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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
Monday, June 10, 2019
"Millionaires Tax" changed to Grad Tax on All?
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House and Senate members meet in a
Constitutional Convention [on Wednesday] to take up an
amendment adding a 4 percent income surtax on household
income above $1 million.
The proposed amendment needs 101 votes in
two successive legislative sessions to reach the 2022
ballot. It is subject to amendment this session, but not
next session should it remain alive then, as is expected.
Rep. Alice Peisch of Wellesley has filed a
graduated income tax amendment (No. 2).
State House News Service
Friday, June 7, 2019
Advances - Week of June 9, 2019
Ahead of this week's planned debate on
imposing an additional tax on residents who earn more than
$1 million a year, legislative leaders were mum on whether
they support the proposal to move Massachusetts towards a
graduated income tax structure.
Though House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate
President Karen Spilka would not share their own opinions,
Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday that he cannot imagine his
administration being supportive of a move away from the
state's uniform income tax rate....
Ahead of Wednesday's debate, Reps. Alice
Peisch and Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Sen. Barry Finegold
have
filed an amendment to allow a fully graduated income tax
structure -- in which the income tax rate could be set
to correspond to a person's income -- instead of just the
surtax on income over $1 million....
DeLeo said he doesn't "have any idea in
terms of where the support or non-support is for that
particular provision," and added, "we'll obviously find out
on Wednesday."
Spilka, who will preside over Wednesday's
joint session, said the idea of a graduated income tax
structure "will certainly be a topic for the members both in
the House and in the Senate to deal with."
Spilka did not answer when asked how she, as
one vote out of 200, plans to vote. DeLeo said, "If it comes
up on Wednesday, you'll see then."
The voters of Massachusetts have rejected
the idea of a graduated income tax structure in the past,
and more than once. Most recently, a 1994 proposal for a
graduated income tax failed at the ballot with about 70
percent of voters rejecting it.
The Massachusetts Republican Party reminded
voters in a press release Monday afternoon that a graduated
income tax has already been shot down at the ballot and
whacked "the Democrats’ newest scheme to unleash a graduated
income tax system on the commonwealth."
"The same party that voted to give
themselves a huge pay raise wants more of your money,"
MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons said. "This is a blatant cash
grab masquerading as class warfare."
State House News Service
Monday, June 10, 2019
DeLeo, Spilka take wait-and-see approach to Grad Tax
Even as industry leaders warned how the tax
hike could erode the state's economic strength, Gov. Charlie
Baker steered clear in a speech to technology leaders Monday
of the millionaires tax proposal that will again be before
the Legislature this week.
Baker, instead, sought the help of
technology industry executives in passing education and
housing legislation that he described as critical to
developing and retaining a highly qualified workforce.
The governor said after his speech that
raising taxes was not the "solution" to the challenges faced
in Massachusetts, but he avoided stating directly whether he
would oppose a tax on millionaires if it were to reach the
ballot. Supporters say the tax would generate needed
revenues for education and transportation....
The governor, however, did not address the
proposed surtax on wealthier residents that High Tech
Council President Chris Anderson said was putting the
state's economic development advantages at risk.
House and Senate lawmakers will debate and
vote on the proposal Wednesday to impose a 4 percent surtax
on income over $1 million, the first step of a four-year
process to get it on the ballot in 2022.
The proposal appears to have more than
enough support in the Legislature to advance, and won't face
the face hurdles that caused the courts to strike a similar
proposal from the ballot last summer.
Anderson preceded the governor, and warned
that Massachusetts could be following in the footsteps of
states like Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey, where
legislators have pursued tax and fiscal policies that have
driven companies to move to other states like Tennessee,
Georgia and Florida where the tax burden is lower.
"We could become Connecticut in a New York
minute," said MHTC Executive Director Chris Anderson,
ticking off companies like Mercedes, Aetna and others that
have left Connecticut....
Ahead of Wednesday's debate, Reps. Alice Peisch and Ann
Margaret Ferrante and Sen. Barry Finegold have filed an
amendment to allow to a fully graduated income tax instead
of just the surtax on income over $1 million.
