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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”
— and
their Institutional Memory — |
|
CLT UPDATE
Sunday, March 17, 2019
"Thank
you sir, may I have another?"
|
Opening the door for a near-term debate over
transportation and transportation financing on Beacon Hill,
House Speaker Robert DeLeo told the Massachusetts business
community Tuesday morning that he is open to tax hikes or
just about any other prescription to address the state's
critical needs -- but he first wants to know what businesses
will support....
"It's all on the table," DeLeo told
reporters after his remarks. He added, "Quite frankly, I
think we're at a situation relative to transportation we're
at a critical point. If we're going to continue to grow our
economy here in Massachusetts, transportation has to be one
of the major factors that we address."
DeLeo may be leading the Legislature to
revisit a topic that he and lawmakers tried to tackle in
2013, when they added $500 million in new taxes on gas,
cigarettes and software services, but later repealed the
so-called tech tax. Former Gov. Deval Patrick vetoed the
bill because he was looking for a more robust tax package,
and lawmakers passed the proposal over his objection.
Since 2013, Democrats in the Legislature
have pinned their hopes for new transportation and education
revenues on a constitutional amendment raising income taxes
on the wealthy, but the proposal improperly commingled
topics and was ruled ineligible for the 2018 ballot by the
Supreme Judicial Court....
Asked after his speech about gas tax
indexing -- which voters repealed at the ballot in 2014 --
DeLeo said that some state representatives have already
approached him to say they would support another attempt to
tie the gas tax to inflation.
"Some members have already approached me on
it, they feel that they could support," he said. "It's never
an easy issue to take up, but again, I think we're at a
stage where if we're going to get serious about addressing
this issue then everything and anything has to be on the
table."
In 2013, the Legislature voted to raise the
gas tax by three cents and set it up to continue to increase
apace with inflation. Led by then-Rep. Geoff Diehl,
activists organized a campaign to repeal the automatic gas
tax indexing and secured a spot on the 2014 ballot for a
repeal effort. The automatic indexing was repealed with 53
percent of voters in favor....
Sen. Joseph Boncore, who chairs the
Transportation Committee, said after DeLeo's speech Tuesday
that there is no "silver bullet" to addressing
transportation and said he was pleased DeLeo indicated that
a wide range of revenue options could be considered.
"The best scheme to raise revenue for
transportation is the initiative that everyone's going to
agree to and get behind, whether that's the gas tax,
congestion tolling, carbon pricing or toll equity across the
Commonwealth," Boncore told the News Service.
State House News Service
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
DeLeo: "Everything and anything" on table in transpo debate
Sen. Joseph Boncore, who chairs the Joint
Committee on Transportation, was happy to see House Speaker
Robert DeLeo indicate Tuesday that a wide range of options
to increase revenue for transit improvements will be
considered. But even with DeLeo's interest, Boncore sees
another potential obstacle before a higher gas tax or
increased rideshare fees could be put into effect: Gov.
Charlie Baker.
Getting the Republican governor's support
for those kinds of transportation revenues will be the
"biggest challenge," Boncore told the News Service, pointing
to Baker's hesitation about new taxes and fees.
"The biggest challenge is that the governor
has said he's not a fan of revenue in this session," Boncore
said. "I think we're going to have to work with the
governor....
Baker has proposed new taxes during his
second term, calling for an increased fee on real estate
transfers to fund climate resiliency programs and taxes on
manufacturers of prescription opioids to address the drug
addiction epidemic.
Asked about revenue supports for
transportation on Tuesday, Baker indicated the
administration would file a transportation bond bill this
session and restated the administration's plans to invest $8
billion in public transit over the next five years.
"We look forward to having this discussion
with the legislature," Baker said, according to a transcript
provided by his office. "But there’s a lot of money that's
going to be put into transportation over the course of the
next several years under any scenario." ...
"The Baker administration has been using an
age-old tactic -- divide and conquer -- to place this issue
in a false light," said Matt Casale, staff attorney for
MASSPIRG, in a press release. "According to the
administration, there are three distinct groups --
taxpayers, highway users and transit riders -- who all have
conflicting interests. But these aren’t distinct factions.
