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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 — |
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CLT UPDATE
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Craziness expands on Beacon Hill
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PAY FINE FOR NOT VOTING (H
653) – The Elections Laws Committee held a hearing on a
bill that would require eligible voters to cast a ballot in
any November General Election or face a fine of $15 that
would be added to the non-voter’s state tax liability for
each election missed. The measure also clarifies that the
voter does not have to actually vote for anyone and is
allowed to leave the ballot blank.
“There are two schools of thought when
filing legislation,” said the bill’s sponsor Rep. Dylan
Fernandes (D-Falmouth). “One is filing a bill that is
rigorously vetted, that has been combed line by line and
that you hope only receives marginal edits through the
committee process. The other is filing an idea that you
believe is worthy of a robust public debate that will
reshape the bill. Although it won’t pass this session and
may never pass at all, I believe mandatory voting is an idea
worth debate and consideration at the Statehouse and by
thoughtful citizens across the state because it drives at
questions fundamental to our society, which is whether civic
participation in democracy is a duty or a right. I filed
this bill to spark that debate.”
“Only in Massachusetts could a blatantly
unconstitutional reverse-poll tax seem like a good idea,”
said Chip Ford, executive director of Citizens for
Limited Taxation. “Such craziness is pushing the saying
that ‘In Massachusetts everything that is not forbidden is
mandatory’ to a third-world extreme. What would follow,
ordering voters who they must vote for under penalty of
prison?”
“I am in full support of compulsory voting,”
said Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, the executive director of
MassVOTE. “I just want to make sure it does not
disproportionately affect communities of color, low income
and new citizens. Maybe consider a sliding scale.”
Beacon Hill Roll Call
Week of June 17-21, 2019 [Excerpt]
By Bob Katzen
The Baker administration and legislative
leaders have so far badly underestimated tax collections
this fiscal year, a decision that effectively held spending
under affordable levels, resulted in a big deposit into the
state savings account, and which will likely lead to a
sizeable year-end budget surplus.
The cash windfall continued over the first
half of June. Tax collections over the first two weeks of
the month totaled $1.375 billion, up $127 million or 10.1
percent versus the same period in June 2018, according to a
letter Revenue Commissioner Christopher Harding wrote to
lawmakers on Wednesday.
June is the second biggest month of the year
for collections, behind only April, and both individuals and
businesses make estimated payments this month.
Gov. Charlie Baker in late July 2018 signed
a $41.232 billion fiscal 2019 budget that the administration
said reflected a 3.2 percent increase in spending and relied
on just $95 million in one-time revenues, down from $1.2
billion in fiscal 2015.
Through May, or over the first 11 months of
fiscal 2019, state tax collections totaled $26.511 billion,
$952 million or 3.7 percent more than the budget benchmark,
and $1.873 billion or 7.6 percent more than the same fiscal
year-to-date period in 2018.
The growth looks to be continuing into June
and puts the pending state budget talks in an interesting
context....
Withholding collections, often cited as
reflective of how the economy is doing, totaled $629 million
over the first two weeks of June, up $119 million from
mid-month June 2018. Sales and use taxes, which reflect
consumer spending, totaled $101 million for the two-week
period, up 16 percent from last June.
[Revenue Commissioner Christopher] Harding
this week certified that capital gains revenues for fiscal
2019 through May totaled more than $1.8 billion, resulting
in a transfer of $636 million to the stabilization fund, and
pushing the balance in that fund up over $2.6 billion. The
transfer is made automatically based on capital gains
revenues exceeding $1.2 billion, under a state law put in
place in recognition that capital gains collections are
extremely volatile.
The automatic deposit into reserves reduced
the potential revenue surplus for the moment to $805
million, pending June collection results and as long as
spending is held in check.
Beacon Hill has already passed several
supplemental spending bills this fiscal year.
State officials are in the midst of a long
debate over the adequacy of state spending on
transportation, education and other priorities.