Baker had a sharper reaction to that idea than the
millionaires surtax.
"I would certainly oppose that," he told reporters.
State House News Service
Monday, June 10, 2019
Baker urges tech leaders to focus on education, housing
Almost $3 billion in state revenue hasn’t
been collected over the years, according to a Herald
analysis of state data, while legislators prepare to vote on
the “millionaires tax” in an attempt to fatten the state’s
wallet.
The lapse in collections remains as
lawmakers are set to meet in a June 12 Constitutional
Convention, where they will debate the Fair Share Amendment,
which would add a 4% surtax on household incomes that earn
over $1 million.
“Lawmakers should be looking at taxes
already owed before they start imposing higher taxes for
everyone else,” Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul
Craney told the Herald. “This isn’t insignificant money,
this is revenue that would make a dramatic difference to the
state budget if they would just go and collect it.”
The vast majority of that uncollected
revenue, about $2.4 billion, can be traced back to the
Department of Revenue as well as its Child Support
Enforcement Division, according to data from the
Comptroller’s Office.
While the DOR’s debts are categorized as
uncollectible in comptroller data, the department maintains
that it still considers tax debts collectible until the
expiration of a 10-year statute of limitations or when
written off in a legal settlement. A DOR spokeswoman did not
answer multiple requests over a period of weeks for a total
amount that has been written off and that has expired.
“The lack of transparency surrounding these
deadbeat accounts is staggering,” said Mary Connaughton,
director of finance and administration and government
transparency at the Pioneer Institute. “While it’s certainly
appropriate to protect the private information of those
involved, it’s also reasonable to expect that bad debts,
settlements and write-offs of public funds should be
disclosed in a manner the public understands.”
The DOR also couldn’t provide a breakdown by
tax type, according to the office, because uncollectibles
are an “estimate” of how much of those tax receivables might
never be collected. The Child Services debt involves decades
of unpaid child support, interest and penalties owed to the
state.
Massachusetts collected $1.1 billion more in
tax revenue than anticipated in fiscal year 2018, Minority
Leader Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) pointed out,
saying that the juxtaposition to a call for more money,
“leaves people scratching their heads.”
“It raises a serious number of questions
from a policy standpoint and a philosophical standpoint. …
It’s something we should be looking at doing,” Jones said.
“That’s a huge number — one would like to think at least
some of it is collectible.”
Trailing behind the DOR, the three largest
uncollected accounts among state agencies are in the
Department of Transitional Assistance at $55.9 million, the
Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development at $24.3
million and the Department of Public Health at $18 million,
according to the Comptroller’s Office....
“There is an alarmist view of needing
revenue. … If you listen to certain advocates and lawmakers,
they’re desperate for more revenue because they just want to
spend more money,” Craney said. “Here is a great opportunity
to collect taxes that are supposed to be owed to the state.
They should go collect that money before they even think
about raising more taxes.”
The Boston Herald
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Beacon Hill seeks more funds while almost $3B lies
uncollected
Acknowledging he may seek a groundbreaking
third term, Governor Charlie Baker is quietly putting
together a robust staff of political aides, proven
fund-raisers, and seasoned consultants who worked on his
previous two victorious campaigns, including last year’s
landslide reelection.
Baker and his advisers said they are keeping
his political organization intact to allow him to consider a
third consecutive four-year term in 2022 — something no
Massachusetts incumbent governor has ever done — but that no
decision has been made.
The 62-year-old Republican said his love of
the job and his determination to complete major initiatives
that will extend past this term have prompted him to
consider it....
Baker also said he feels compelled to
showcase the successful bipartisan politics and policy
making that he and Beacon Hill’s Democratic leaders have
engaged in.
“I really want to fight for this approach to
governing that’s based on the idea there is such a thing as
a bipartisan, pragmatic approach to governing,’’ he said. He
said the bipartisan interactions at the State House “stand
in distinct contrast to what is going on around the
country.’’
