governor Deval Patrick unveiled more elements of his tax plans
Thursday, including proposals to gradually raise the gas tax, MBTA
fares, turnpike tolls, and Registry fees, plans he says will
stabilize the transportation system long into the future.
Patrick’s blueprints would also eliminate 45 personal tax deductions
worth $1.3 billion annually, including deductions for T passes,
college scholarships, and dependents under 12.
The new elements follow Patrick’s announcement Wednesday of what is
the core of his tax plan: raising the income tax from 5.25 percent
to 6.25 percent while cutting the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5
percent. The changes, if approved, would take effect in 2014 and
would result in higher taxes for about 50 percent of residents, with
the biggest burden on higher-income earners.
The new elements help bring into focus the sweeping ambition of
Patrick’s final two-year agenda.
But the plan carries some risk for the governor. While it could
cement his legacy, it could also anger voters and reignite the
once-powerful antitax movement in Massachusetts.
All told, Patrick’s changes, which also call for the elimination of
some corporate tax benefits, would raise taxes by $1.9 billion
annually, money the governor wants to use to shore up and expand
transportation systems and broaden education programs.
“If we want jobs, we have to invest,” Patrick said in an interview
Thursday, after promoting the plan on television and radio and in
visits with business executives and lawmakers. “We are trying to
think of a way to accomplish that that really moves the needle.”
The governor’s proposal to tie the gas tax to inflation would add a
half-penny to the state’s $.21-per-gallon levy, starting next year,
and would trigger automatic increases in the future, as the cost of
goods and services rise.
Patrick’s plan also depends on increasing MBTA fares, as well as
turnpike, tunnel and bridge tolls, by 5 percent every two years,
beginning in July 2014. Registry fees would jump by 10 percent every
five years, beginning in July 2015.
Administration aides argued the periodic increases are needed
because, over time, inflation erodes the value of fares, tolls and
fees. “We’re just trying to keep their purchasing power constant,”
said Glen Shor, the governor’s new budget chief.
Such regular hikes have been previously recommended by
transportation policy specialists. But pushing for them now, along
with the other tax changes Patrick is seeking, could strike
commuters as a double whammy.
“I’ve been one who’s written a lot about the need for new revenue
for transportation,” said Charles D. Chieppo, a former budget aide
in the Romney administration. “Yet as much as I believe that, what
the governor has proposed is so extravagant in my view it runs the
risk of . . . inspiring a backlash.”
Shor countered that even though Patrick’s plan represents an overall
tax increase, roughly half of taxpayers would see either a cut or no
change in their taxes.
That is because Patrick is seeking to double the amount of earnings
that are exempt from income taxes, going from the current $4,400 for
a single person to $8,800. That means workers who earn $50,000 a
year would pay income taxes on $41,200 of their income, exempting a
larger share of their paychecks from taxation than workers who earn,
say, $150,000 a year.
The goal, Shor said, is to push more tax burden onto higher-income
earners and reduce it for those earning less.
“You increase the fairness of the tax system overall,” said Noah
Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy
Center, a liberal research group.
But Jim Stergios — executive director of the Pioneer Institute, a
conservative think tank — said Patrick’s plans would hit many
middle-class taxpayers, who are facing stagnant household income and
rising federal payroll taxes. Individuals who make more than $50,000
a year and families who make over $60,000 a year would all see a tax
hike under Patrick’s plan.
“That’s not the 1 percent,” Stergios said.
Patrick aides argued, however, that the increases are relatively
small for the middle class. For example, a family of four earning
$60,000 would pay $91 in additional taxes each year, while a family
earning $160,000 would pay $957 more.
The overall tax increase of $1.9 billion is the result of several
changes to the tax code. Raising the income tax rate and cutting the
45 deductions raises $2.8 billion, while lowering the sales tax
costs the state $1.1 billion. And eliminating three corporate tax
benefits raises $194 million.
The list of 45 deductions that Patrick is targeting for elimination
would affect a wide range of residents. They include deductions and
other existing benefits for removing lead paint in a home and
adoption fees, as well as capital gains on home sales.
