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Post Office Box 1147 ●
Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945 ●
(781) 639-9709
“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
45 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
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their Institutional Memory — |
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CLT UPDATE
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Realtors
"generally oppose" Gov's 50% real estate tax hike
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An anti-tax group lashed out at Gov. Charlie
Baker on Tuesday, calling the Republican governor "a
disappointment" after he rolled out a plan last week to
generate about $1 billion over the next decade by hiking the
excise tax paid on real estate transfers.
Citizens for Limited Taxation blasted
Baker's proposal to increase the real estate transfer tax to
fund a program that will help cities and towns deal with the
effects of climate change as a "scheme" and an "assault on
taxpayers." ...
CLT on Tuesday called that comment from the
governor "a lame defense of this latest breach of trust" and
slammed him for the tax increases he's previously approved,
like new assessments on the health care industry and taxes
on short-term rentals.
The Republican governor has touted his
general opposition to new taxes and fees, but in just the
last roughly 10 days he has proposed taxing daily fantasy
sports, legalizing and taxing sports wagering, and
increasing the tax on real estate transactions.
"Gov. Baker has an excuse for every
betrayal. He's smooth, he's slippery, and he's sliding down
the slope, seemingly a victim of Stockholm syndrome," CLT
said. "For a candidate who campaigned on opposition to
raising taxes and fees, Gov. Baker has become -- well, a
disappointment."
As a candidate for governor, in 2013, Baker
said he is "a reform before revenue guy and I'm going to be
the taxpayers' best friend on that whole question."
State House News Service
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
CLT rips Baker's "breach of trust" on tax increases
A leading Massachusetts anti-tax group is
condemning Governor Charlie Baker’s support for an increase
the state’s excise tax on property deeds, calling him “a
disappointment.”
“Gov. Baker has an excuse for every
betrayal,” said Chip Ford, executive director of
Citizens for Limited Taxation, in
a written statement
Tuesday. “He’s smooth, he’s slippery, and he’s sliding down
the slope, seemingly a victim of Stockholm syndrome.”
Stockholm syndrome refers to hostages
identifying with their kidnappers, as happened in Stockholm,
Sweden in August 1973. The image suggests the Republican
governor, who campaigned against increasing taxes before he
was first elected in 2014, has come to identify with pro-tax
Democrats on Beacon Hill.
Ford noted that Baker
signed into law in
June 2018 the so-called Grand Bargain, which includes an
increase in the payroll tax designed to generate $800
million to pay for a new family and medical leave program.
At the time Baker justified the tax increase
by saying it funds a new government program as opposed to
merely providing more money for an existing government
program. Ford finds that reasoning specious.
“Has the governor ever come across a tax
hike that didn’t have some ‘benefit that’s attached’ for
somebody? Every time spending is increased it benefits
somebody, and every time someone benefits from government
spending that benefit is paid by taxpayers,” Ford said in
the statement....
“For a candidate who campaigned on
opposition to raising taxes and fees,” Ford said in the
statement, “Gov. Baker has become – well, a disappointment.”
The New Boston Post
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Citizens for Limited Taxation Thwacks Charlie Baker
Over Tax Increases
Gov. Charlie Baker unveils his budget
Wednesday, with a proposed tax hike and some of his spending
plans released in the past few weeks.
The administration has outlined some
proposals that will be in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget,
including an increase on real estate transfer tax to pay for
climate adaption programs, expanded Medicare coverage and a
bill to adjust the school funding formula.
Baker is proposing to spend $75 million on
climate adaption programs, which are meant to incentivize
cities and towns to invest in “climate-smart
infrastructure,” and would be paid for by what the
administration called a “modest” increase in the excise tax
on real estate sales. The excise rate, which is paid by the
seller of a property, would jump from $2 per $500 of value
to $3, amounting to $137 million annually toward the Global
Warming Solutions Trust Fund.
The real estate industry generally opposes
the tax hike, said Justin Davidson, general counsel and
director of government affairs with the Massachusetts
Association of Realtors.