Still, his interest in running again is
highly unusual: No other Massachusetts governor in recent
political history has begun a second term with such a
bulked-up political organization....
Baker said he and Lieutenant Governor Karyn
Polito will be heavy presences on the campaign trail in this
year’s municipal elections across the state. They plan to
back candidates, including Democrats, most of them
incumbents, running for mayor.
“I am going to make sure that I and the
lieutenant governor support and help incumbents this year on
both sides of the partisan aisle who have helped us and we
will also work for folks running for office in 2020,’’ he
said.
Only one governor in state history — Michael
Dukakis — served for 12 years. But his tenure was broken up
by his reelection defeat in 1978, when he lost the
Democratic nomination to Edward J. King. Dukakis beat King
in a 1982 primary rematch and went on to serve two
consecutive terms....
As he ponders another campaign, Baker faces
complicated political hurdles, even within his own state
party.
In January, conservatives took over the GOP
state committee, rejecting Baker’s choice for party chairman
in favor of a former state representative and supporter of
President Trump. (Baker is a frequent critic of the
president).
Now, instead of running his political
operations out of the Republican State Committee
headquarters on Merrimac Street, Baker’s political crew is
in a $3,000-a-month office on West Street, just around the
corner from his State House office....
In another sign he is staying politically
active, Baker acknowledged he will again wade into the
elections for the 80 members of the GOP state committee when
Republican presidential primary voters go to the polls next
winter. By having more of his supporters on the committee,
Baker would have greater control of the party’s cash use
ahead of another campaign.
He did the same in 2016 when, in a
controversial move never before done by a sitting governor,
Baker spent as much as $1 million to elect his supporters
and defeated several conservative opponents. He has declined
to identify the source of those funds, noting he is not
required by law to do so.
The Boston Globe
Friday, June 7, 2019
Baker quietly puts political team together as he considers
3rd term
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
The Takers haven't even reached a
vote on the so-called "Millionaires Tax," aka "The Fair
Share Amendment," before proving what we've been saying
since it was first introduced by its advocates four
years ago (See: CLT Update, July 30, 2015; "Grad
Tax: The parasites swarm again").
The "Millionaires Tax" is nothing more than a Trojan
Horse deception to ultimately impose a full-blown,
all-encompassing Graduated Income Tax on all
taxpayers.
Before the House and Senate meet jointly
in the Constitutional Convention on Wednesday already an
amendment has been proposed to turn it into the
Graduated Income Tax The Takers have long lusted
for, despite being overwhelmingly defeated by the voters
five separate times on the ballot over the decades (in
1962, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1994).
The amendment (Amendment #2) proposed by
Democrat Reps. Peisch of Wellesley and Ferrante of
Gloucester, and Sen. Finegold of Andover, proposes to
amend the "Millionaires Tax" proposal for constitutional
amendment by "striking out lines 1-15 of section 6 and
inserting in place thereof the following:
Article 44 of the
Massachusetts Constitution is hereby amended by
striking out the words “but shall be levied at a
uniform rate throughout the commonwealth upon
incomes derived from the same class of property”
and inserting in place thereof the words “or the
same class of property".
The State House News Service today
reported:
[House
Speaker Robert] DeLeo said he doesn't "have any
idea in terms of where the support or
non-support is for that particular provision,"
and added, "we'll obviously find out on
Wednesday."
[Senate
President Karen] Spilka, who will preside over
Wednesday's joint session, said the idea of a
graduated income tax structure "will certainly
be a topic for the members both in the House and
in the Senate to deal with."
Spilka did
not answer when asked how she, as one vote out
of 200, plans to vote. DeLeo said, "If it comes
up on Wednesday, you'll see then."
If there was any real opposition coming
from the two all-powerful leaders they wouldn't be shy
about it, wouldn't be reluctant to discourage a
perceived revolt arising among the sheep in their flock.
Their rare display of ambivalence speaks for itself, and
of their preferences.