Some said the call for higher taxes could reawaken the state’s
antitax movement, which has scored notable policy victories in the
past but has been quiet in recent years.
One of those victories was passage in 2000 of a ballot question to
cut the income tax from 5.95 percent to 5 percent. In 2002, the
Legislature effectively froze the rate at 5.3 percent, while adding
triggers that would lower rates further only if benchmarks were met.
Citizens for Limited Taxation, an antitax group that helped
push the ballot question, said it is clear that Patrick is now
trying to “tax the rich” disproportionately.
Representative Daniel B. Winslow, a Norfolk Republican, said
Patrick’s move could energize the GOP. He recalled how Republicans
picked up seats in the House after the governor signed a sales tax
increase in 2009.
Winslow said voters do not believe that state government has
eliminated enough waste and fraud to warrant the infusion of $1.9
billion in fresh tax money. “A part of the problem is that there is
a lack of confidence,” he said.
Some business groups are also on edge.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, which had initially released
a noncommittal statement about Patrick’s plans, expressed deeper
reservations Thursday.
“The chamber has concerns about the potential impact of the revenue
proposals on our economy and competitiveness,” said Charles Rudnick,
a chamber spokesman. “We are taking a hard look at the proposals,
and consulting with our members, in light of these concerns.”
State House News Service
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Patrick seeking regular increases in gas tax, tolls, MBTA fares, RMV
fees
By Matt Murphy
Gov. Deval Patrick’s top budget officials drilled deeper into the
governor’s tax reform proposal on Thursday, revealing how the plan
to be filed with the governor’s budget next week would eliminate 45
personal tax exemptions and tie the 21-cent gas tax to inflation,
costing drivers an extra half penny per gallon at the pump starting
in July.
The proposal, which would begin dedicating all state sales tax
revenue to transportation and infrastructure, would also rely on
periodic increases in MBTA fares, highway tolls and Registry of
Motor Vehicle fees to fund an administration-identified $1 billion a
year gap in needed transportation improvements and available
resources.
“The proposal, in its entirety improves the fairness of the tax
code. It takes a tax code that right now imposes a higher effective
tax rate on lower-income tax filers, and a lower effective tax rate
on higher-income tax filers, and flips that,” Administration and
Finance Secretary Glen Shor said.
While the state’s Constitution prohibits a graduated income tax,
Shor explained how the blend of tax policies recommended by Patrick,
in their estimation, would fall disproportionately on wealthier
individuals.
For instance, individuals earning $50,000 or less, and families of
four with an income of $60,000 would see their tax burden stay the
same or decrease, while those earning between $100,000 and $200,000
would pay roughly $1,000 more a year in taxes, and the wealthiest 5
percent earning above $200,000 would pay an additional 1 percent of
their income. Additionally, the 270,000 individuals that don’t pay
income tax because they earn too little would realize the benefit of
a sales tax decrease without the additional income tax burden.
Patrick, in his State of the State address Wednesday, sketched out
broad details of his proposal to generate $1.9 billion in new
revenue for transportation and education with an increase in the
income tax to 6.25 percent, and a decrease in the sales tax to 4.5
percent. He said the investments were critical to the state’s future
economic strength.
Shor said, “We think even with these tax changes we are strong with
our economic competitors,” noting how the new tax structure would
increase the state’s tax burden as a percent of personal income, but
push it higher than only one new competitor state – Pennsylvania –
and leave Massachusetts positioned in the middle of states competing
for similar business.
While the sales and income tax changes constitute the core of
Patrick’s revenue proposal, the full plan contains a number of other
changes to the personal and corporate tax code that will impact the
bottom lines of businesses and families across Massachusetts.
Patrick plans to file his fiscal 2014 budget with the House next
Wednesday. The tax changes contained would not go into effect until
Jan. 1, 2014, decreasing the amount of new revenue that would be
available to spend in the fiscal year that starts on July 1.