Gov. Charlie Baker believes the state can
tackle its education and spending needs without new taxes.
In addition to planning a debate this session on tax
increases and other revenue proposals, legislative leaders
are advancing a surtax on household income above $1 million
per year that they expect to generate $2 billion.
State House News Service
Thursday, June 20, 2019
State tax collections keep pouring in
As lawmakers pad spending for the current
fiscal year, Gov. Charlie Baker has filed legislation that
would keep government open in case legislators are late
again in delivering a fiscal 2020 state budget.
After taking formal sessions off for the
week, the Senate used an informal session attended by four
senators Thursday to pass a $43 million fiscal 2019 spending
bill.
Over in the House, Baker quietly submitted a
$5 billion interim budget to keep state government cash
flowing if an annual budget is not in place by July 1. That
bill (H 3910) is now before the House Ways and Means
Committee, and is likely to be approved by the Legislature
next week.
Last year, Massachusetts was the last state
in the nation to enact an annual budget. Forty-six states
will begin their 2020 fiscal year on July 1, and this year
33 states have enacted a fiscal 2020 budget as of June 18,
according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Senate supplemental spending bill
includes money for collective bargaining contracts, public
defenders, and child support enforcement, areas of spending
also covered in a House supplemental spending bill approved
in May.
The bill (S 2271) also includes language
around medical child support requirements and extensions of
near-term reporting deadlines for two task forces
established under last year's criminal justice overhaul --
one studying bail reform and the other young adults in the
justice system -- to December 31, 2019.
Like the $41.1 million supplemental budget
(H 3819) the House passed on May 29, the bill also allocates
money to district attorney's offices, includes language
around municipal broadband project funding and creates a
task force to study the proper storage of evidence in
criminal cases.
State House News Service
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Baker offers interim budget to keep government running
Progressives navigated the public policy
agenda into some choppy waters this week, learning a key
lesson in democracy along the way: They need bigger hearing
rooms....
But it was the Judiciary Committee,
notorious for its marathon hearings, that had to open two
overflow areas when the Gardner Auditorium filled with
T-shirt clad activists -- pink for choice and red for life
-- eager for their chance to weigh in on the ROE Act.
The controversial bill that would expand
abortion access in Massachusetts has almost become this
session's "Safe Communities Act," testing the influence of
progressives and the limits of the moderate core of the
Democratic Party on Beacon Hill....
DeLeo is much more familiar with the effects
of climate change. As a resident of Winthrop, he says there
are parts of the town that flood far more frequently than
they used to.
That's why the speaker continues to suggest
that he wants a vote before August on legislation that would
dedicate $1 billion or more over the next decade to projects
to protect against rising sea levels and inland flooding,
among other impacts.
The question is where that money will come
from. DeLeo had Rep. Thomas Golden file legislation that
would borrow the funding for a new GreenWorks grant program.
That bill had a hearing on Tuesday in front of the Golden's
Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee.
Meanwhile, Gov. Baker back in January also
filed a 10-year, $1 billion climate change bill that would
also pay to upgrade seawalls, bridges, dams and make other
adaptations by raising real estate transfer fees. Baker
testified personally in favor of his bill on the same day
DeLeo's bill had a hearing, just before a different
committee -- the Joint Committee on Revenue.
Baker said his strategy would provide more
flexibility in how the funds are spent, and allow the state
to leverage public and private funding in ways borrowing
could not.
Either way, leadership on Beacon Hill is
looking to make a big investment in climate change
preparedness at a time when money seems to be of little
concern.
Strong tax collections this year have budget
monitors relaxing a week before the end of the fiscal year.
The Department of Revenue certified a $636 million deposit
into the "rainy day" fund this week, pushing that fund's
balance north of $2.6 billion, the highest its been since
before the Great Recession.
Even a lackluster June is likely to leave
lawmakers and the Baker administration with a year-end
surplus to spend and a pretty high level of comfort going
into fiscal 2020.
