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Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945
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“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
48 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
— and
their Institutional Memory — |
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CLT UPDATE
Monday, June 13, 2022
Still No Relief from
Over-Taxation or Bidenflation
Jump directly
to CLT's Commentary on the News
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Most Relevant News
Excerpts
(Full news reports follow Commentary)
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House and
Senate leaders have ruled out a suspension of the
state's gas tax, but House Speaker Ronald Mariano
and Senate President Karen Spilka both said Monday
that their chambers are busy crafting relief
packages that will aim to help residents feeling the
pain of inflation and/or COVID-19.
Mariano
said his team is working through some of the ideas
in Gov. Charlie Baker's roughly $700 million tax
relief plan and "a couple of others that I've got
from members to sort of create a wide-ranging array
of help."
Spilka
said senators are "in discussions and deliberation"
about a relief package and pledged it would emerge
for a vote "as soon as we have something concrete"
but before the end of July.
"We're
looking at relief for low-income, the most
vulnerable populations and working families that we
have. We're looking at relief for seniors. We're
looking at relief in various forms," Spilka said
Monday....
"This
whole thing about tax cuts, well tax cuts aren't
going to come 'til next year and I think we have to
be mindful of that. We keep hearing these cries for
immediate relief -- eliminate the gas tax and all
that -- and, you know, the gas tax has proven to be,
as the Senate president alluded to in Connecticut, a
myth," Mariano said. "So we want to make sure
whatever we do gets into the hands of the folks who
are most severely impacted by the COVID."
State
House News Service
Monday, June 6, 2022
Tax Relief Still In The Works
The wait
continues for Democrats to formulate a tax relief
plan, and one think tank leader said Tuesday she is
concerned that a focus only on the most vulnerable
taxpayers could hamstring the state's economic
growth.
Pointing
to the growth of remote work and shifting population
trends, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President
Eileen McAnneny cautioned lawmakers against splicing
off Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed tax breaks for
renters, seniors and low-income earners from his
push to overhaul the estate and capital gains taxes.
McAnneny,
whose group has already endorsed Baker's $700
million proposal that remains on ice atop Beacon
Hill, said those latter two measures that have drawn
more skepticism from Democrats are important to
encouraging investors and entrepreneurs to plant
roots in the Bay State.
"The
chances of a tax package are pretty good," McAnneny
said during an event hosted by the Massachusetts
Association of Health Plans. "What I worry about is
this: that there will be a tendency on part of the
Legislature to hand-pick parts of the governor's tax
proposal that help the most vulnerable, and not that
that's a bad thing, but that they won't do any of
the other things that better position Massachusetts
for growth." ...
Baker in
January filed a $700 million tax relief package (H
4361) that would increase tax credits available for
parents accessing child care and for senior
citizens, boost the tax deduction renters can claim,
and increase the minimum income level above which
Massachusetts residents must file taxes.
His
legislation also seeks to reduce the short-term
capital gains tax rate from 12 percent to 5 percent,
a step Baker said in his filing letter would "align
the Commonwealth with most other states and make
Massachusetts a more attractive place to live," as
well as double the threshold at which the estate tax
kicks in to $2 million and apply it only to value
that exceeds that level.
In an
interview with the News Service after the MAHP
event, McAnneny said Massachusetts is an "outlier"
on the estate tax.
"Massachusetts is an aging state, and a lot of
people are thinking about those things. As they plan
where to live in retirement, I think that weighs
heavily," she said. "There's a tax burden for
Massachusetts folks that doesn't exist in a majority
of states, and in those states with an estate tax,
it's far less burdensome." ...
Some top
Democrats have indicated they want reforms to focus
on helping residents who face the greatest needs.
"We're
looking at relief for low-income, the most
vulnerable populations and working families that we
have. We're looking at relief for seniors. We're
looking at relief in various forms," Senate
President Karen Spilka said Monday.
The Tufts
Center for State Policy Analysis floated some other
ideas in a new report published Tuesday. The
"simplest approach," cSPA Executive Director Evan
Horowitz wrote, would be to give all taxpayers a
one-time rebate, an option under consideration in 10
other states across the political spectrum.