There is one group: residents of the commonwealth."
State House News Service
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Boncore sees Baker as "biggest challenge" on transpo $$$
Legislators are eyeing the hotly debated
issue of gas tax indexing, which made its way to the surface
during a Chamber of Commerce breakfast Tuesday.
Gas tax indexing, previously considered as a
way to generate funding for transportation, would change the
flat 24 cent tax on gasoline and instead tie the rate to
inflation.
The tax would be dependent on the Consumer
Price Index and would increase by a few pennies each year.
Voters favored a ballot initiative to repeal indexing in
2014, but they could soon be voting again.
“Some members have already approached me on
it, they feel that they could support,” House Speaker Robert
A. DeLeo said. “It’s never an easy issue to take up, but
again, I think we’re at a stage where if we’re going to get
serious about addressing this issue then everything and
anything has to be on the table.”
Former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who led the
2014 repeal of gas tax indexing, said progressive house
members are “ignoring the will of the people.”
“It’s not surprising that certain members
would approach the speaker indicating a desire to sock it to
the taxpayers again,” Diehl said.
He said the gas tax is a “tough sell” to
voters, posing a risky move for legislators. “They are
making a major mistake come election time if they get behind
this.”
Holly Robichaud, former strategist with Tank
the Automatic Gas Tax coalition, echoed Diehl, saying, “The
people spoke very loudly four years ago and they said no and
this is another prime example of the State House not
listening to the people of Massachusetts.”
But Stacy Thompson, executive director of
Livable Streets Alliance, said voters may change their tune
in the name of solving transportation issues.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Massachusetts legislators mull gas tax indexing
Of all the Beacon Hill money grabs in the
rotation, the gas tax index may be the most cynical. It
absolves lawmakers of any accountability when prices tick
up. No vote is taken. No ugly roll call will hit the media.
Instead, the gas tax rates would be tied to
inflation and would rise and rise while legislators shrug
their shoulders.
As the Herald’s Alexi Cohan reports, House
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo floated the idea of the return of
the gas tax index at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast
Tuesday. “Some members have already approached me on it,
they feel that they could support,” DeLeo said. “It’s never
an easy issue to take up, but again, I think we’re at a
stage where if we’re going to get serious about addressing
this issue then everything and anything has to be on the
table.”
“Everything and anything” in Beacon Hill
language means the entire panoply of taxes, fees and
surcharges. In 2014, when last the state Legislature passed
a gas tax index, it was then state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who,
with a small but determined team, repealed the law with a
ballot initiative. “It’s not surprising that certain members
would approach the speaker indicating a desire to sock it to
the taxpayers again,” Diehl said.
Diehl contends that voters will make their
dissatisfaction known at the polls if the Legislature takes
another shot. “They are making a major mistake come election
time if they get behind this.”
Proponents of the automatic gas tax suggest
that fixing dilapidated roads and bridges may be enough to
draw the public to their side, but that may be an optimistic
view. Voters just saw their legislators give themselves
multiple pay raises in the last few years.
To automatically raise gas taxes with every
increase in inflation will hit middle-class and lower-class
families unfairly. Their pay and benefits do not also
increase with the rate of inflation. To have this taxation
occur without representation is obscene.
If the profiles in courage on Beacon Hill
want higher gas taxes every year, let them vote for higher
gas taxes every year. Then they can explain the increases to
their constituents come election time.
A Boston Herald editorial
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Gas tax scheme building steam on Beacon Hill
Speaker of the House Bob DeLeo says that,
when it comes to tax hikes for transportation, “everything
and anything has to be on the table.”
Big-government liberals, like Chris Dempsey
of Transportation 4 Massachusetts, say “it’s totally
appropriate” for tax hikes to be part of the conversation.
And when it comes to raising taxes to fund
the T, Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett says, “I hope we
do.”
In other words, it’s just another day in
Massachusetts politics.
Of course it’s time for another tax hike. My
goodness, Beacon Hill hasn’t hit the hard-working middle
class of Massachusetts with higher taxes since all the way
back in July. Eight months without a tax increase? One must
admire the restraint and self-control of the modern
Massachusetts liberal.