State House News Service
Friday, June 21, 2019
Weekly Roundup [Excerpt]
Rep. Mike Connolly has offered a preview of
what House progressives may push for if and when the House
finally puts a housing production bill on the floor for
debate....
A Cambridge Democrat, Connolly has filed a
multi-bill "Housing for All" package with measures that
would revive the option of rent control, spend an additional
$1 billion on affordable housing, and tax large businesses
to finance a homelessness prevention fund.
Several advocates active in the housing
policy debate on Beacon Hill said while they find the ideas
striking, they are uncertain if supporters will be able to
find enough political consensus to enact the changes. But
for Connolly and other progressives involved, substantial
reform is the only way to address a growing crisis.
"As progressives, as people on the left, we
all agree when it comes to health care, the government is
going to play a central role in making sure everyone has
health care. When it comes to education, similarly, we all
believe government should play a central role," Connolly
said. "Then, when we get to housing, we're all over the
place, and I think we rely too often on a market that isn't
working for most people. I think it would be really helpful
to us to start putting housing on that same footing that we
do for health care and education." ...
Progressive lawmakers who signed onto the
package want to see significant state investment too,
calling for additional spending to increase housing
availability and protections for the most vulnerable
residents.
One bill would authorize another $1 billion
in bonding for housing production, building on the $1.8
billion lawmakers authorized last year....
"This package goes farther than anything
we've seen so far, and we welcome this," said Lisa Owens,
executive director of working-class advocacy group City Life
/ Vida Urbana. "In fact, we want to see more legislators
step up and take bold action like this because we're in a
crisis."
State House News Service
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Cambridge rep offers "Housing for All" package
Declaring that "voting rights are civil
rights," Attorney General Maura Healey told lawmakers
Thursday that allowing people to register to vote and then
cast ballots on Election Day would help populations often
left out of the political process become more engaged.
Healey joined Secretary of State William
Galvin and advocates from more than a dozen organizations at
a Joint Committee on Election Laws hearing, where she argued
that the current 20-day registration deadline ahead of
elections is an unnecessary barrier that drives down voter
participation.
"In Massachusetts, we know that 15 percent
of people who are eligible to vote can't vote because they
aren't registered," Healey said. "That's over 780,000
voting-age adults in our state whose voices aren't counted,
aren't heard on election day. The result is unmistakable:
fewer people of color, lower-income residents, renters and
younger people are participating in the process."
Several bills before the committee (S 396 /
H 685 and H 636) would allow adults with proof of residence
to register at their polling places or early-voting
locations and cast ballots all in one trip.
State House News Service
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Galvin, Healey behind election day registration push
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
When I was
asked by Beacon Hill Roll Call a few days ago what my
reaction was to the bill for the state to start charging
a fine for not voting I thought it had to be a
joke. Then I pulled up and read the bill (An
Act making voting obligatory and increasing
turnout in elections –
H.653).
The crazies are running the Beacon Hill asylum!
Already Democrats hold almost all seats in the
Legislature but for a handful held by the endangered
species known as Republicans. Already incumbents
need not even campaign for reelection; most don't even
face a competitor. Why would a Democrat want to
mess with a locked-up certainty?
Then I
remembered, as more are recognizing, that the real
political divide in Massachusetts is no longer between
traditional Democrats and Republicans.
Increasingly
the real competition is between "Regular" Democrats
and Progressive Democrats – The
Crazies.
Tax revenue
continues to pour in and overflow the state's coffers,
spending and squandering in bloated state budgets plods
on increasing by a billion taxpayers' dollars year after
year, but The Takers demand more, more, ever
more.
Through May, or over the
first 11 months of fiscal 2019, state tax
collections totaled $26.511 billion, $952
million or 3.7 percent more than the budget
benchmark, and $1.873 billion or 7.6 percent
more than the same fiscal year-to-date period in
2018.