Even Gov. Charlie Baker
– who has been for years
dodging taking a position on the so-called "Millionaires
Tax" for fear of offending somebody somewhere
– reacted to this new
imposition, according to the State House News Service:
"I would certainly oppose that," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, The Boston Herald reported:
Almost $3 billion in state revenue hasn’t been
collected over the years, according to a Herald
analysis of state data, while legislators
prepare to vote on the “millionaires tax” in an
attempt to fatten the state’s wallet. ... The
vast majority of that uncollected revenue, about
$2.4 billion, can be traced back to the
Department of Revenue as well as its Child
Support Enforcement Division, according to data
from the Comptroller’s Office.
As we keep asserting, Massachusetts
DOES NOT have a revenue problem. The biggest
problem it has is profligate over-spending, but
mismanagement and malfeasance is surely contributing to
it.
Hey, lucky Massachusetts citizens
– just-reelected Gov.
Charlie Baker reportedly is already gearing up to run
for a historic third term as Savior of the
Commonwealth. I can't help but appreciate that
though he's done little to impress me over his tenure,
still he's likely better around the edges than any
Democrat governor could be –
especially now, finally actually taking a stand on
something of relevance like a detested graduated income
tax.
If nothing else, the perception of
another possible Baker candidacy is a smart gambit on
his advisors' part. It's a good tactic to avoid
the vulnerability of being tagged "lameduck" for the
remainder of this term, if it's is to be his final one
voluntarily.
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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State House News
Service
Friday, June 7, 2019
Advances - Week of June 9, 2019
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION - INCOME SURTAX: House
and Senate members meet in a Constitutional
Convention to take up an amendment adding a 4
percent income surtax on household income above
$1 million.
The proposed amendment needs 101 votes in two
successive legislative sessions to reach the
2022 ballot. It is subject to amendment this
session, but not next session should it remain
alive then, as is expected.
Rep. Alice Peisch of Wellesley has filed a
graduated income tax amendment (No. 2).
Lawmakers gave the proposal a 156-37 initial
vote of approval on May 8.
Here's the full text of Rep. James O'Day's
amendment (H 86):
"To provide the resources for quality public
education and affordable public colleges and
universities, and for the repair and maintenance
of roads, bridges and public transportation, all
revenues received in accordance with this
paragraph shall be expended, subject to
appropriation, only for these purposes. In
addition to the taxes on income otherwise
authorized under this Article, there shall be an
additional tax of 4 percent on that portion of
annual taxable income in excess of $1,000,000
(one million dollars) reported on any return
related to those taxes. To ensure that this
additional tax continues to apply only to the
commonwealth’s highest income taxpayers, this
$1,000,000 (one million dollars) income level
shall be adjusted annually to reflect any
increases in the cost of living by the same
method used for federal income tax brackets.
This paragraph shall apply to all tax years
beginning on or after January 1, 2023."
Convention Calendar (Wednesday, 1 p.m., House
Chamber)
State House News
Service
Monday, June 10, 2019
DeLeo, Spilka take wait-and-see approach to Grad
Tax
By Colin A. Young
Ahead of this week's planned debate on imposing
an additional tax on residents who earn more
than $1 million a year, legislative leaders were
mum on whether they support the proposal to move
Massachusetts towards a graduated income tax
structure.
Though House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate
President Karen Spilka would not share their own
opinions, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday that he
cannot imagine his administration being
supportive of a move away from the state's
uniform income tax rate.
"The lieutenant governor and I have said on a
number of occasions we don't think we should be
raising taxes on the people of Massachusetts,"
the governor, who has himself proposed to impose
some new taxes on Massachusetts residents, said.
"I can't see us supporting a graduated income
tax."
Baker has for years avoided taking a direct
position on the proposal to impose a 4 percent
surtax on Massachusetts residents who make $1
million or more in annual income, which the
House and Senate are expected to debate in a
joint session Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday's
vote is the first step in a process to get the
surtax proposal on the ballot for voters in
2022.