Other
options that the non-partisan center mentioned
include consolidating two separate tax breaks for
young children, adjusting the rate table while
increasing the estate tax threshold, boosting the
earned income tax credit, and exempting some
unemployment benefits from taxes....
The Bay
State is on pace to haul in about $6.5 billion more
in taxes through fiscal year 2022, which ends June
30, than it did a year earlier when taxpayers
produced a surplus of roughly $5 billion, McAnneny
and [MTF
Executive Vice President Doug] Howgate told
attendees at Tuesday's event.
Some of
that money will automatically go into the state's
rainy day savings account, which is set to swell
above $6 billion by the end of this year -- roughly
12 percent as much as the House and Senate proposed
spending in their FY23 annual budgets -- and could
surpass $7 billion by the end of next fiscal
year....
Howgate
said state law currently imposes a ceiling on that
savings account. Once the rainy day balance hits 15
percent of the state's "operating revenues," a term
he said has not been clearly defined in some time,
additional dollars that would be transferred to
savings instead must go into a tax reduction fund
that would offer rebates to taxpayers....
Even after
accounting for transfers and other needs, lawmakers
are still in line to be gifted a multibillion-dollar
budget surplus for the second straight year, this
time just a few months before all 200 seats in the
Legislature are up for election.
"The
fiscal overview, in a word, is rosy," McAnneny said.
"I can't recall a time when the state had so many
resources at its disposal."
State
House News Service
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
MTF Chief: Tax Package Needs To Be
About Growth, Not Just Relief
Revenue Surge Approaching Formerly 'Theoretical'
Territory
Remember
when we were stunned that gas prices had eclipsed $4
a gallon? Those were the days.
The
unimaginable pain at the pump is expected to hit a
new level of sticker shock this week as the average
gas price in Massachusetts approaches $5 per gallon.
Meanwhile, State House leaders on Monday reiterated
that they won’t suspend the gas tax amid these
staggering record-high prices....
The $4.96
a gallon is $2.03 higher than one year ago when gas
was $2.93 a gallon.
The
current average is 66 cents higher than a month ago
($4.30), and 23 cents more than last week ($4.73).
The Bay State’s average is 10 cents higher than the
national average ($4.86)....
Other
states have suspended their gas taxes because of the
surging gas prices, but Massachusetts State House
leaders have continued to reject calls to freeze the
tax.
The
Boston Herald
Monday, June 6, 2022
Massachusetts gas prices may
hit $5 a gallon this week,
State House leaders refuse to suspend gas tax amid
soaring prices
Most
Massachusetts state lawmakers will stroll into
another term in office unopposed, poised to face no
declared opponents in both the Sept. 6 primary and
Nov. 8 general elections.
All 160
House districts and 40 Senate districts are up for
grabs every two years. Among the pool of lawmakers
seeking reelection, 92 representatives and 16
senators are the only candidates to qualify for the
ballot in their respective districts, according to a
News Service analysis of preliminary data from
Secretary of State William Galvin.
Those
legislators could still face write-in challenges,
but given the sizable advantage incumbency offers,
it appears nearly certain that 54 percent of the
Legislature will cruise to another two years in
office with minimal friction....
And as a
result, millions of voters will effectively have no
options in the House or Senate beyond the status quo
as they grapple with rampant inflation, lingering
COVID-19 threats, a growing climate crisis and more.
The
uncompetitive trend is present up and down the
legislative hierarchy....
Republicans Aim to Stave Off Further Losses
Republican
Gov. Charlie Baker is wrapping up an eight-year
tenure in the corner office, but the MassGOP has
seen its numbers on Beacon Hill diminish in recent
years.
The House
kicked off the 2019-2020 lawmaking session with 127
Democrats, 32 Republicans and one independent, Rep.
Susannah Whipps of Athol, while the Senate opened
that term with 34 Democrats and six Republicans.
Today,
following the most recent round of biennial general
elections and a string of resignation-fueled special
elections, Republicans hold 28 seats in the House
compared to Democrats' 126 and only three of 40
Senate seats.
MassGOP
leaders hope the party's rightward shift and vocal
embrace of President Donald Trump can pry a few wins
away from Democrats, or at least prevent their
opponents from further expanding on supermajority
margins in both chambers.
