Contact: Chip Ford, Executive Director — 781-639-9709
Paul Gangi;
pfgangi@massfiscal.org
BOSTON –
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance (MassFiscal) and Citizens for Limited
Taxation (CLT) made the following statement today in response to the
publication of a push poll commissioned by environmental lobbying
organizations intended to boost state participation for the
Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) scheme [POLL].
TCI has been under fire in Massachusetts and other states within the TCI
jurisdiction. Recently, Governor Charlie Baker cast doubt toward joining
the compact. New Hampshire has already opted out, a fact confirmed by
proponents who did not include the Granite State in their push poll.
Glaring
problems can be found in the poll. Most notably that proponents did not
include any questions pertaining to the major increase in gasoline and
diesel prices to consumers. They failed to include questions on the
impact of the virus to the economy and transportation habits since the
pandemic changed how a lot of people go to work. The breakdown of the
poll also included an enormously high sampling of Democratic voters, at
44.1%, while Republican voters were only at 28.5% and Independents were
skewed at 24.5%. Despite a very high sampling of Democratic voters, the
poll was completed by nearly 80% white voters, which is questionable at
best.
“Today’s push
poll doesn’t ask a single question on cost, though it did allow one
response to its next question: ‘TCI will be an economic burden on
consumers and families in my state and will increase costs on basic
needs like gas and transportation,’” stated Chip Ford, executive
director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “Proponents are aware of
those economic costs, proven by their follow-up question. If this poll
seeks to be considered legitimate, it should have asked taxpayers and
consumers to weigh the benefits of TCI versus its projected costs.”
“How can the
public or state leaders find any merit in this poll when it doesn’t ask
the most basic questions that are being debated about the program?”
added Ford. “Apparently results from it didn’t fit the pro-TCI
narrative, so they excluded sharing those results with the public.
Without that vital data it would be appropriate to question this poll’s
credibility.”
“The TCI push
poll is just that. Instead of sampling a reflective mix of Republicans,
Democrats and Independents, they choose to target Democratic voters by a
margin of 44.1% compared to Republican at 28.5% and Independents at
24.5%. In Massachusetts and elsewhere, that is certainly a major under
sampling of independent voters. That’s not scientific, it's partisan,”
stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesman of the Massachusetts Fiscal
Alliance.
“What’s worse
is that despite an over sample toward Democratic voters, the entire poll
was done by nearly 80% white voters. TCI is getting major pushback in
other states from minority communities who view this as a way to tax
poor people to fund rich people’s electric vehicles. It’s possible the
push poll didn’t want that to come out in their results. It’s really
shameful,” concluded Craney.
In stark
contrast to today’s push poll, the Fiscal Alliance Foundation recently
commissioned a non-partisan Massachusetts poll that asked voters to
weigh the merits of TCI. It included questions pertaining to the cost of
the program, the impact that TCI would have on the environment, and the
appropriateness of TCI given the changes brought on by the COVID-19
pandemic. That poll can be found at:
www.fiscalalliancefoundation.org/statewide-poll-covid-19-impacts-tci.
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