Ahead of Wednesday's debate, Reps. Alice Peisch
and Ann-Margaret Ferrante and Sen. Barry
Finegold have
filed an amendment to allow a fully
graduated income tax structure -- in which the
income tax rate could be set to correspond to a
person's income -- instead of just the surtax on
income over $1 million.
Finegold was not available to discuss or explain
his amendment but issued a statement to the News
Service. "With the continuing challenges of our
failing transportation infrastructure, revenue
must be on the table, and we need to keep all
options open," he said.
DeLeo said he doesn't "have any idea in terms of
where the support or non-support is for that
particular provision," and added, "we'll
obviously find out on Wednesday."
Spilka, who will preside over Wednesday's joint
session, said the idea of a graduated income tax
structure "will certainly be a topic for the
members both in the House and in the Senate to
deal with."
Spilka did not answer when asked how she, as one
vote out of 200, plans to vote. DeLeo said, "If
it comes up on Wednesday, you'll see then."
The voters of Massachusetts have rejected the
idea of a graduated income tax structure in the
past, and more than once. Most recently, a 1994
proposal for a graduated income tax failed at
the ballot with about 70 percent of voters
rejecting it.
The Massachusetts Republican Party reminded
voters in a press release Monday afternoon that
a graduated income tax has already been shot
down at the ballot and whacked "the Democrats’
newest scheme to unleash a graduated income tax
system on the commonwealth."
"The same party that voted to give themselves a
huge pay raise wants more of your money,"
MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons said. "This is a
blatant cash grab masquerading as class
warfare."
Also keying off the Legislature's 2017 vote to
raise the pay for most lawmakers, Rep. Alyson
Sullivan has filed an amendment for debate
Wednesday that would impose "an additional tax
of 4 percent on that portion of annual taxable
legislative income earned by a member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives or
Massachusetts State Senate."
– Michael P.
Norton contributed to this report.
State House News
Service
Monday, June 10, 2019
Baker urges tech leaders to focus on education,
housing
By Matt Murphy
Even as industry leaders warned how the tax hike
could erode the state's economic strength, Gov.
Charlie Baker steered clear in a speech to
technology leaders Monday of the millionaires
tax proposal that will again be before the
Legislature this week.
Baker, instead, sought the help of technology
industry executives in passing education and
housing legislation that he described as
critical to developing and retaining a highly
qualified workforce.
The governor said after his speech that raising
taxes was not the "solution" to the challenges
faced in Massachusetts, but he avoided stating
directly whether he would oppose a tax on
millionaires if it were to reach the ballot.
Supporters say the tax would generate needed
revenues for education and transportation.
"We have along way to go on this one and
obviously at some point we'll have a
conversation about it but I've said many times
that I don't think the solution to Massachusetts
issues or problems is to raise taxes and I've
said that many times. And I continue to believe
it," Baker said.
The governor spoke to the Massachusetts High
Technology Council at its annual meeting Monday
at the Seaport Hotel. On education, Baker said
his bill seeks to provide additional financial
resources as well as accountability measures to
help improve underperforming schools and
districts.
"There is a large and lively debate going on
about what this should look like," he said.
While Baker acknowledged a debate over education
funding, he said the money question would "work
itself out" and he expects a final bill to reach
him within a year.
As for housing, Baker noted that even in his
historic election in 2018, he and Lt. Gov. Karyn
Polito couldn't crack the 66 percent threshold
that's needed in cities and towns to get around
zoning rules to build new, more affordable
housing. According to election results, Baker
received 66.6 percent of the vote.
He encouraged business leaders to help him
convince the Legislature to pass his "Housing
Choices" bill that would lower that threshold to
a simple majority.
The governor, however, did not address the
proposed surtax on wealthier residents that High
Tech Council President Chris Anderson said was
putting the state's economic development
advantages at risk.
House and Senate lawmakers will debate and vote
on the proposal Wednesday to impose a 4 percent
surtax on income over $1 million, the first step
of a four-year process to get it on the ballot
in 2022.
The proposal appears to have more than enough
support in the Legislature to advance, and won't
face the face hurdles that caused the courts to
strike a similar proposal from the ballot last
summer.