The growth looks to be
continuing into June and puts the pending state
budget talks in an interesting context. . . .
State officials are in the
midst of a long debate over the adequacy of
state spending on transportation, education and
other priorities.
Gov. Charlie Baker believes
the state can tackle its education and spending
needs without new taxes. In addition to planning
a debate this session on tax increases and other
revenue proposals, legislative leaders are
advancing a surtax on household income above $1
million per year that they expect to generate $2
billion. . . .
Strong tax collections this
year have budget monitors relaxing a week before
the end of the fiscal year. The Department of
Revenue certified a $636 million deposit into
the "rainy day" fund this week, pushing that
fund's balance north of $2.6 billion, the
highest its been since before the Great
Recession.
Even a lackluster June is
likely to leave lawmakers and the Baker
administration with a year-end surplus to spend
and a pretty high level of comfort going into
fiscal 2020.
Last year, as
often the case in Massachusetts, it was the last state
in the nation to produce a state budget. Already
this year Gov. Baker is making plans for a "temporary"
budget to carry the state through more of the usual
dysfunction from the Legislature. So consumed are
our legislators with craziness and silly wish list
legislation like taxing eligible voters who chose for
whatever reason not to vote and other la-la-land foolish
ideas that they can't seem to get around to their most
important function, a state budget on time for the new
fiscal year that arrives in one week. In the end
all the elected place-holding buffoons playing
government at our expense will rubber-stamp whatever the
six or eight adults in the room bang out as an
acceptable state budget when they get around to it.
Massachusetts
has too many useless legislators, and those legislators
have far too much time on their hands to contemplate
needless damage.
Rep. Mike Connolly has
offered a preview of what House progressives may
push for if and when the House finally puts a
housing production bill on the floor for
debate....
A Cambridge Democrat,
Connolly has filed a multi-bill "Housing for
All" package with measures that would revive the
option of rent control, spend an additional $1
billion on affordable housing, and tax large
businesses to finance a homelessness prevention
fund. . . .
Progressive lawmakers who
signed onto the package want to see significant
state investment too, calling for additional
spending to increase housing availability and
protections for the most vulnerable residents.
One bill would authorize
another $1 billion in bonding for housing
production, building on the $1.8 billion
lawmakers authorized last year....
"This package goes farther
than anything we've seen so far, and we welcome
this," said Lisa Owens, executive director of
working-class advocacy group City Life / Vida
Urbana. "In fact, we want to see more
legislators step up and take bold action like
this because we're in a crisis."
These
Progressives crazies toss billions of our dollars around
like they're nickels. Obviously they've never
heard the old axiom: "A billion here, a billion
there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money."
At least the "Regular" Democrats toss billions around
like they're at least dimes if not quarters.
I can't help
but wonder if anyone on Beacon Hill can possibly be
taking any of these insane proposals seriously.
Then I think about the "Regular" Democrats (mere
liberals all) – how
threatened they must feel surrounded by the socialist
cacophony, perhaps as endangered and closing in on
extinction as Massachusetts Republicans.
Then I get a
call from a reporter asking how I feel about taxing
those who don't vote, the penalty of course
adjusted for the usual protected groups to "make sure it
does not disproportionately affect communities of color,
low income and new citizens," and can't believe where we
are, that I'm even being asked this. It's
stunning how far Massachusetts, at one time called "The
Cradle of Liberty," has fallen, declined since John
Adams wrote the state Constitution.
It's going to
take much effort from all of us to stand our ground as
taxpayers, push back and hold our ground during this
political epidemic. It will take longer still to
reject this pathology from the body politic and return a
semblance of sanity to Beacon Hill. That is our
challenge today, and for as long as possible.
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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State House News
Service
Thursday, June 20, 2019
State tax collections keep pouring in
By Michael P. Norton
The Baker administration and legislative leaders
have so far badly underestimated tax collections
this fiscal year, a decision that effectively
held spending under affordable levels, resulted
in a big deposit into the state savings account,
and which will likely lead to a sizeable
year-end budget surplus.