Altogether, 55 House districts and 19 Senate
districts will feature at least one Republican
candidate on the ballot in November -- less than
half in each chamber -- while Democrats are in the
mix for 141 House districts and 38 Senate districts.
State
House News Service
Monday, June 6, 2022
Election Forecast:
Most Lawmakers Will Cruise To Reelection
GOP Candidates Active In Less Than Half of
Legislative Districts
Democrats
have long considered the use of voter ID anathema to
democracy.
It’s been
derided as restrictive, racist and a stain on the
sanctity of elections in America.
Except
when Democrats vote among themselves, as in last
weekend’s state convention in Worcester. Then
maintaining voting integrity is the order of the
day.
As the
Herald reported, delegates were ordered to complete
a voter identification process by 11:30 a.m.
Saturday or they were banned from voting, said a
delegate who spoke with the Herald on the condition
of anonymity.
A deadline
to register, and consequences if it isn’t done on
time? Where were the protesters crying foul? Where
was the outrage?
“If you
didn’t follow the instructions the rolls were closed
— no room at the inn,” the delegate, an elected
official, explained. “The party folks wanted a level
of legitimacy with voting.”
As do we
all. As Republicans have been touting for years.
But a
Republican promoting the need for voter ID is a
rights-quashing villain, according to the left’s
narrative.
A Boston
Herald editorial
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Dems embrace voter
ID – for themselves
The
speaker and Senate president made clear this week
that a gas tax suspension isn't in the cards, but
people in Massachusetts will get at least some form
of tax relief this summer regardless.
The "grand
bargain" that legislative and administration leaders
agreed to in 2018 made a sales tax-free weekend an
annual holiday and calls for the Legislature by June
15 to choose a weekend that the state will give up
tens of millions of dollars in taxes in a bid to
spur buying and consumer savings.
If
lawmakers don't, the Department of Revenue will
announce by July 1 which weekend in August it will
suspend the 6.25 percent sales tax on most items up
to $2,500....
In a
similar position last year but without as intense
inflation, Gov. Charlie Baker proposed a two-month
sales tax holiday in August and September, saying it
would help give the state's economy "some momentum
as we come out of this sort of pandemic doldrums
that we've been in." Legislative Democrats slammed
the idea and instead stuck with the prescribed
two-day version.
State
House News Service
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Window Closing For Legislature To
Set Sales Tax Holiday
Starting
next summer, immigrants without legal status in
Massachusetts will have access to state-issued
driver's licenses thanks to a policy muscled through
by lawmakers this week over Gov. Charlie Baker's
veto.
The
Massachusetts Senate voted 32-8 Thursday afternoon
to complete the override of the governor's veto. The
House voted 119-36 on Wednesday to initiate the
override, with the law's passage reflecting the
strength of Democrats, and weakness of Republicans,
in the 200-seat Legislature....
All three
Senate Republicans voted to sustain the governor's
veto and they were joined by Senate Democrats Nick
Collins of South Boston, Anne Gobi of Spencer, Marc
Pacheco of Taunton, Walter Timilty of Milton, and
John Velis of Westfield.
Candidate
for governor Geoff Diehl said he would support a
ballot question that would repeal the new law.
State
House News Service
Friday, June 10, 2022
License Access Bill Enacted
Over Baker’s Veto
When House
and Senate leaders can get most or all of their
Democrats on board behind a bill, their
supermajority margins render the governor all but
inconsequential to what becomes state law. It's
ironing out the intraparty disagreements that often
proves tougher, and more time-consuming.
Immigration reform advocates and some public safety
leaders have pressed, often loudly, for more than a
decade to grant residents without legal status in
the U.S. some form of access to driver's licenses.
Their bills to accomplish that never surfaced for
floor votes, but legislative leaders kept the
conversations going behind closed doors. This
session, having amassed enough votes to steamroll a
veto, they went for it.
The votes
were there to pass the bill and Democrats in both
branches flexed their political muscles in a 24-hour
span to cement the licensing bill as law by clearing
the two thirds hurdle needed for a veto override.
Even
Baker, who argued that allowing immigrants without
legal status to apply for standard driver's licenses
could spiral into ineligible residents registering
to vote, accepted that he was fighting a losing
battle.
"I don't
see this the same way the House and the Senate see
it," Baker said Monday. "That's democracy."