That includes Gov. Charlie “Choo Choo”
Baker, who loves throwing money at transportation projects —
like the idiotic commuter rail line to Fall River, and who
just signed an $800 million-per-year payroll tax into law
last year.
Now, with the election behind him, Baker’s
proposing brand-new tax hikes, like a tax on real estate
transactions....
It’s been fascinating to listen to
Massachusetts residents mock the fools of Fall River who, on
the same day, voted out Mayor Jasiel Correia for being
corrupt, then hours later vote him back into office. Folks,
why are we laughing? Didn’t we just do the same thing?
Sure, in 2014 we passed a referendum to
“Tank the Automatic Gas Tax.” But we also re-elected
virtually every Democrat who stuck us with it in the first
place. What’s the difference?
If you voted to re-elect your local
legislator and are now shocked, shocked to discover they’re
trying to stick it to you again at the gas pump, I would
refer you to Einstein’s definition of insanity: Doing the
same thing over and over but expecting a different
result....
And now expect the avalanche of Boston
Globe-Democrat op-eds insisting that taxes must be raised,
that we’re not spending enough on mass transit, blah, blah,
blah. What you won’t hear from any of these tax hike
advocates is a simple number: how much more we’re spending
already....
And what’s Beacon Hill’s response? More!
More!
What will these same politicians say next
year, after they get their automatic gas tax hikes back, and
the new tolls and carbon taxes?
“More! More! We want more!”
And how will we respond? With the eternal
motto of the Massachusetts taxpayer:
“Thank you, sir, may I have another?”
The Boston Herald
Thursday, March 14, 2019
When it comes to Massachusetts liberals and taxes, more’s
the merrier
By Michael Graham
|
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Here they come again, after something
the voters specifically told them they can't
have. Whether it's the "temporary" income tax hike
voters resoundingly rolled back and had immediately
re-imposed, or the automatic gas tax hike that voters
rejected and repealed, the only thing The Takers
won't brazenly take is "Hell No!" for an answer.
"Some members have already approached me
on it, they feel that they could support," House
Speaker-for-Life Robert DeLeo told his audience,
speaking of re-imposing the voter-repealed automatic gas
tax hike.
"The best scheme to raise revenue for
transportation is the initiative that everyone's going
to agree to and get behind, whether that's the gas tax,
congestion tolling, carbon pricing or toll equity across
the Commonwealth," Transportation Committee co-chairman
Sen. Joseph Boncore decreed.
The Legislature is in hot pursuit,
scheming to pick taxpayers' pockets again, as usual by
any means available, by any means necessary.
"Everything and anything" is on the table.
Everything but
cutting their wild spending.
Michael Graham
summed up the real crisis succinctly in his
column:
Sure, in
2014 we passed a referendum to “Tank the
Automatic Gas Tax.” But we also re-elected
virtually every Democrat who stuck us with it in
the first place. What’s the difference?
If you
voted to re-elect your local legislator and are
now shocked, shocked to discover they’re trying
to stick it to you again at the gas pump, I
would refer you to Einstein’s definition of
insanity: Doing the same thing over and over but
expecting a different result....
And now
expect the avalanche of Boston Globe-Democrat
op-eds insisting that taxes must be raised, that
we’re not spending enough on mass transit, blah,
blah, blah. What you won’t hear from any of
these tax hike advocates is a simple number: how
much more we’re spending already....
And what’s
Beacon Hill’s response? More! More!
What will
these same politicians say next year, after they
get their automatic gas tax hikes back, and the
new tolls and carbon taxes?
“More!
More! We want more!”
And how
will we respond? With the eternal motto of the
Massachusetts taxpayer:
“Thank you,
sir, may I have another?”
My thanks to CLT member Jim G. of
Sterling who reminded me this week of Reason
Foundation’s Annual Highway Report. It has been
updated since the last one we used.
In its latest report, Reason Foundation
found that Massachusetts ranked 44th, among the worse
big-spending states in the nation, followed by only:
45 - New York
46 - Connecticut
47 - Hawaii
48 - Alaska
49 - Rhode Island
50 - New Jersey
Massachusetts improved from its
48th-worst ranking in the previous study to 44th.
