CLT NEWS RELEASE
Thursday, May 15, 2014
— Memo
to the Legislature —
FY 2015 budget and
H 4072, Election Systems Reforms,
conference committee report
To:
Members of the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives
CLT was happy to learn that
the threat to the initiative petition process which was in the Senate
version of the Election Systems Reform bill was removed in conference. We
strongly opposed requiring the Secretary of A&F to write a statement on the
impact of an initiative petition, to be published in the Voter Information
booklet.
We wish to thank Sen. Robert Hedlund, who alerted us to this language in the
Senate version; Committee Chairman James Murphy and other members of the
Committee who voted to remove it; House Ways & Means Chairman Brian Dempsey,
who responded to our request for assistance and Secretary of State Bill
Galvin, who also responded, as he always has, in defense of the initiative
petition process.
We are also happy that the House budget does not increase taxes, though as
always disappointed that it doesn’t roll back the income tax rate to 5% as
mandated by the voters fourteen years ago (in 2000). The lower Senate Ways &
Means budget has room to respect the voters during debate.
We also note yet another increase in the nursing home tax, charged to
non-Medicaid patients to make them pay toward Medicaid costs. Taxing
helpless patients who're paying their own costs has always seemed wrong to
us.
The increase in the budget, which will probably be matched by the Senate
version during debate, is too high and should not be using rainy day funds –
since a very stormy day will be coming eventually when the national debt
creates a national fiscal crisis (e.g., likely cutbacks of federal
transportation funding). We’re glad that money is being budgeted toward
funding the pension system, which is similar to the national debt as a
burden on future generations of taxpayers.
You shouldn’t be counting on those gambling revenues either; advocates of
the initiative petition have a strong case to be allowed on the ballot.
Because of the need to tighten up expenditures, we would like to see more
oversight of DCF and reform of the EBT card system. Best wishes to Senators
offering amendments in these areas.
—Barbara Anderson
# # #
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪ PO
Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
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