The cash windfall continued over the first half
of June. Tax collections over the first two
weeks of the month totaled $1.375 billion, up
$127 million or 10.1 percent versus the same
period in June 2018, according to a letter
Revenue Commissioner Christopher Harding wrote
to lawmakers on Wednesday.
June is the second biggest month of the year for
collections, behind only April, and both
individuals and businesses make estimated
payments this month.
Gov. Charlie Baker in late July 2018 signed a
$41.232 billion fiscal 2019 budget that the
administration said reflected a 3.2 percent
increase in spending and relied on just $95
million in one-time revenues, down from $1.2
billion in fiscal 2015.
Through May, or over the first 11 months of
fiscal 2019, state tax collections totaled
$26.511 billion, $952 million or 3.7 percent
more than the budget benchmark, and $1.873
billion or 7.6 percent more than the same fiscal
year-to-date period in 2018.
The growth looks to be continuing into June and
puts the pending state budget talks in an
interesting context.
The fiscal 2020 budget proposals that Sen.
Michael Rodrigues and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz are
hashing out in a conference committee are based
on an expectation of tax collections growing to
$29.23 billion, which officials thought at the
time would be a 2.7 percent increase over fiscal
2019 tax revenues. However, if the state this
month collects only as much as it did last June,
it will have collected $29.67 billion, more than
$400 million more this fiscal year than budget
writers are counting on the state to collect in
all of fiscal 2020.
Growth "continued unabated"
Area economists on Thursday signaled they
believe the state economy is "still growing
respectably."
Economists aligned with the MassBenchmarks
initiative cited some caution signs, including
tight labor markets, slower global economic
growth, and uncertainty over the future of
federal government policies.
However, MassBenchmarks concluded that at the
moment state economic growth "continues
unabated."
"Even the state's Gateway Cities have
experienced a steady decline in their
unemployment rates, a welcome sign that the
benefits of a period of growth that is now in
its tenth year are finally being felt outside of
the Greater Boston region," MassBenchmarks
wrote, summarizing talks among economists. "It
does appear that employment growth is slowing
both regionally and nationally. In
Massachusetts, the slowing job growth is at
least in part the result of slowing growth in
the labor force, which reflects longstanding
demographic trends."
Economists estimated there are 250,000 people in
Massachusetts who are working part-time but
would prefer to work full-time and who are not
in the labor force but want a job and would take
one if it were available. This pool of potential
workers, however, may not have the skills
employers are seeking, the economists said,
adding "in this context, federal policies that
serve to limit international immigration are
particularly unhelpful and poorly timed."
Withholding collections, often cited as
reflective of how the economy is doing, totaled
$629 million over the first two weeks of June,
up $119 million from mid-month June 2018. Sales
and use taxes, which reflect consumer spending,
totaled $101 million for the two-week period, up
16 percent from last June.
Harding this week certified that capital gains
revenues for fiscal 2019 through May totaled
more than $1.8 billion, resulting in a transfer
of $636 million to the stabilization fund, and
pushing the balance in that fund up over $2.6
billion. The transfer is made automatically
based on capital gains revenues exceeding $1.2
billion, under a state law put in place in
recognition that capital gains collections are
extremely volatile.
The automatic deposit into reserves reduced the
potential revenue surplus for the moment to $805
million, pending June collection results and as
long as spending is held in check.
Beacon Hill has already passed several
supplemental spending bills this fiscal year.
State officials are in the midst of a long
debate over the adequacy of state spending on
transportation, education and other priorities.
Gov. Charlie Baker believes the state can tackle
its education and spending needs without new
taxes. In addition to planning a debate this
session on tax increases and other revenue
proposals, legislative leaders are advancing a
surtax on household income above $1 million per
year that they expect to generate $2 billion.