But the
decisive roll calls (119-36 in the House and 32-8 in
the Senate) may have just triggered the start of a
larger fight. Republican gubernatorial candidate
Geoff Diehl and lieutenant governor candidate Leah
Cole Allen said after Thursday's vote they would
back a ballot question asking voters to repeal the
new law.
"Leah and
I will not sit by idly and watch the consequences of
this bill take away the safety and democratic rights
of Massachusetts residents. We fully support
submitting this question to the people to give them
a direct say in their future," Diehl said Thursday
...
The
calendar could shape the dynamics at play there.
State law allows petitioners to bring forth a
referendum to strike a newly enacted law if they
collect, in this case, 40,120 signatures from
Massachusetts voters, of which no more than 10,030
could come from one county, within 90 days after its
passage.
If
opponents of the new law pursue that action -- and
are successful at gathering signatures -- the timing
could line up almost perfectly to put the question
before voters at the Nov. 8 election....
The
override was not the only display of political
strength Democrats made this week. Without the
support of Republicans who negotiated the final
bill, lawmakers began advancing a measure to make
mail-in voting and expanded early voting permanent
options in Massachusetts....
Ninety-two
representatives and 16 senators face neither a
declared primary nor a general election opponent,
essentially granting them a pleasant stroll into
another two years in office with next to no
campaigning required, no need to answer to their
opponents, and none of those candidate debates and
Q&A forums.
As a
result, millions of voters will have no alternatives
in the House and Senate if, say, they are frustrated
by wherever their elected legislators land on tax
relief, an area where the cloudy outlook has yet to
give way to sunshine.
House
Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen
Spilka, as they have for months at this point, said
their respective branches continue to deliberate in
private about still-in-development tax packages
without offering many details beyond a broad promise
that the bills would aim to help vulnerable
populations.
Their
spending plans for the fiscal year that starts July
1 do not broach the idea of tax relief, though the
final fiscal 2023 budget deliberations could revise
the state's tax revenue forecast. That surplus-bound
outlook is, well, pick your description from the
latest batch offered this week: "rosy," as
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen
McAnneny put it; "absolutely unprecedented," in the
words of MTF's Executive Vice President Doug Howgate;
or "just crazy," as Baker told business leaders.
State
House News Service
Friday, June 10, 2022
Weekly Roundup - The (Temporary?)
Law of the Land
Lawmakers
put a driver's license access bill on the books this
week over Gov. Charlie Baker's veto but will try to
get his signature on an historic elections reform
bill that could reach his desk next week. The bill
(S 2924) that would make mail-in and early voting
permanent sailed through the Senate Thursday on a
37-3 vote and is expected to easily clear the House.
After a
Senate vote this week, the branches also have an
opportunity before summer to send the governor a
bill authorizing $350 million in investments in
local roads and transportation projects, including
$200 million that will be run through the Chapter 90
formula used to spread aid among the 351 cities and
towns.
This
week's sudden announcement of a House-Senate
agreement on the election bill served as a reminder
that it's the point in the two-year session when the
branches can strike sudden accords on major bills,
or start advancing bills that have been toiling all
session in committees.
The Ways
and Means committees, which are graveyards for many
major bills, also become more active in June and
July, popping out bills that often quickly cruise to
passage. This week, Speaker Ron Mariano said he
believed bills were ripening that would address
workplace violence and access to prescription drugs.
While
conference committees continue to shape the annual
state budget, a climate and emissions bill, and
sports betting legislation, the branches have a long
way to go -- and about seven weeks to get there --
on a major economic development bill and legislation
designed to help the state capture its share of
federal infrastructure funds and, perhaps, to take a
major step toward passenger rail service to the
state's westernmost regions.
Another
investment bill, the so-called general government
bond bill focused on upkeep of state assets, is set
to be amended and approved Thursday when the Senate
plans a formal session. The House version of that
bill totaled about $5 billion.
State
House News Service
Friday, June 10, 2022
Advances - Week of June 12, 2022
A poll
commissioned by Fiscal Alliance found that “economic
anxiety” is shaping how Bay State voters feel about
the president, policy issues, and what candidate
they prefer for governor.