It's not that Massachusetts became more thrifty
― just that some states
began spending more, as did Massachusetts as well.
As noted in CLT's News Release of
October 24, 2017 ("NO
to S.1959 – More tolls on motorists")
― less than a year and a
half ago ― the
previous report (released in September 2016) showed
the Bay State had spent 320% more than the
national average. This
latest report (released in February 2018) shows that
Massachusetts spent 390% greater than the
national average, an increase of 70% over the
previous report.
In the table below with data from that
report I've selected and compared Massachusetts with New
Hampshire (and included the national average).
Both are northeast New England bordering states with
similar climate, to eliminate that common argument.
It should be noted that New Hampshire
has neither an income tax nor a sales tax.
|
Capital and Bridges Disbursements per State-Controlled Mile |
|
Massachusetts |
$299,246 |
|
New Hampshire |
$77,762 |
|
National Average |
$91,992 |
|
Maintenance Disbursements per State-Controlled Mile |
|
Massachusetts |
$80,573 |
|
New Hampshire |
$59,215 |
|
National Average |
$28,020 |
|
Administrative Disbursements per State-Controlled Mile |
|
Massachusetts |
$77,086 |
|
New Hampshire |
$21,594 |
|
National Average |
$10,864 |
|
Total Disbursements (including bond principal and interest,
etc.) per State-Controlled Mile |
|
Massachusetts |
$695,443 |
|
New Hampshire |
$197,468 |
|
National Average |
$178,116 |
|
Source: Reason Foundation Policy Study No. 457,
February 8, 2018, "23rd Annual Highway Report — The Performance of State
Highway Systems"
https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/23rd_annual_highway_report.pdf |
Once again the dispassionate, objective
evidence unarguably proves that Massachusetts doesn't
have a revenue problem ―
it doesn't need to keep raising taxes. It has an
insatiable spending addiction. The only
"transportation crisis" the commonwealth suffers is and
has been created and sustained by the powers high upon
Bacon Hill.
Those powers always can and always do
turn on the taxpayers to bail out their corruption and
malfeasance.
They usually reward themselves by taking
more and more of our money to bail themselves out
without suffering any consequences whatsoever.
How much more will taxpayers take?
How much more can they take?
The blatant theft itself is bad enough.
Treating taxpayers like idiots and ignorant fools is
despicably worse.
That attitude must be stopped, ended.
Is the only response to so many
legislator’s contempt "Thank you sir, may I have
another?"
|
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 |
|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
|
|
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State House News
Service
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
DeLeo: "Everything and anything" on table in
transpo debate
By Colin A. Young
Opening the door for a near-term debate over
transportation and transportation financing on
Beacon Hill, House Speaker Robert DeLeo told the
Massachusetts business community Tuesday morning
that he is open to tax hikes or just about any
other prescription to address the state's
critical needs -- but he first wants to know
what businesses will support.
Speaking at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
breakfast, DeLeo said congestion on the roads
and unreliable service on public transportation
is a problem that "impacts every employee and
every business" in Massachusetts. He said he
wants the business community to weigh in on what
policies it could get behind.
"It's all on the table," DeLeo told reporters
after his remarks. He added, "Quite frankly, I
think we're at a situation relative to
transportation we're at a critical point. If
we're going to continue to grow our economy here
in Massachusetts, transportation has to be one
of the major factors that we address."
DeLeo may be leading the Legislature to revisit
a topic that he and lawmakers tried to tackle in
2013, when they added $500 million in new taxes
on gas, cigarettes and software services, but
later repealed the so-called tech tax. Former
Gov. Deval Patrick vetoed the bill because he
was looking for a more robust tax package, and
lawmakers passed the proposal over his
objection.
Since 2013, Democrats in the Legislature have
pinned their hopes for new transportation and
education revenues on a constitutional amendment
raising income taxes on the wealthy, but the
proposal improperly commingled topics and was
ruled ineligible for the 2018 ballot by the
Supreme Judicial Court.