Left alone, the administration estimates the state would realize
about $780 million in new revenue in fiscal 2014 from the changes,
but officials are proposing to borrow against anticipated future
revenue to net $1.1 billion in new revenue next year. The strategy
would decrease the gains in future years, netting the state $1.6
billion in fiscal 2015, $1.7 billion in fiscal 2016 and the full
$1.9 billion in fiscal 2017.
Shor said the borrowing strategy is a “commonly used” tool that
would give the administration more money to spend next year, while
also matching the state’s plan and ability to ramp up spending on
transportation projects and education programs than can’t be started
all at once.
By indexing the gas tax to inflation, Administration and Finance
General Counsel David Sullivan said the state will generate about
$13 million in new revenue next year. Documents provided by the
administration show they anticipate the gas tax to rise from 21
cents to 24.6 cents in 2021, generating $118 million in additional
revenue.
Though sales tax revenue alone will not be enough to cover what the
governor thinks is needed for transportation and infrastructure, his
budget plan will rely on the gas tax, contributions from Massport,
the Boston Convention Center and gaming revenue to close the divide.
Shor said the governor favors “periodic and consistent fare, fee and
toll increases,” and supporting documentation shows how Patrick will
recommend 5 percent fare increases at the MBTA every two years
starting in fiscal 2015, 10 percent RMV fee increases every five
years starting in fiscal 2016, and 5 percent toll increases every
two years starting in fiscal 2015.
Shor said these increases will ensure that the value of the fares,
fees, and tolls don’t erode over time with inflation.
Unlike in past years when Patrick has called for applying the sales
tax to candy and soda, Shor said the proposal does not change what
is subject to the sales tax, except for software solutions and
computer services that will be taxed as a good, instead of a
service.
The governor’s proposal calls for 45 personal tax exemptions to be
eliminated, including the deduction for Social Security and railroad
retirement contributions and the tuition tax deduction.
Asked how eliminating the tuition tax break fit with the governor’s
vision for expanded college tuition grants programs and making
higher education more affordable, Sullivan said, “You can’t look at
each of these in isolation. They are being replaced by an
all-purpose doubling of the personal exemption that will benefit all
taxpayers.”
The personal tax exemption would be doubled under Patrick’s plan
from $4,400 to $8,800 for most individual filers, and to $17,600 for
couples.
On the business tax side, the corporate excise tax would remain at 8
percent, but the administration is proposing to eliminate special
classifications for security and utility corporations that Sullivan
said are “no longer relevant in the modern world” and used only as
tax shelters.
Sullivan also said the governor will propose eliminating the FAS 109
deduction, a component of a 2008 corporate tax reform law giving
certain large multi-state corporations a deduction to help absorb
the additional costs incurred by a new combined reporting tax law
requirement.
The deduction has been postponed by the Legislature since its
passage, never taking effect, and Sullivan said there has never been
a solid justification for its existence.
Finally, the plan would also make a change to the sales factor used
to calculate taxable profit for companies that do business in
multiple states. The change would tax profits on goods and services
based on where they are delivered instead of where they are
produced, benefiting home-state companies over out-of-state
businesses that operate in Massachusetts.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Cautious pols not quick to back Gov. Deval Patrick
By Chris Cassidy and O’Ryan Johnson
Lawmakers fielding an
onslaught of calls over Gov.
Deval Patrick’s
tax-hike proposal danced around making a commitment to the
controversial plan yesterday, realizing that when taxes go up,
lawmakers often get voted out.
“Members on either side aren’t immune to public pressure. We’re keen
observers of our district,” said state Sen. Mike Knapik
(R-Westfield),
referring to the 1990 statewide election just months
after Gov. Michael Dukakis inked the largest tax increase in state
history where 57 legislators lost their jobs.
While Knapik predicted Patrick’s plan wouldn’t make it out of the
House, others said they’d keep an open mind, even if the options are
painful. Plus, voters already have voted to repeal an income tax
hike in 2000 — which was never adopted.
“Raising taxes is not a popular thing to do,” said state Rep. Marty
Walsh (D-Dorchester). “When you raise taxes, you’re taking away from
people some of their salary. It’s not something you do easily.”