Anderson preceded the governor, and warned that
Massachusetts could be following in the
footsteps of states like Connecticut, Illinois
and New Jersey, where legislators have pursued
tax and fiscal policies that have driven
companies to move to other states like
Tennessee, Georgia and Florida where the tax
burden is lower.
"We could become Connecticut in a New York
minute," said MHTC Executive Director Chris
Anderson, ticking off companies like Mercedes,
Aetna and others that have left Connecticut.
Anderson called the Massachusetts economy the
"envy of the nation," but said lawmakers should
be focused on improving things like
transportation without raising new revenue.
The council, he said, believes that a shortage
of project management personnel, not revenue, is
the "most critical impediment" to improving the
state's infrastructure, and that public-private
partnerships must be an element of the solution.
Anderson also said that the state should be
working with employers to better structure
worker commutes to reduce congestion.
"This week the Massachusetts Legislature begins
a renewed effort to change the state
Constitution to raise personal income tax rates
on different classes of taxpayers and lock those
rates in the Constitution," Anderson said.
"However, if we instead aim at the right target
first we have a better chance of avoiding the
negative fiscal and competitive consequences
that we've all seen in Connecticut, Illinois,
New Jersey and other states that have enacted
policies that ended up ruining their economies."
After his remarks, Baker told reporters that
some companies who have moved to Massachusetts
have cited the state's relatively "steady and
stable" tax burden and its competitive tax
position relative to other northeast states as a
strength.
"But the thing they all come back to over and
over and over again is the quality of people who
live here and the workforce that's available to
them and the creativity and the sort of
ecosystem that exists within Massachusetts,
driven in many ways by our colleges and
universities and by the existing business and
investors that are already here," Baker said.
U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy, who followed Gov. Baker
in addressing the Massachusetts High Tech
Council, told reporters that despite the
business strengths of Massachusetts there are
also inequities in transportation and housing
that government must address.
"I don't think you're doing all this without
additional revenue and so I support it," Kennedy
said of the millionaires tax.
He added, "I'm open if folks have other
suggestions about how your going to be able to
gather the revenue to meet some of these
obligations, I'm certainly open to that but we
have to acknowledge that as booming as Greater
Boston is that doesn't reflect some of the
structural challenges that affect parts, like
the southern part of my district, let alone
opportunities to help grow western Massachusetts
or connect it better regionally throughout New
England."
Ahead of Wednesday's debate, Reps. Alice Peisch
and Ann Margaret Ferrante and Sen. Barry
Finegold have filed an amendment to allow to a
fully graduated income tax instead of just the
surtax on income over $1 million.
Baker had a sharper reaction to that idea than
the millionaires surtax.
"I would certainly oppose that," he told
reporters.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation echoed
the message from Anderson in an analysis
released Monday where the group concluded that
the millionaires tax was not "sound tax policy."
The foundation also said the estimated $1.9
million in new tax revenue was "unlikely" to
materialize due to the mobility of wealthy
taxpayers and the volatility of capital gains
taxes.
"Given the probability of changes to the economy
and taxpayers predilection to avoid taxes it's
extremely likely that revenue collections will
fall well short of projections for these two
reasons," the foundation said.
MTF also said that a surtax on income over $1
million is not the best option available to
legislators, and would tie the hands of the
Legislature to respond until at least 2027 if
the experiment fails.
The foundation suggested a higher income tax
with more personal deductions or a lower sales
tax to achieve a more progressive tax policy.
The Boston Herald
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Beacon Hill seeks more funds while almost $3B
lies uncollected
By Mary Markos
Almost $3 billion in state revenue hasn’t been
collected over the years, according to a Herald
analysis of state data, while legislators
prepare to vote on the “millionaires tax” in an
attempt to fatten the state’s wallet.
The lapse in collections remains as lawmakers
are set to meet in a June 12 Constitutional
Convention, where they will debate the Fair
Share Amendment, which would add a 4% surtax on
household incomes that earn over $1 million.