Late last month, A Better City released a report
detailing an $8.4 billion shortfall in revenues
needed to ensure state roads, bridges and MBTA
infrastructure are in a state of good repair
over the next 10 years. Business groups have
decried the Boston area's public transportation
woes as a hindrance to business growth.
DeLeo said he hears "continuously" from MBTA
commuters that they are willing to pay their
fares -- even the increased fares OK'ed Monday
by the T's Fiscal and Management Control Board
-- if it will lead to more reliable service. He
said the T should prove that it can be reliable
before asking riders to pay even more.
"The governor, as I mentioned, has talked about
an $8 billion investment over the next five
years, I think that's going to be helpful," he
said. "But I think we're at the stage now,
especially more as we go along, that yes, we
have to prove to the commuters that we can run a
good, reliable, clean service if the control
board or the T is going to keep on asking them
for more funding."
As approved Monday, T train fares will increase
by an average of 5.8 percent starting July 1 to
come up with $29.5 million per year toward a
$2.1 billion budget. Board member Monica Tibbits-Nutt
abstained from the vote and called the move
"premature" because of a lack of information on
how the new revenue will be spent.
"The customers have not gotten their
customer-facing projects done," she said during
Monday's budget discussion. "They haven't, and
now we're going to take more money out of their
pockets. We consider this a moderate increase.
There's a significant number of people in the
Commonwealth for whom that is not moderate."
The speaker said he wants to talk with the
business community about transportation
financing, but also about ways to alleviate
congestion on the roads. He said he knows that
transportation needs vary throughout the state
but because "the business community has told me
repeatedly of their interest in resolving this
issue," he wants them involved in identifying
solutions.
"I know that many in this room have already
embarked on thoughtful and productive projects,
studies and working groups. We want to make
sure, however, that the business community
clearly articulates the transportation policies
that it can unite behind," DeLeo told the
business breakfast crowd at the Seaport Hotel.
He said that he is "interested in what employers
can bring to the table as we think about the
state's transportation networks as we experience
this transition. What are your ideas? How can
employers become more flexible to help ease rush
hour congestion? Can and should the state
incentivize innovative transit solutions?"
DeLeo acknowledged the state and the business
community have worked to improve transportation
in the past, but noted, "People often forget
that the Legislature's attempts to direct money
into transportation were reversed at the ballot
box."
Asked after his speech about gas tax indexing --
which voters repealed at the ballot in 2014 --
DeLeo said that some state representatives have
already approached him to say they would support
another attempt to tie the gas tax to inflation.
"Some members have already approached me on it,
they feel that they could support," he said.
"It's never an easy issue to take up, but again,
I think we're at a stage where if we're going to
get serious about addressing this issue then
everything and anything has to be on the table."
In 2013, the Legislature voted to raise the gas
tax by three cents and set it up to continue to
increase apace with inflation. Led by then-Rep.
Geoff Diehl, activists organized a campaign to
repeal the automatic gas tax indexing and
secured a spot on the 2014 ballot for a repeal
effort. The automatic indexing was repealed with
53 percent of voters in favor.
The speaker also gave voice Tuesday to another
proposal for raising money to invest in
transportation -- hiking the fees charged on
rides hired through apps like Uber or Lyft,
which can lead to greater congestion. He said
the so-called transportation network companies (TNCs)
are "part of the issue" and asked Ways and Means
Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, who led the 2016 push
to regulate TNCs, to weigh in.
"I think it's certainly appropriate now, a
couple years later, to re-engage in that
conversation and have a look at exactly what the
appropriate level of balance related to those
fees" is, Michlewitz said. "We definitely did
them probably at a lower level earlier on
because we were, as I said, really concerned
about public safety."
Sen. Joseph Boncore, who chairs the
Transportation Committee, said after DeLeo's
speech Tuesday that there is no "silver bullet"
to addressing transportation and said he was
pleased DeLeo indicated that a wide range of
revenue options could be considered.
"The best scheme to raise revenue for
transportation is the initiative that everyone's
going to agree to and get behind, whether that's
the gas tax, congestion tolling, carbon pricing
or toll equity across the Commonwealth," Boncore
told the News Service. "Those are all
opportunities we have, and my favorite one is
the one everyone agrees to. We don't have to
agree just on one. We should look at, if not
all, at least a few of the different options
because the problem is so large and looming over
us."