State House News
Service
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Baker offers interim budget to keep government
running
By Katie Lannan and Michael P. Norton
As lawmakers pad spending for the current fiscal
year, Gov. Charlie Baker has filed legislation
that would keep government open in case
legislators are late again in delivering a
fiscal 2020 state budget.
After taking formal sessions off for the week,
the Senate used an informal session attended by
four senators Thursday to pass a $43 million
fiscal 2019 spending bill.
Over in the House, Baker quietly submitted a $5
billion interim budget to keep state government
cash flowing if an annual budget is not in place
by July 1. That bill (H 3910) is now before the
House Ways and Means Committee, and is likely to
be approved by the Legislature next week.
Last year, Massachusetts was the last state in
the nation to enact an annual budget. Forty-six
states will begin their 2020 fiscal year on July
1, and this year 33 states have enacted a fiscal
2020 budget as of June 18, according to the
National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Senate supplemental spending bill includes
money for collective bargaining contracts,
public defenders, and child support enforcement,
areas of spending also covered in a House
supplemental spending bill approved in May.
The bill (S 2271) also includes language around
medical child support requirements and
extensions of near-term reporting deadlines for
two task forces established under last year's
criminal justice overhaul -- one studying bail
reform and the other young adults in the justice
system -- to December 31, 2019.
Like the $41.1 million supplemental budget (H
3819) the House passed on May 29, the bill also
allocates money to district attorney's offices,
includes language around municipal broadband
project funding and creates a task force to
study the proper storage of evidence in criminal
cases.
The House version extended authorization for
horse racing and simulcasting for another year;
that language is not in the Senate bill. The
current simulcasting laws are set to expire on
July 31.
Last year, racing and simulcasting became
illegal in Massachusetts for about 36 hours when
lawmakers did not pass a reauthorization bill
until after the July 31 deadline.
Differences between the two 2019 spending bills
will need to be worked out before a bill can be
sent to Gov. Charlie Baker.
The Senate bill, according to a summary, also
allocates $4.5 million for the MassHire
Department of Career Services, $3.7 million for
early education and care quality improvement,
$1.9 million for Executive Office of Labor and
Workforce Development shared services and
$140,000 for the military division. It would
also expand the state's Military Asset and
Security Strategy Task Force, adding the
secretary of technology services and security
and the executive director of the Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative as new members.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Cambridge rep offers "Housing for All" package
By Chris Lisinski
Rep. Mike Connolly has offered a preview of what
House progressives may push for if and when the
House finally puts a housing production bill on
the floor for debate.
Gov. Charlie Baker and others have been calling
for months on the Legislature to make it easier
for zoning changes to pass at the local level as
a way to help an increasingly strained housing
market, but critics of his approach say it fails
to address the major problem of housing
affordability.
A Cambridge Democrat, Connolly has filed a
multi-bill "Housing for All" package with
measures that would revive the option of rent
control, spend an additional $1 billion on
affordable housing, and tax large businesses to
finance a homelessness prevention fund.
Several advocates active in the housing policy
debate on Beacon Hill said while they find the
ideas striking, they are uncertain if supporters
will be able to find enough political consensus
to enact the changes. But for Connolly and other
progressives involved, substantial reform is the
only way to address a growing crisis.
"As progressives, as people on the left, we all
agree when it comes to health care, the
government is going to play a central role in
making sure everyone has health care. When it
comes to education, similarly, we all believe
government should play a central role," Connolly
said. "Then, when we get to housing, we're all
over the place, and I think we rely too often on
a market that isn't working for most people. I
think it would be really helpful to us to start
putting housing on that same footing that we do
for health care and education."
One of the bills in the package, co-authored by
Rep. Nika Elugardo, authorizes rent control — a
practice that voters banned in a 1994 ballot
question — but also would allow municipalities
to implement tenant-protection measures, such as
limiting the conditions under which evictions
can occur, requiring landlords to accept
up-front payments such as security deposits in
installments, and regulating condominium
conversions more strictly.