“Our concern is that this could have one of
two effects on the market: it could drive up the cost of
housing even more in Massachusetts or strip equity from
homeowners,” Davidson said. “It really comes down to a
fairness issue. Everyone benefits from a better climate and
everyone should contribute to a better solution. It
shouldn’t be something that’s just put on the backs of
homeowners and home-sellers.”
The median price for a single-family home in
December in Massachusetts was $375,000, according to the
MAR, which would bring the tax from $1,710 to $2,565 on that
home under the proposed law.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Charlie Baker set to roll out budget proposal
Gov. Charlie Baker has some advice for
Massachusetts drivers: Buckle up and put your phone down.
The governor on Tuesday proposed his most
sweeping set of road safety rules yet, calling for
Massachusetts to join 16 other states in requiring
hands-free cell phone use while driving and proposing to
allow police to stop motorists for not wearing a seat
belt....
Drivers in Massachusetts are already
required under law to wear seat belts or be fined, but
police are not allowed to pull a vehicle over for a seat
belt infraction unless they have another reason to do so....
The primary seat belt enforcement provision
is also new for the governor.
A study released last summer by the
University of Massachusetts Traffic Safety Research Program
on behalf of the Executive Office of Public Safety and
Security found seat belt usage rose nearly 8 percent to 81.6
percent from 2017 to 2018, but still trailed the national
usage rate of 90.1 percent in 2016.
Massachusetts is one of 15 states without a
primary enforcement law, meaning police here must observe
another moving violation in order to pull over a vehicle in
which the driver or the passengers are not wearing seat
belts.
State House News Service
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Seat belts, device use are focuses in Guv's road safety bill
The Massachusetts Republican Party has once
again shocked political observers in the Bay State, electing
former Andover State Rep. and staunch conservative Jim Lyons
the new chair of the state GOP late last week. Lyons, known
for his strong stance on social issues, was elected 47 votes
to 30 by the Massachusetts Republican State Committee
Thursday night, defeating party treasurer and establishment
pick Brent Andersen for the role.
This was a major upset considering Andersen
had earlier claimed to have 45 committed votes out of the
80-member state committee. But the Republican base has been
flexing its muscles in Massachusetts for a while now,
thumbing its nose at Charlie “most popular governor in
America” Baker and his anti-Trump, moderate vision for the
Republican Party....
Massachusetts voters deserve to have real
choices at the ballot box, to have more than one party with
a real seat at the policy-making table. Let’s hope that
under Lyons’ leadership, with an energized base, the
Republican Party can live up to that vision.
A Boston Herald editorial
Monday, January 21, 2019
MassGOP makes a stand
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Governor Baker today will release his
proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020, and it's expected
to include his 50 percent hike in the deed transfer
excise tax. As usual, Citizens for Limited
Taxation caught it and is alone in opposing any
tax increase to fund further budget and government
bloat, and is alone in calling out the governor on his
sell-out of taxpayers.
The directly affected real estate
industry "generally opposes the tax hike." That's
it. It "generally opposes" what it recognized
"could drive up the cost of housing even more in
Massachusetts or strip equity from homeowners.”
Thanks so much for taking such a courageous stand,
Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
Next on his list, Gov. Baker wants to
make the mandatory seat belt law primary enforced,
meaning motorists can be pulled over and ticketed
just for not strapping in. This has been the
goal of nanny-staters and the insurance lobby since we
defeated the first mandatory seat belt law on the 1986
ballot.
The
insurance lobby has always wanted to see it become a
surchargeable offense so they can increase their
premiums.
Finally, even the state Republican Party
seems to have had enough of Charlie Baker's
transformation if not destruction of their political and
philosophical brand.
I'm feeling this is Charlie's final term
as governor by choice, that he intends to move on to
something else when it runs out, if not sooner.
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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State House News
Service
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
CLT rips Baker's "breach of trust" on tax
increases
By Colin A. Young
An anti-tax group lashed out at Gov. Charlie
Baker on Tuesday, calling the Republican
governor "a disappointment" after he rolled out
a plan last week to generate about $1 billion
over the next decade by hiking the excise tax
paid on real estate transfers.