More details of Patrick’s plan came out yesterday as budget
officials announced the 21-cent gas tax could be tied to inflation
if the governor gets his way, costing drivers an extra half-penny
per gallon at the pump starting in July. This means the gas tax
could rise from 21 cents to 24.6 cents in 2021.
The governor also will
recommend 5 percent fare increases at the
MBTA every two years starting in fiscal 2015,
10 percent RMV fee
increases every five years starting in fiscal 2016 and 5 percent
toll
increases every two years starting in fiscal 2015,
administration officials said last night.
State Rep. William Straus
(D-Mattapoisett), Transportation
Committee co-chairman, said he needed more time to look at Patrick’s
plan — which would raise the income tax 1 percentage point, to 6.25
percent, and drop the sales tax to 4.5 percent from 6.25.
“It is a dramatic change,” Straus said. “I’m willing to admit I’m
surprised by it. ... It requires us to consider it carefully before
making a collective conclusion.”
Even when pressed — and while standing next to Patrick at an event
in Lynn yesterday — state Sen. Thomas McGee
(D-Lynn) withheld his
support.
“We’re going to take a look at the governor’s plan, and we need to
make sure that we find a consensus in the House and Senate to pass
something that is going to address what, I think we all agree on, is
a crisis that has been coming for a long time,” said McGee,
co-chairman of the state’s Transportation Committee.
State House News Service contributed to this report.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, January 17, 2013
A Boston Herald editorial
Gov, this is WAR!
Last night Gov. Deval Patrick declared war on the taxpayers of
Massachusetts, proposing the largest tax hike in state history —
nearly $2 billion.
Today it’s time for voters to demand that their elected
representatives choose up sides. They can give in to this lame duck
governor intent on bringing taxpayers to their knees and economic
growth to a standstill, or they can side with their hard-pressed
constituents.
The worst part is that this is a “crisis” of the governor’s own
making. MBTA debt and deferred maintenance on it and state highways
would be manageable with some reforms and a modest hike in the gas
tax. But no, Patrick wants to give taxpayers rail lines no one needs
at a price we can’t afford so he can justify an ongoing $1 billion a
year raid on their wallets.
But wait, there’s more. There’s the education proposal he rolled out
Tuesday, calling for another $550 million this year and $1 billion
annually over the next four years. Among other things the governor
wants “universal access to high quality early education for all
infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.”
This isn’t merely reckless spending, it’s nuts.
“The people we work for want the schools I have described; they want
the rail and road services we have laid out,” Patrick assured
lawmakers last night. “And above all they want the opportunity and
growth these investments will bring.”
Growth? There’s not a tax hike on the planet that *creates* growth.
But it’s what we have come to expect from a governor who can’t tax
us enough. Patrick wants to increase the current 5.25 percent tax
rate to a record high 6.25 percent (and eliminate some deductions)
in return for which he’ll agree to cut the sales tax to a little
less than it was when he agreed to *raise it* in 2009.
It’s too late to fire him, but it won’t be too late to fire any
lawmakers who go along with this shameful scheme.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Hacks cheer
Deval’s ‘vision’
By Howie Carr
Deval said the “T” word — taxes — and the sheeple in the Legislature
applauded. They cheered. They clapped like trained seals.
What more do you need to know? We’re screwed.
And now the tax-fattened hyenas of the hackerama ramp up their
campaign of lies and cliches. All the nonprofits who pay no taxes
themselves want to pick your pocket.
Yes, the seals all agree, Gov. Patrick has shown “vision.” What kind
of vision?
Bold vision.
Why has he shown bold vision? Because there’s a problem with the
infrastructure — the “crumbling” infrastructure. And we need an
expansion of the transportation system — a “sweeping” expansion.
Decisions must be made — tough decisions. Thank God, Gov. Mini-Me
has come up with a plan — a long-term plan.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before.
“The people,” Deval said, “want the rail and road services we have
laid out.”
So true. How often have you heard people wistfully saying, “If only
we had trains running between Pittsfield and New York ...”