Connolly stressed that the Elugardo bill does
not impose any mandates, instead allowing cities
and towns to opt in to whichever restrictions,
including rent control, they choose and then
build the specific mechanics based on local
needs.
"The particular dynamics and numbers of what
that looks like in each community might be
different, so we didn't try to prescribe those
numbers," Connolly said.
Another local option proposed in one of the
bills would allow communities to tax vacant
units in large residential buildings,
specifically targeting apartments and condos
that wealthy tenants often rent or purchase but
rarely visit. Participating towns and cities
could charge a tax, calculated at 12.5 percent
of the most recent rent, for units that have not
been occupied for at least 90 days.
Some bills in the package do create statewide
mandates, such as one requiring that communities
zone for multifamily housing within a mile of
public transit, an idea included in other
legislation filed this session.
"That's something that is positive that smart
growth people agree about, that affordable
housing people agree about," said Steve Farrell,
director of communications and policy at Metro
Housing|Boston.
Progressive lawmakers who signed onto the
package want to see significant state investment
too, calling for additional spending to increase
housing availability and protections for the
most vulnerable residents.
One bill would authorize another $1 billion in
bonding for housing production, building on the
$1.8 billion lawmakers authorized last year. One
quarter of the new money would be directed to
public housing authorities, and the remainder
would fund affordable housing development.
Targeting homelessness is a specific focus of
Connolly's. A different bill in the package —
sharing the same "Housing for All" name as the
entire legislative agenda — calls for a
statewide "Homelessness Prevention and Reduction
Fund" that would offer subsidized stable
housing, mental health treatment and other
support services to at-risk families, all funded
by a tax on large companies.
The tax, an additional 0.25 percent on gross
business receipts above $50 million, is an idea
that Connolly said was directly inspired by the
Proposition C measure San Francisco voters
passed in November.
"Even though that can be an up-front cost and
investment, in the long run, when you consider
the effects on health, a lot of people think
that would be the most effective and efficient
way to address homelessness," Connolly said.
Connolly said the effort could carry secondary
benefits as well, helping reduce the severity of
addiction, poverty and other social issues that
are often magnified by homelessness.
The dozen-plus progressive lawmakers who
cosponsored some or all of Connolly's housing
bills face questions about how feasible the
proposals actually are. Even Baker's
comparatively modest legislation to change the
local majority needed for zoning changes from
two-thirds to 51 percent, which has support from
a range of advocacy groups and many lawmakers,
has yet to go before the Legislature for a full
vote despite first being filed last session.
Leaders of several organizations that work on
housing and related issues spoke in muted terms
about the package. While interested in hearing
debate on the proposals, they stopped short of
outright endorsing bills.
"It's not entirely clear what we have broad
stakeholder consensus around, which is why there
needs to be more discussion and
consensus-building," said Andre Leroux,
executive director of the Massachusetts Smart
Growth Alliance. "Rep. Connolly is trying to
push the conversation, which is a good thing,
but will it push that far? I'm not sure."
But supporters say that incremental solutions
will not bring relief soon enough, pointing to
growing prices and lagging supply in the housing
market.
Since 2010, Massachusetts added 245,000 jobs but
only 71,600 new housing units, and most
communities around Boston restrict zoning for
affordable homes that can fit multiple tenants,
according to a report released this month.
Another study earlier in the year found that
there are more than twice as many families on
the lowest level of the income scale as there
are units of housing availale and affordable to
them.
"This package goes farther than anything we've
seen so far, and we welcome this," said Lisa
Owens, executive director of working-class
advocacy group City Life / Vida Urbana. "In
fact, we want to see more legislators step up
and take bold action like this because we're in
a crisis."
State House News
Service
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Galvin, Healey behind election day registration
push
By Chris Lisinski
Declaring that "voting rights are civil rights,"
Attorney General Maura Healey told lawmakers
Thursday that allowing people to register to
vote and then cast ballots on Election Day would
help populations often left out of the political
process become more engaged.