Citizens for Limited Taxation blasted
Baker's proposal to increase the real estate
transfer tax to fund a program that will help
cities and towns deal with the effects of
climate change as a "scheme" and an "assault on
taxpayers."
Baker on Friday announced a proposal to raise
the excise rate from $2 per $500 of assessed
value to $3 per $500 of value, saying it
represents "a point-two percent increase." The
governor said his plan, which he said is
designed to generate $137 million annually for
climate adaptation projects, will be a good
value for taxpayers and residents.
"This is an excise tax that's basically about
property and the proposal we're making here is
to protect property," he said Friday. "We think,
in the long run, the cost/benefit on this one is
a good deal for Massachusetts residents."
CLT on Tuesday called that comment from the
governor "a lame defense of this latest breach
of trust" and slammed him for the tax increases
he's previously approved, like new assessments
on the health care industry and taxes on
short-term rentals.
The Republican governor has touted his general
opposition to new taxes and fees, but in just
the last roughly 10 days he has proposed taxing
daily fantasy sports, legalizing and taxing
sports wagering, and increasing the tax on real
estate transactions.
"Gov. Baker has an excuse for every betrayal.
He's smooth, he's slippery, and he's sliding
down the slope, seemingly a victim of Stockholm
syndrome," CLT said. "For a candidate who
campaigned on opposition to raising taxes and
fees, Gov. Baker has become -- well, a
disappointment."
As a candidate for governor, in 2013, Baker said
he is "a reform before revenue guy and I'm going
to be the taxpayers' best friend on that whole
question."
The New Boston Post
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Citizens for Limited Taxation Thwacks Charlie
Baker Over Tax Increases
By NBP Staff
A leading Massachusetts anti-tax group is
condemning Governor Charlie Baker’s support for
an increase the state’s excise tax on property
deeds, calling him “a disappointment.”
“Gov. Baker has an excuse for every betrayal,”
said Chip Ford, executive director of
Citizens for Limited Taxation, in
a written
statement Tuesday. “He’s smooth, he’s slippery,
and he’s sliding down the slope, seemingly a
victim of Stockholm syndrome.”
Stockholm syndrome refers to hostages
identifying with their kidnappers, as happened
in Stockholm, Sweden in August 1973. The image
suggests the Republican governor, who campaigned
against increasing taxes before he was first
elected in 2014, has come to identify with
pro-tax Democrats on Beacon Hill.
Ford noted that Baker
signed into law in June
2018 the so-called Grand Bargain, which includes
an increase in the payroll tax designed to
generate $800 million to pay for a new family
and medical leave program.
At the time Baker justified the tax increase by
saying it funds a new government program as
opposed to merely providing more money for an
existing government program. Ford finds that
reasoning specious.
“Has the governor ever come across a tax hike
that didn’t have some ‘benefit that’s attached’
for somebody? Every time spending is increased
it benefits somebody, and every time someone
benefits from government spending that benefit
is paid by taxpayers,” Ford said in the
statement.
But Baker isn’t even using that reasoning for
the deeds tax, Ford notes. Instead, the governor
acknowledged last week that the new excise tax
will be used to increase funding for an existing
program – “climate adaptation.”
“Over the last four years, we have increasingly
witnessed the effects that climate change has on
communities and infrastructure across the
Commonwealth, and know that the investments we
make today are critical to ensure cities and
towns are prepared to face the challenges of
tomorrow,” Baker said. “This proposal will build
on the over $600 million we have already
invested to mitigate and prepare for the adverse
effects of climate change and help to build more
resilient communities, and we look forward to
working with the Legislature to get this
passed.”
The governor’s office called the proposed
appropriation an “investment” by state
government in climate adaptation, to be paid for
“by a modest increase in the excise on real
estate transfers,” amounting to $137 million
additional funds for the state’s Global Warming
Solutions Trust Fund.
“For a candidate who campaigned on opposition to
raising taxes and fees,” Ford said in the
statement, “Gov. Baker has become – well, a
disappointment.”
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Charlie Baker set to roll out budget proposal
By Mary Markos
Gov. Charlie Baker unveils his budget Wednesday,
with a proposed tax hike and some of his
spending plans released in the past few weeks.