“The real
driver of this survey, the thing that makes
everything about it make a lot of sense is when you
look at the way people feel about … the economic
anxiety issues — the jobs and economy, taxes and
inflation,” said Jim Eltringham of Advantage Inc.,
who conducted the survey.
“That
slate of issues really deals with people worrying
about themselves, their family, and the financial
future of those around them,” he added.
The poll,
which surveyed 750 likely general election voters
from June 1-5, included questions on President
Biden’s job performance, how voters feel on a range
of policy issues, why residents are choosing to
leave the state, and what candidate they plan to
support for governor....
The
majority of voters polled, or 69%, were against a
graduated income surtax amendment — the so-called
millionaire’s tax that would create a new surtax on
income in excess of $1 million — which the
legislature voted to place on the ballot a year ago.
One in
four voters polled said they are considering or
planning to leave Massachusetts, with higher taxes
and cost of living cited as the top two reasons,
according to Eltringham.
The
Boston Herald
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Massachusetts voters
stance on Biden, governor,
policy driven by ‘economic anxiety,’ poll finds
Massachusetts voters have economic issues on their
minds, according to a poll the Fiscal Alliance
Foundation released Thursday.
The
conservative foundation's poll, conducted from June
1-5 by Jim Eltringham of the Virginia-based
Advantage, Inc., surveyed 750 likely voters on
issues involving taxes, their opinions on President
Biden and the governor's race....
About 21
percent of voters labeled jobs and the economy as
the most important issue behind their vote for
governor, with 13.7 percent picking climate change,
13 percent taxes, 12.3 percent health care, 12.1
percent inflation and 11.3 percent "something else."
Almost 55
percent of respondents were not enrolled in a
political party, more than 35 percent were Democrats
and 10 percent Republicans....
Fiscal
Alliance Foundation spokesperson Paul Craney flagged
that the number of undecided voters increased from
50 percent in the group's last similar poll, fielded
in March. He called that a "pretty pronounced
swing."
Craney
said he believes the increase in undecided voters,
combined with a greater share of voters labeling
taxes, inflation, jobs and the economy as their top
issue than in the past poll, shows a "strong
undercurrent of economic anxiety."
With
Massachusetts on track for another significant
revenue surplus when the fiscal year concludes at
the end of this month, top Democrats in the
Legislature have indicated interest in pursuing some
sort of tax relief, with an eye towards helping
vulnerable populations and those most affected by
COVID-19.
The poll
also asked about a proposed constitutional amendment
on November's ballot that would impose a new 4
percent surtax on annual income above a $1 million
threshold, on top of the state's 5 percent income
tax. Democrats in the Legislature advanced the
measure as a way to raise money for education and
transportation.
The poll
described the amendment as one that would "raise the
income tax from 5 to 9 percent, which represents an
80 percent increase, on some earnings from
high-income earners and middle-class small
businesses." It found about 69 percent respondents
opposed, with about 20 percent in support and 11
percent unsure....
Modeled
after a similar question posed to New Yorkers
earlier this year, the foundation polled voters on
whether they are considering or have made plans to
leave Massachusetts and reside somewhere else.
Almost 25
percent said yes, and more than 75 percent said no.
Among those who answered yes, "Taxes are too high"
was the top reason, selected by 58 respondents,
followed by the 41 who chose "Cost of living is too
high."
State
House News Service
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Poll: More Voters Have Economics On
Their Mind
Healey Leads Guv's Race, But 60 Percent Undecided
Frustrated
by a pair of Massachusetts Turnpike electric vehicle
charger stations that have been inoperable for more
than a year, a pair of senators pressed
Transportation Secretary Jamey Tesler to fix the
problem by next month and make clear how the
administration will expand EV infrastructure.
Senate
Majority Leader Cynthia Creem and Sen. Michael
Barrett, who co-chairs the Telecommunications,
Utilities and Energy Committee, wrote to Tesler on
Monday voicing "disappointment" that vehicle
charging stations at I-90 rest stops have been
broken for a year-plus.
"The
continued inoperability of these chargers hampers
the Commonwealth's ability to reach its EV goals,
not only because it makes it more difficult for EV
drivers to travel across the Commonwealth, but also
because it feeds into an inaccurate yet prevalent
narrative that EVs are not reliable for
long-distance travel," Creem, a Newton Democrat, and
Barrett, a Lexington Democrat, wrote. "Indeed, the
psychological impact of these broken chargers on
residents whom we would like to become EV drivers
may be even more detrimental than their practical
impact on residents who already own EVs." ...