“Lawmakers should be looking at taxes already
owed before they start imposing higher taxes for
everyone else,” Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance
spokesman Paul Craney told the Herald. “This
isn’t insignificant money, this is revenue that
would make a dramatic difference to the state
budget if they would just go and collect it.”
The vast majority of that uncollected revenue,
about $2.4 billion, can be traced back to the
Department of Revenue as well as its Child
Support Enforcement Division, according to data
from the Comptroller’s Office.
While the DOR’s debts are categorized as
uncollectible in comptroller data, the
department maintains that it still considers tax
debts collectible until the expiration of a
10-year statute of limitations or when written
off in a legal settlement. A DOR spokeswoman did
not answer multiple requests over a period of
weeks for a total amount that has been written
off and that has expired.
“The lack of transparency surrounding these
deadbeat accounts is staggering,” said Mary
Connaughton, director of finance and
administration and government transparency at
the Pioneer Institute. “While it’s certainly
appropriate to protect the private information
of those involved, it’s also reasonable to
expect that bad debts, settlements and
write-offs of public funds should be disclosed
in a manner the public understands.”
The DOR also couldn’t provide a breakdown by tax
type, according to the office, because
uncollectibles are an “estimate” of how much of
those tax receivables might never be collected.
The Child Services debt involves decades of
unpaid child support, interest and penalties
owed to the state.
Massachusetts collected $1.1 billion more in tax
revenue than anticipated in fiscal year 2018,
Minority Leader Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North
Reading) pointed out, saying that the
juxtaposition to a call for more money, “leaves
people scratching their heads.”
“It raises a serious number of questions from a
policy standpoint and a philosophical
standpoint. … It’s something we should be
looking at doing,” Jones said. “That’s a huge
number — one would like to think at least some
of it is collectible.”
Trailing behind the DOR, the three largest
uncollected accounts among state agencies are in
the Department of Transitional Assistance at
$55.9 million, the Executive Office of Labor and
Workforce Development at $24.3 million and the
Department of Public Health at $18 million,
according to the Comptroller’s Office.
Another $30.5 million that has gone uncollected
in the University of Massachusetts system is
composed mostly of student bills, according to
spokesman Colin Murphy, but he said the
university will still collect a portion of that.
“There is an alarmist view of needing revenue. …
If you listen to certain advocates and
lawmakers, they’re desperate for more revenue
because they just want to spend more money,”
Craney said. “Here is a great opportunity to
collect taxes that are supposed to be owed to
the state. They should go collect that money
before they even think about raising more
taxes.”
Catherine Williams, a spokeswoman for House
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, said, “The speaker has
expressed his support in the past for Fair
Share. We await information from the
Comptroller’s Office.”
The Boston Globe
Friday, June 7, 2019
Baker quietly puts political team together as he
considers 3rd term
By Frank Phillips Globe correspondent
Acknowledging he may seek a groundbreaking third
term, Governor Charlie Baker is quietly putting
together a robust staff of political aides,
proven fund-raisers, and seasoned consultants
who worked on his previous two victorious
campaigns, including last year’s landslide
reelection.
Baker and his advisers said they are keeping his
political organization intact to allow him to
consider a third consecutive four-year term in
2022 — something no Massachusetts incumbent
governor has ever done — but that no decision
has been made.
The 62-year-old Republican said his love of the
job and his determination to complete major
initiatives that will extend past this term have
prompted him to consider it.
“Some of the stuff we are working on will likely
take more than four years to see our way through
it,’’ Baker said in a brief interview last week.
He pointed to a signature housing proposal and
the five-year capital plan for the MBTA. “And
there’s a whole series of climate change
initiatives, including expanding and investing
in deep-water off-shore wind.’’
Baker also said he feels compelled to showcase
the successful bipartisan politics and policy
making that he and Beacon Hill’s Democratic
leaders have engaged in.
“I really want to fight for this approach to
governing that’s based on the idea there is such
a thing as a bipartisan, pragmatic approach to
governing,’’ he said. He said the bipartisan
interactions at the State House “stand in
distinct contrast to what is going on around the
country.’’