The administration has outlined some proposals
that will be in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget,
including an increase on real estate transfer
tax to pay for climate adaption programs,
expanded Medicare coverage and a bill to adjust
the school funding formula.
Baker is proposing to spend $75 million on
climate adaption programs, which are meant to
incentivize cities and towns to invest in
“climate-smart infrastructure,” and would be
paid for by what the administration called a
“modest” increase in the excise tax on real
estate sales. The excise rate, which is paid by
the seller of a property, would jump from $2 per
$500 of value to $3, amounting to $137 million
annually toward the Global Warming Solutions
Trust Fund.
The real estate industry generally opposes the
tax hike, said Justin Davidson, general counsel
and director of government affairs with the
Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
“Our concern is that this could have one of two
effects on the market: it could drive up the
cost of housing even more in Massachusetts or
strip equity from homeowners,” Davidson said.
“It really comes down to a fairness issue.
Everyone benefits from a better climate and
everyone should contribute to a better solution.
It shouldn’t be something that’s just put on the
backs of homeowners and home-sellers.”
The median price for a single-family home in
December in Massachusetts was $375,000,
according to the MAR, which would bring the tax
from $1,710 to $2,565 on that home under the
proposed law.
Baker made clear in his inaugural address that
he would recommend updates to the education
funding formula, which hasn’t been changed since
1993. Advocates have been pressing the issue
since before the Foundation Budget Review
Commission found that Massachusetts schools were
underfunded by between $1 billion and $2 billion
in 2015.
Baker is also proposing to expand the
eligibility for Medicare Savings Programs to
allow more low-income seniors to qualify. Under
his proposal, the state would spend $7 million
every year to leverage more than $100 million in
federal funds for Medicare prescription drug
subsidies. Expanding the program would bring the
number of eligible low-income seniors from
18,000 to around 43,000.
“We see this as a really important and valuable
first step in bridging the gap to affordable
health care for seniors,” said Carolyn Villers,
executive director of the Massachusetts Senior
Action Council. “A lot of folks are forced to
make choices between food and medication or
other basic needs, so we’re really excited to
see this in the budget … it’s a great way to
benefit seniors who are really living on the
edge in Massachusetts.”
The administration will also include a total of
$1.129 billion in unrestricted general
government aid, and they filed a bill last week
seeking $200 million in Chapter 90
transportation funds.
State House News
Service
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Seat belts, device use are focuses in Guv's road
safety bill
By Matt Murphy
Gov. Charlie Baker has some advice for
Massachusetts drivers: Buckle up and put your
phone down.
The governor on Tuesday proposed his most
sweeping set of road safety rules yet, calling
for Massachusetts to join 16 other states in
requiring hands-free cell phone use while
driving and proposing to allow police to stop
motorists for not wearing a seat belt.
The legislation filed by the Republican marks
the first time Baker has put forward his own
hands-free driving bill since he first came out
in support of the idea in late 2017.
The governor packaged the hands-free driving
proposal and a primary seat belt enforcement
provision with a number of reforms that Baker
has advocated for in recent years, including
mandatory lower speed limits in work zones.
"Keeping the Commonwealth's network of roads as
safe as possible for everyone using them is one
of our administration's top public safety
priorities," Baker said in a statement, calling
the legislation a "common sense" proposal to
reduce distracted driving.
Drivers in Massachusetts are already required
under law to wear seat belts or be fined, but
police are not allowed to pull a vehicle over
for a seat belt infraction unless they have
another reason to do so.
Opponents of primary enforcement have raised
concerns in the past about racial profiling.
The bill would also require anyone convicted of
a first offense for operating under the
influence who applies for a hardship license to
use an ignition interlock device for a minimum
of six months, and be subject to penalties from
the Registry of Motor Vehicles for attempting to
drive after drinking or tampering with the
device.
According to the state, 15,662 people were
seriously injured on roads in Massachusetts
between 2012 and 2016 and 1,820 were killed,
including nine road workers.