Creem's
office told the News Service she noticed the problem
while traveling recently and, after looking into the
issue, determined that the charging stations at the
eastbound Natick rest stop and the westbound
Charlton rest stop are not functional. That takes
two of the turnpike's six charging stations out of
the mix and leaves motorists driving electric
vehicles with no options to recharge on I-90 across
large stretches of the state.
State
House News Service
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Senators Want Turnpike EV
Chargers Fixed
In the
wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo,
New York and other gun-violence incidents, state
representatives from Massachusetts are offering to
serve as a resource to their counterparts around the
country.
Rep.
Marjorie Decker, the House chair of the Public
Health Committee and a key player in recent gun
legislation efforts, is circulating among her House
colleagues an open letter to legislators in other
states, inviting them to "look towards Massachusetts
as you reimagine your gun laws in a way that is
respectful of the needs of your communities."
"In the
notable absence of national measures, the
Massachusetts Legislature has demonstrated its
commitment to responsible gun safety measures by
implementing common-sense laws," the letter says.
"Over the past decade especially, we broke the mold
by refusing to kowtow to national pundits on either
side of the aisle."
Laws
Decker cites include the 2004 ban on "military-style
assault weapons and high-capacity magazine," a 2014
package that among other measures gave police chiefs
more discretion over gun licensing, a 2017 ban on
bump stocks and the 2018 "red flag" law allowing
family members to petition courts to suspend gun
ownership rights of someone they believe to be a
danger....
Speaker
Ron Mariano has already added his name.
Gov.
Charlie Baker on Monday said he, too, has
recommended to other governors that they "look at
the Massachusetts laws and make some decisions of
their own based on those."
State
House News Service
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Mass. Lawmakers Sharing Gun Law
Ideas With Other States |
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary |
|
First a thought or two
about the true Bidenflation numbers.
As you likely know, on
Friday the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that last month
(May) inflation increased "year over year" to 8.6 percent.
This has been puzzling me for some months now, since we are now in
Year Two of Bidenflation since he was installed as President
of the United States in January 2021. How is comparing "year
over year" inflation numbers at all illuminating? They're only
going back to May, 2021 when inflation had already grabbed hold and
was climbing steadily.
Shouldn't we be gauging Bidenflation from when it commenced,
compounding it from its inception, not merely "year over year"?
Yes, we should. In
my news research over the past week I stumbled across an article in
The Epoch Times that explained what is happening and how the true
inflation numbers are being obscured. (We won't get into how
the current CPI calculations have been reconfigured, have evolved
and morphed since the Jimmy
Carter years, so the same costs aren't being measured today as they
were
back then, skewing any legitimate comparison.)
When Biden assumed power
in January 2021 President Trump had left behind an inflation rate of
1.4 percent. Just five months later, by May 2021, Bidenflation
had abruptly risen to 5.0 percent. By January of 2022 it had
climbed to 7.5 percent. Since Biden took office inflation has
ratcheted up a shocking 13.6 percent, 12.2 percent higher than when
he was sworn in just fifteen months ago, and 5.0 percent higher than
reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In his Epoch Times op-ed
column "This Is How
Prosperity Dies" Jeffrey A. Tucker explains:
. . . The latest report from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just came out and its report
exceeded my worst expectations. I figured it would be a bit
better than last month. It was worse; 8.6 percent year over
year.
In reality, the rate is far
worse, closer to 12 percent, according to real-time data, and
people know this. Still the official CPI matters simply because
it is a consistent metric generated by a stable methodology and
also because it is official. Even the official statistics cannot
lie all the time....
My friend
Doug Rudisch did some quick checking on the figures this
morning, asking a more foundational question: why are we only
comparing year over year data? Is there something magical about
12 months that gives us some access to an imagined real rate
whereas looking at 11 or 13 months does not? It’s a good point,
so he decided to look at the data over two years. The results
fit much more with our own intuition. Have a look:
Feast your eyes on
the bottom line: prices now are rising at a two-year rate of
13.6 percent. And the trend line looks truly terrible....