As the moonbat gazette gushed yesterday, Deval is trying to “achieve
the vision he first presented when he burst onto the political scene
... in 2006.”
You recall Deval’s vision of 2006. He was going to cut everybody’s
property taxes. How’d that one work out for you? Apparently that
vision wasn’t bold or sweeping enough, so it’s crumbled, you might
say, just like the infrastructure. The only bold new vision on
display Wednesday night was to raising the income tax a dizzying 19
percent — from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent.
The same people who’ve already been robbed this month of between 2
and 6 percent of their income by the feds are now looking at another
1 percent paycut. For what? Police details, $130,000-a-year judges
who work less than 37 weeks a year, 19,000 EBT cardholders who are
about as real as Manti Te’o’s girlfriend ...
The hacks at the State House need your money. It’s not cheap, you
know, giving free in-state college tuition to all those illegal
aliens. Not to mention the sex-change operations for wife-killers.
And Billy Bulger’s $200,000 pension.
And don’t forget the pensions and full health benefits for all those
T employees who retired before they were 45 and then went on to
start working on a second hack pension ... in the Probation
Department.
“Let’s have a serious, respectful, fact-based debate.”
In moonbat parlance, that means Deval wants a “dialogue.” The
Beautiful People are always “willing to listen.” After which they
tell you to shut up. If you try to get in a word edgewise, it’s
“hate speech.” They have “facts,” you have “anecdotes.”
The door is open, the mind is closed.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 18, 2013
Taxachusetts, here we go again
By Julie Mehegan
Well, well — it turns out Charlie Baker was right after all!
In the heat of his 2010 campaign for re-election Gov. Deval Patrick
— whose record at the time included signing a 25 percent sales tax
hike into law, OK’ing tax increases on restaurant meals, proposing a
gas tax increase, and routinely pitching new taxes on candy and soda
— denied any interest in raising the state’s *income* tax. In fact,
Patrick’s spokesman at the time accused Baker of resorting to
“distortion and demagoguery” by even suggesting Patrick would raise
income taxes in a second term.
“You’ve never heard that proposal from me,” the governor huffed
during a debate a week before the election.
Well, now we have.
The lame duck governor has stopped pretending that he could be
satisfied with baby tax increases and has embraced a $2 billion raid
on taxpayer earnings — part of yet another campaign to cement his
legacy.
Yes, the state has a major problem when it comes to financing its
transportation system, having expanded service beyond a point
taxpayers can support and incurring billions in unsustainable debt.
There are ways to balance the transportation budget that don’t
involve a hike in the income tax, of course. A couple of smart guys
from the Pioneer Institute detailed some of them, including a modest
increase in the gas tax, in this space on Wednesday.
Ah, but the only way to achieve *Patrick’s* vision — which
dramatically *expands* the transportation system — is to go where
the most money is. So he wants to raise the income tax by 20
percent.
Politically speaking it was clever of Patrick to use education as
the third leg of this wobbly stool. The $2 billion tax hike would
also expand education funding dramatically. All he needed during his
speech Wednesday was an array of adorable child props to complete
the campaign picture.
But while we all support strong financial supports for education,
the last time the state invested billions in new school funding it
came with important strings attached, including new measures of
accountability, which we’ve seen no sign of here.
Meanwhile the governor has tempered his income tax hike by pitching
a cut in the *sales* tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent for which
we are supposed to be grateful. But the current rate reflects an
“emergency” increase
adopted at the height of the recession that
should be repealed anyway.
Patrick wants a “fact-based” debate, so here are a few facts
taxpayers should know. At $32.5 billion the state budget today is
nearly 30 percent larger than the final budget signed by Mitt
Romney. The state expects to collect nearly $13 billion in revenue
from income taxes alone this year, $1.1 billion more than when
Patrick took over in 2007, even after the huge drop that came in the
recession years and with a state unemployment rate that is climbing.
But surely Massachusetts taxpayers know that when it comes to
“revenue” — also known as your income — “more” is never enough.
Julie Mehegan is the Herald’s deputy editorial page editor.
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