Still, his interest in running again is highly
unusual: No other Massachusetts governor in
recent political history has begun a second term
with such a bulked-up political organization.
According to online records, Baker’s committee
now has five full-time staff members, costing
over $16,000 a month. The payroll includes Brian
Wynne, the former executive director of the
state Republican Party who managed Baker’s 2018
election.
Baker has also put on retainer two of his
longtime top political consultants: Jim Conroy,
a veteran GOP operative who has been paid
$70,000 since late December, and Will Keyser, a
Democrat who linked up with Baker in his 2014
run for governor. Keyser has collected $40,000
from the Baker Committee since the beginning of
the year.
Any final decision to run again is far down the
road, Baker and his staff said.
“He very much wants to continue to have all the
options before him going forward,’’ said Keyser.
In the meantime, Baker and his team plan to be
active in the political trenches over the next
three years. His committee has spent $23,000 for
a statewide poll taken in February. And, as of
June 1, Baker’s campaign had more than $600,000
in the bank, much of it left over from his last
race.
Baker said he and Lieutenant Governor Karyn
Polito will be heavy presences on the campaign
trail in this year’s municipal elections across
the state. They plan to back candidates,
including Democrats, most of them incumbents,
running for mayor.
“I am going to make sure that I and the
lieutenant governor support and help incumbents
this year on both sides of the partisan aisle
who have helped us and we will also work for
folks running for office in 2020,’’ he said.
Only one governor in state history — Michael
Dukakis — served for 12 years. But his tenure
was broken up by his reelection defeat in 1978,
when he lost the Democratic nomination to Edward
J. King. Dukakis beat King in a 1982 primary
rematch and went on to serve two consecutive
terms.
Baker, who faced only nominal Democratic
opposition last year, could encounter a tough
Democratic opponent in 2022. Several major
political figures who have emerged in recent
years — such as Attorney General Maura Healey,
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, and US
Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III — could be
a major threat to any hopes for a third term.
While Baker is often cited as the most popular
governor in the country, his Democratic
opponents note that the tables can quickly turn
on popular figures.
“If he decided to run again, he would be
formidable,’’ acknowledged Philip Johnston, a
longtime Democratic leader and former chairman
of the state party. But, he added, Massachusetts
history shows that political ground can shift
suddenly for an incumbent governor.
“His political position could easily be turned
around by 2022,” Johnston said.
As he ponders another campaign, Baker faces
complicated political hurdles, even within his
own state party.
In January, conservatives took over the GOP
state committee, rejecting Baker’s choice for
party chairman in favor of a former state
representative and supporter of President Trump.
(Baker is a frequent critic of the president).
Now, instead of running his political operations
out of the Republican State Committee
headquarters on Merrimac Street, Baker’s
political crew is in a $3,000-a-month office on
West Street, just around the corner from his
State House office.
With that conservative takeover of the party,
Baker has also lost the advantage of using the
committee to raise donations under federal
rules, which are hugely more generous than the
$1,000-a-year limit imposed by state campaign
finance law. Donors can give up to $10,000 a
year to the party’s federal committee or $45,500
to a unique joint fund-raising agreement between
the state party and Republican National
Committee. This system also allowed Baker to
raise several millions of dollars to boost his
2014 and 2018 races.
That arrangement, state campaign finance
regulators said in a controversial 2016
decision, slips through the loopholes of a
Massachusetts campaign finance law that aims to
ban the use of federal funds for state political
expenses.
In another sign he is staying politically
active, Baker acknowledged he will again wade
into the elections for the 80 members of the GOP
state committee when Republican presidential
primary voters go to the polls next winter. By
having more of his supporters on the committee,
Baker would have greater control of the party’s
cash use ahead of another campaign.
He did the same in 2016 when, in a controversial
move never before done by a sitting governor,
Baker spent as much as $1 million to elect his
supporters and defeated several conservative
opponents. He has declined to identify the
source of those funds, noting he is not required
by law to do so.
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