This has been gnawing at
me for months now, it just didn't feel right, on some level didn't make sense.
Sure enough, it wasn't. That 8.6 percent rate of
inflation for May we were fed on Friday is on top of
the 5.0 percent Biden and his administration imposed on everyone
by last May, 2021.
If prices are ever to
return to the good old days before the Biden presidency, that
compounded rate of inflation in its entirety will need be rolled
back, eliminated to reach the break-even point of January 2021.
Today, that would require prices to plunge 12.2 percent to break
even, drop the rate back down to 1.4 percent. Imagine how far
into the stratosphere Bidenflation will have reached with another
two years and seven months of economic destruction ahead in the
Democrats' reign of terror!
The ongoing Beacon Hill
Shuffle over tax relief is running down the legislative session
clock, likely running it out intentionally.
State House News Service reported on Monday ("Tax
Relief Still In The Works"):
Though he was asked
about tax relief Monday, Mariano never used the phrase himself
and told reporters that residents would not see the benefit of
most adjustments to the state's tax code until they file their
taxes next year.
House Speaker Ron
Mariano said: "This whole thing about tax cuts, well tax
cuts aren't going to come 'til next year and I think we have to
be mindful of that. . . . So we want to make sure whatever
we do gets into the hands of the folks who are most severely
impacted by the COVID."
Senate President
Karen Spilka said: "We're looking at relief for
low-income, the most vulnerable populations and working families
that we have. We're looking at relief for seniors. We're looking
at relief in various forms."
Legislators in both the
House and Senate — especially the
leadership — are looking everywhere at
everything except for tax relief. They know they need to do
something that looks like tax relief, that they can call
"tax relief" and point to as an accomplishment, but apparently their
intent is to spend that multi-billion dollars revenue surplus
derived from unnecessary over-taxation —
return not a cent of it to its rightful owners. If it
goes to anyone but those who earned the income and overpaid the
taxes it is a fraudulent scam to spend money that doesn't
righteously belong to them. It will clearly be just another
redistributionist spending spree going to those who have little if
any claim to the historic tax surplus.
The State House News
Service on Tuesday reported ("MTF
Chief: Tax Package Needs To Be About Growth, Not Just Relief"):
"The chances of a
tax package are pretty good," McAnneny said during an event
hosted by the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. "What I
worry about is this: that there will be a tendency on part of
the Legislature to hand-pick parts of the governor's tax
proposal that help the most vulnerable, and not that that's a
bad thing, but that they won't do any of the other things that
better position Massachusetts for growth." ...
The Tufts Center
for State Policy Analysis floated some other ideas in a new
report published Tuesday. The "simplest approach," cSPA
Executive Director Evan Horowitz wrote, would be to give all
taxpayers a one-time rebate, an option under consideration in 10
other states across the political spectrum....
The Bay State
is on pace to haul in about $6.5 billion more in taxes through
fiscal year 2022, which ends June 30, than it did a year earlier
when taxpayers produced a surplus of roughly $5 billion,
McAnneny and [MTF
Executive Vice President Doug]
Howgate told attendees at
Tuesday's event.
Some of that money will automatically go into the state's rainy
day savings account, which is set to swell above $6 billion by
the end of this year -- roughly 12 percent as much as the House
and Senate proposed spending in their FY23 annual budgets -- and
could surpass $7 billion by the end of next fiscal year....
Howgate said state law currently imposes a ceiling on that
savings account. Once the rainy day balance hits 15 percent of
the state's "operating revenues," a term he said has not been
clearly defined in some time, additional dollars that would be
transferred to savings instead must go into a tax reduction fund
that would offer rebates to taxpayers.
Read the last paragraph
again. A "term he said that has not been clearly defined in
some time."
"Once the rainy day
balance hits 15 percent of the state's 'operating revenues' . . .
additional dollars that would be transferred to savings instead must
go into a tax reduction fund that would offer rebates to taxpayers."
To avoid rebating any
surplus revenue ever, the Legislature needs only to increase the
state's 'operating revenues' above whatever that 15 percent rainy
day fund balance happens to be on any given day. Voilà,
obstacle circumvented. Remember, this is the shameless gang
that got around their "never be able to vote for its own pay raises
ever again" automatic pay raise constitutional amendment by instead later hiking their
per diems, stipends, office expenses and additional committee
membership pay.