Healey joined Secretary of State William Galvin
and advocates from more than a dozen
organizations at a Joint Committee on Election
Laws hearing, where she argued that the current
20-day registration deadline ahead of elections
is an unnecessary barrier that drives down voter
participation.
"In Massachusetts, we know that 15 percent of
people who are eligible to vote can't vote
because they aren't registered," Healey said.
"That's over 780,000 voting-age adults in our
state whose voices aren't counted, aren't heard
on election day. The result is unmistakable:
fewer people of color, lower-income residents,
renters and younger people are participating in
the process."
Several bills before the committee (S 396 / H
685 and H 636) would allow adults with proof of
residence to register at their polling places or
early-voting locations and cast ballots all in
one trip.
Speakers who testified in favor of the
legislation Thursday argued that the change was
crucial to ensure greater access to elections.
In the 21 states that have already adopted
similar policies, they said, participation rates
have improved, particularly among students who
change addresses frequently and those who
experience language barriers navigating typical
deadlines.
"People don't understand all the rules and all
the policies that go into whether or not they
can vote, and the reality is they shouldn't have
to," said Sophia Hall, an attorney with Lawyers
for Civil Rights. "We as the elected on their
behalf should be doing that work for them. We
should make this work as easy as breathing,
because that is what America is about."
Advocates also said a same-day system would help
fix common problems at polling places and cut
down on the use of provisional ballots whose
validity election workers must confirm in a
time-consuming process.
"Over half of the people who use EDR in those
states who have adopted it are already
registered to vote, but they encounter a problem
with their registration: a wrong address, a typo
in their name when they show up to vote," said
Nancy Brumback, legislative chair for the League
of Women Voters Massachusetts. "EDR allows these
people to make the necessary changes to vote
without resorting to a provisional ballot."
Speakers pushed back on worries about fraud,
noting that no one could register without a
valid ID listing a current address and pointing
to a wide range of academic studies that have
found voter fraud to be extremely rare.
There was little opposition to the proposal at
the hearing, but Thomas Joyce, legislative agent
for the Massachusetts Town Clerks' Association,
did raise concerns that municipal election
officials may not be properly equipped to deal
with the change, particularly if it comes soon
enough to be in place for the 2020 election.
While the clerks do not oppose the concept of
Election Day registration, Joyce said, some
worry they do not have enough connectivity at
polling places to link into the statewide voter
registration system to validate new voter
submissions.
"If the system were updated to allow the clerks
to have the information in front of them at the
polling place, it would work smoothly and
without a hitch," Joyce said. "That's all I'm
asking, all the clerks are asking. They have no
issue with same-day registration and testified
in favor of early voting."
The push for Election Day registration is the
latest in a string of electoral reforms aimed at
expanding access to ballots and improving the
convenience of voting. Massachusetts implemented
its first period of early voting in 2016, and
two years later, lawmakers approved an automatic
voter registration system.
Many of those changes have come during Galvin's
tenure as secretary of state. In testimony at
Thursday's hearing, Galvin said he supports both
Election Day registration — describing it as the
"final step" needed to ensure maximum public
engagement — and an expansion of early voting
into presidential primaries.
Since 2016, Massachusetts has offered 10 days of
early voting ahead of semiannual state
elections, drawing more than 1.5 million ballots
over the two elections in that span. Legislation
currently before the committee (H 684 / S 387)
that Galvin requested would add a five-day
period to cast ballots before the March 2020
presidential primary.
Galvin said the change is urgent given what is
likely to be significant interest in the
upcoming presidential race and that it would
help both voters and election officials.
"Early voting, which we've had in two successive
general elections, has been extremely popular
and successful," Galvin said. "It will be a
great convenience for voters to be able to vote
early, but I also think from a practical,
administrative point of view, it's going to
allow local officials to be in a better position
to deal with large turnout at the polls."
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