Baker in 2017 filed a bill to enforce lower
speed limits in highway construction zones,
which are currently just suggestions. At that
time, Baker came out in support of a hands-free
driving requirement, based in part on
advancements that made in-vehicle computers and
Bluetooth devices cheaper and more accessible.
His new position represented an evolution from
just nine months earlier when he said, "I don't
want to get out of the business of making it
possible for people to talk to other people when
they're driving. Because I think the texting
thing is a big problem. I'm not sure I believe
that the talking thing is."
The governor's call for the Legislature to send
a bill to his desk by last summer, however, went
unanswered.
The Senate passed a hands-free bill that petered
out in the House, despite that branch's most
vocal opponent Byron Rushing coming around to
endorse a Senate amendment that alleviated some
of his concerns with racial profiling.
Rushing, who was a senior member House Speaker
Robert DeLeo's leadership team, is no longer in
the House after losing re-election in November,
and it remains to be seen who, if anyone, will
pick up where he left off on the issue.
The governor's new bill would prohibit anyone
driving from holding or touching their phone
"except to perform a single tap or swipe to
activate, deactivate, or initiate hands-free
mode." While lawmakers in 2010 banned texting,
emailing and web browsing while driving, all of
Massachusetts's neighboring states in New
England already require hands-free devices for
talking and texting.
The Safe Roads Alliance, which has been
advocating for years for hands-free legislation,
cheered the Baker administration's proactive
approach to the issue this session. The group
will be at the State House on Wednesday to lobby
legislators to support the governor's bill and
others filed this session.
The primary seat belt enforcement provision is
also new for the governor.
A study released last summer by the University
of Massachusetts Traffic Safety Research Program
on behalf of the Executive Office of Public
Safety and Security found seat belt usage rose
nearly 8 percent to 81.6 percent from 2017 to
2018, but still trailed the national usage rate
of 90.1 percent in 2016.
Massachusetts is one of 15 states without a
primary enforcement law, meaning police here
must observe another moving violation in order
to pull over a vehicle in which the driver or
the passengers are not wearing seat belts.
The governor's bill also requires state-owned
heavy trucks to have side guards, convex mirrors
and "cross-over" mirrors by Jan. 1, 2020,
followed by all state and municipal contractors
by 2022. And new, increasingly popular modes of
transportation like electric scooters or
pedal-powered bicycles would be treated, under
the law similar to bicycles, with users subject
to the same helmet and traffic rules.
The Boston Herald
Monday, January 21, 2019
A Boston Herald editorial
MassGOP makes a stand
The Massachusetts Republican Party has once
again shocked political observers in the Bay
State, electing former Andover State Rep. and
staunch conservative Jim Lyons the new chair of
the state GOP late last week. Lyons, known for
his strong stance on social issues, was elected
47 votes to 30 by the Massachusetts Republican
State Committee Thursday night, defeating party
treasurer and establishment pick Brent Andersen
for the role.
This was a major upset considering Andersen had
earlier claimed to have 45 committed votes out
of the 80-member state committee. But the
Republican base has been flexing its muscles in
Massachusetts for a while now, thumbing its nose
at Charlie “most popular governor in America”
Baker and his anti-Trump, moderate vision for
the Republican Party.
And successful though Baker is as governor, his
formula has proven difficult to translate into
electoral victory for other members of his party
in Massachusetts, as even moderate Republicans
with Baker’s explicit endorsement struggle to
gain traction with voters. This has left Baker
without any real leverage to exert on the
veto-proof Democratic majority in the
legislature.
Lyons offers a new way forward. While
unapologetically conservative on the issues, and
a firebrand during his time in the State House,
he endorsed Baker for re-election in 2018 over
anti-establishment candidate Scott Lively. He
has shown he is willing to build bridges with
moderates while keeping his principles intact,
and he has the grassroots credentials to grow
the party from the ground up. Electing Lyons is
an exciting move for MassGOP, a genuine attempt
to try something different after years of
infighting and frustrated electoral hopes.
Massachusetts voters deserve to have real
choices at the ballot box, to have more than one
party with a real seat at the policy-making
table. Let’s hope that under Lyons’ leadership,
with an energized base, the Republican Party can
live up to that vision.
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
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