Late last month, Senate President Karen Spilka
called transportation infrastructure and
financing the policy area with the "most
exciting and uncertain" future, and said there
is agreement that the state must do something to
address transportation but there is not yet
consensus on what the fix should be or how to
get there.
"Right now, I plan to focus less on individual
policy proposals and more on bringing the right
people to the table to get things done," Spilka
said a meeting of the board of A Better City,
according to her prepared remarks. "As I've said
before -- I don't think we can afford to take
any idea off the table right now when it comes
to transportation -- either in terms of fixes,
or in terms of how we pay for it."
Transportation spending in fiscal 2020 is up for
discussion on Tuesday, March 19 during a Joint
Ways and Means Committee hearing on Gov. Charlie
Baker's $42.7 billion budget proposal.
― Chris Lisinski
contributed to this report.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Boncore sees Baker as "biggest challenge" on
transpo $$$
By Chris Lisinski
Sen. Joseph Boncore, who chairs the Joint
Committee on Transportation, was happy to see
House Speaker Robert DeLeo indicate Tuesday that
a wide range of options to increase revenue for
transit improvements will be considered. But
even with DeLeo's interest, Boncore sees another
potential obstacle before a higher gas tax or
increased rideshare fees could be put into
effect: Gov. Charlie Baker.
Getting the Republican governor's support for
those kinds of transportation revenues will be
the "biggest challenge," Boncore told the News
Service, pointing to Baker's hesitation about
new taxes and fees.
"The biggest challenge is that the governor has
said he's not a fan of revenue in this session,"
Boncore said. "I think we're going to have to
work with the governor. I know his [Commission
on the] Future of Transportation report begged
the issue of revenue. The issue will be working
with his administration and building consensus
there."
Boncore praised Baker's commitment to a
multi-state effort to reduce transportation
emissions, noting revenue from the program can
help investments. The governor's interest in
ideas such as a higher gas tax or greater fees
on rideshare services such as Uber and Lyft,
though, is less clear.
Baker has proposed new taxes during his second
term, calling for an increased fee on real
estate transfers to fund climate resiliency
programs and taxes on manufacturers of
prescription opioids to address the drug
addiction epidemic.
Asked about revenue supports for transportation
on Tuesday, Baker indicated the administration
would file a transportation bond bill this
session and restated the administration's plans
to invest $8 billion in public transit over the
next five years.
"We look forward to having this discussion with
the legislature," Baker said, according to a
transcript provided by his office. "But there’s
a lot of money that's going to be put into
transportation over the course of the next
several years under any scenario."
DeLeo may be leading lawmakers back to a topic
they tackled in 2013, when they added $500
million in new taxes on gas, cigarettes and
software services, but later repealed the
so-called tech tax. Former Gov. Deval Patrick
vetoed the tax bill because he was looking for a
more robust package, and lawmakers passed the
proposal over his objection. Since 2013,
Democrats in the Legislature have pinned their
hopes for new transportation and education
revenues on a constitutional amendment raising
income taxes on the wealthy, but the proposal
improperly commingled topics and was ruled
ineligible for the 2018 ballot by the Supreme
Judicial Court.
How the state funds transportation systems has
drawn greater attention in recent weeks
following a report projecting an $8.4 billion
shortfall over the next decade and the MBTA's
decision to raise fares for rail commuters.
Boncore also pointed to a recent report
declaring that Boston had the worst congestion
in the country based on time lost to traffic.
Dozens of lawmakers criticized the MBTA fare
hikes, which transit officials say are necessary
to improve service, and called for new revenues
to help meet those needs. Even members of the
MBTA's oversight board expressed interest in
some combination of a gas-tax increase, stricter
fees on Ubers and Lyfts, and a congestion-priced
toll system.
"The Baker administration has been using an
age-old tactic -- divide and conquer -- to place
this issue in a false light," said Matt Casale,
staff attorney for MASSPIRG, in a press release.
"According to the administration, there are
three distinct groups -- taxpayers, highway
users and transit riders -- who all have
conflicting interests. But these aren’t distinct
factions. There is one group: residents of the
commonwealth."
Boncore filed bills to implement peak pricing on
rideshares and to launch congestion tolls in
East Boston's tunnels.
While Boncore, like DeLeo, said those various
proposals should be considered this session, he
would not identify one as the most likely to
succeed, saying his favorite was "the one
everyone agrees to."
"There's no silver bullet here," he said. "All
options need to be on the table, and probably a
variation of different options is going to set
this Commonwealth on the right track for
adequately funding our transportation system
into the future."
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Massachusetts legislators mull gas tax indexing
By Alexi Cohan
Legislators are eyeing the hotly debated issue
of gas tax indexing, which made its way to the
surface during a Chamber of Commerce breakfast
Tuesday.
Gas tax indexing, previously considered as a way
to generate funding for transportation, would
change the flat 24 cent tax on gasoline and
instead tie the rate to inflation.
The tax would be dependent on the Consumer Price
Index and would increase by a few pennies each
year. Voters favored a ballot initiative to
repeal indexing in 2014, but they could soon be
voting again.
“Some members have already approached me on it,
they feel that they could support,” House
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said. “It’s never an
easy issue to take up, but again, I think we’re
at a stage where if we’re going to get serious
about addressing this issue then everything and
anything has to be on the table.”
Former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who led the 2014
repeal of gas tax indexing, said progressive
house members are “ignoring the will of the
people.”
“It’s not surprising that certain members would
approach the speaker indicating a desire to sock
it to the taxpayers again,” Diehl said.
He said the gas tax is a “tough sell” to voters,
posing a risky move for legislators. “They are
making a major mistake come election time if
they get behind this.”
Holly Robichaud, former strategist with Tank the
Automatic Gas Tax coalition, echoed Diehl,
saying, “The people spoke very loudly four years
ago and they said no and this is another prime
example of the State House not listening to the
people of Massachusetts.”
But Stacy Thompson, executive director of
Livable Streets Alliance, said voters may change
their tune in the name of solving transportation
issues.
“The gas tax means we will have more resources
in the state because everyone is suffering right
now,” Thompson said. “Taxpayers are going to be
much more interested in paying into solutions
that will meaningfully impact this problem.”
Thompson also pointed to the need for other
“creative and comprehensive solutions” in
addition to gas tax indexing.
Chris Dempsey of Transportation 4 Massachusetts
commended DeLeo for his willingness to consider
all solutions to the state’s transportation
problems.
“This is a system that is just not working for
people and he’s taking that problem seriously,”
said Dempsey. “We need to have an honest
conversation about how to fix that and it’s
totally appropriate for gas tax indexing to be a
part of that conversation.”
The Boston Herald
Thursday, March 14, 2019
A Boston Herald editorial
Gas tax scheme building steam on Beacon Hill
Of all the Beacon Hill money grabs in the
rotation, the gas tax index may be the most
cynical. It absolves lawmakers of any
accountability when prices tick up. No vote is
taken. No ugly roll call will hit the media.
Instead, the gas tax rates would be tied to
inflation and would rise and rise while
legislators shrug their shoulders.
As the Herald’s Alexi Cohan reports, House
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo floated the idea of the
return of the gas tax index at a Chamber of
Commerce breakfast Tuesday. “Some members have
already approached me on it, they feel that they
could support,” DeLeo said. “It’s never an easy
issue to take up, but again, I think we’re at a
stage where if we’re going to get serious about
addressing this issue then everything and
anything has to be on the table.”
“Everything and anything” in Beacon Hill
language means the entire panoply of taxes, fees
and surcharges. In 2014, when last the state
Legislature passed a gas tax index, it was then
state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who, with a small but
determined team, repealed the law with a ballot
initiative. “It’s not surprising that certain
members would approach the speaker indicating a
desire to sock it to the taxpayers again,” Diehl
said.
Diehl contends that voters will make their
dissatisfaction known at the polls if the
Legislature takes another shot. “They are making
a major mistake come election time if they get
behind this.”
Proponents of the automatic gas tax suggest that
fixing dilapidated roads and bridges may be
enough to draw the public to their side, but
that may be an optimistic view. Voters just saw
their legislators give themselves multiple pay
raises in the last few years.
To automatically raise gas taxes with every
increase in inflation will hit middle-class and
lower-class families unfairly. Their pay and
benefits do not also increase with the rate of
inflation. To have this taxation occur without
representation is obscene.
If the profiles in courage on Beacon Hill want
higher gas taxes every year, let them vote for
higher gas taxes every year. Then they can
explain the increases to their constituents come
election time.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, March 14, 2019
When it comes to Massachusetts liberals and
taxes, more’s the merrier
By Michael Graham
Speaker of the House Bob DeLeo says that, when
it comes to tax hikes for transportation,
“everything and anything has to be on the
table.”
Big-government liberals, like Chris Dempsey of
Transportation 4 Massachusetts, say “it’s
totally appropriate” for tax hikes to be part of
the conversation.
And when it comes to raising taxes to fund the
T, Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett says, “I
hope we do.”
In other words, it’s just another day in
Massachusetts politics.
Of course it’s time for another tax hike. My
goodness, Beacon Hill hasn’t hit the
hard-working middle class of Massachusetts with
higher taxes since all the way back in July.
Eight months without a tax increase? One must
admire the restraint and self-control of the
modern Massachusetts liberal.
That includes Gov. Charlie “Choo Choo” Baker,
who loves throwing money at transportation
projects — like the idiotic commuter rail line
to Fall River, and who just signed an $800
million-per-year payroll tax into law last year.
Now, with the election behind him, Baker’s
proposing brand-new tax hikes, like a tax on
real estate transactions.
But for the state’s overburdened middle class —
the people who schlep into work from
ever-farther distances to afford a roof over
their heads — talk of the return of a
self-rising gas tax hits them where it hurts.
And, because it’s Massachusetts, they know it’s
just the first punch in a taxpayer-pummeling
their politicians can’t wait to lay on them.
“We need new revenue sources in the
commonwealth,” said Sen. Joseph Boncore of
Winthrop, the Senate chairman of the
Legislature’s Transportation Committee. “There’s
many things we can talk about like a gas tax,
carbon pricing, regional ballot initiatives,
congestion pricing, more tolling, or tolling
equity.”
Why the hell not, right, Sen. Boncore? Higher
gas prices, more tolls, higher heating bills —
why not just stop us on the Mass Pike and dig
the spare change out of our cup holders while
you’re at it?
It’s been fascinating to listen to Massachusetts
residents mock the fools of Fall River who, on
the same day, voted out Mayor Jasiel Correia for
being corrupt, then hours later vote him back
into office. Folks, why are we laughing? Didn’t
we just do the same thing?
Sure, in 2014 we passed a referendum to “Tank
the Automatic Gas Tax.” But we also re-elected
virtually every Democrat who stuck us with it in
the first place. What’s the difference?
If you voted to re-elect your local legislator
and are now shocked, shocked to discover they’re
trying to stick it to you again at the gas pump,
I would refer you to Einstein’s definition of
insanity: Doing the same thing over and over but
expecting a different result.
(OK, he likely didn’t say it, but still …)
And now expect the avalanche of Boston
Globe-Democrat op-eds insisting that taxes must
be raised, that we’re not spending enough on
mass transit, blah, blah, blah. What you won’t
hear from any of these tax hike advocates is a
simple number: how much more we’re spending
already.
The MBTA’s 2019 operating budget is more than $2
billion, a $200 million increase over five
years. On top of that are the billions in new
capital expenditures since Gov. Baker took
office, trying to undo the damage of decades of
wasted money and lousy maintenance — despite
ever-increasing spending.
And what’s Beacon Hill’s response? More! More!
What will these same politicians say next year,
after they get their automatic gas tax hikes
back, and the new tolls and carbon taxes?
“More! More! We want more!”
And how will we respond? With the eternal motto
of the Massachusetts taxpayer:
“Thank you, sir, may I have another?”
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ (781) 639-9709
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