If you wonder how
Massachusetts got this government which demonstrates such little if
any regard for its citizens and constituents the answer is
— because those in power who control it
without regard can with impunity and they know it. The
State
House News Service on Monday reported the biennial
dog-bites-man story we've all come to expect like clockwork every
two years ("Election Forecast:
Most Lawmakers Will Cruise To Reelection—GOP Candidates Active In Less Than Half of
Legislative Districts"):
Most
Massachusetts state lawmakers will stroll into
another term in office unopposed, poised to face no
declared opponents in both the Sept. 6 primary and
Nov. 8 general elections.
All 160
House districts and 40 Senate districts are up for
grabs every two years. Among the pool of lawmakers
seeking reelection, 92 representatives and 16
senators are the only candidates to qualify for the
ballot in their respective districts, according to a
News Service analysis of preliminary data from
Secretary of State William Galvin.
Those
legislators could still face write-in challenges,
but given the sizable advantage incumbency offers,
it appears nearly certain that 54 percent of the
Legislature will cruise to another two years in
office with minimal friction....
And as a
result, millions of voters will effectively have no
options in the House or Senate beyond the status quo
as they grapple with rampant inflation, lingering
COVID-19 threats, a growing climate crisis and more.
The
uncompetitive trend is present up and down the
legislative hierarchy....
Republicans Aim to Stave Off Further Losses
Republican
Gov. Charlie Baker is wrapping up an eight-year
tenure in the corner office, but the MassGOP has
seen its numbers on Beacon Hill diminish in recent
years.
The House
kicked off the 2019-2020 lawmaking session with 127
Democrats, 32 Republicans and one independent, Rep.
Susannah Whipps of Athol, while the Senate opened
that term with 34 Democrats and six Republicans.
Today,
following the most recent round of biennial general
elections and a string of resignation-fueled special
elections, Republicans hold 28 seats in the House
compared to Democrats' 126 and only three of 40
Senate seats.
MassGOP
leaders hope the party's rightward shift and vocal
embrace of President Donald Trump can pry a few wins
away from Democrats, or at least prevent their
opponents from further expanding on supermajority
margins in both chambers.
Altogether, 55 House districts and 19 Senate
districts will feature at least one Republican
candidate on the ballot in November -- less than
half in each chamber -- while Democrats are in the
mix for 141 House districts and 38 Senate districts.
Sadly, a win for the
MassGOP seems to be not losing any of the few remaining Republican
legislators in the upcoming elections —
but the party is running candidates and giving voters in
almost half the districts a choice. Will those voters
have any idea what to do with that opportunity in Massachusetts?
Are they aware that things could be different, better in a competing two-party
environment? Do they want anything different or are
they perfectly satisfied with the way things are and have
been? Now
that possibility (probability?) is a depressing thought!
But maybe just maybe
the natives are becoming restless and open to change.
The
Boston Herald reported on Thursday ("Massachusetts voters
stance on Biden, governor, policy driven by ‘economic anxiety,’ poll finds"):
A poll
commissioned by Fiscal Alliance found that “economic
anxiety” is shaping how Bay State voters feel about
the president, policy issues, and what candidate
they prefer for governor.
“The real
driver of this survey, the thing that makes
everything about it make a lot of sense is when you
look at the way people feel about … the economic
anxiety issues — the jobs and economy, taxes and
inflation,” said Jim Eltringham of Advantage Inc.,
who conducted the survey.
“That
slate of issues really deals with people worrying
about themselves, their family, and the financial
future of those around them,” he added.
The poll,
which surveyed 750 likely general election voters
from June 1-5, included questions on President
Biden’s job performance, how voters feel on a range
of policy issues, why residents are choosing to
leave the state, and what candidate they plan to
support for governor....
The
majority of voters polled, or 69%, were against a
graduated income surtax amendment — the so-called
millionaire’s tax that would create a new surtax on
income in excess of $1 million — which the
legislature voted to place on the ballot a year ago.
One in
four voters polled said they are considering or
planning to leave Massachusetts, with higher taxes
and cost of living cited as the top two reasons,
according to Eltringham.
"A conservative is a
liberal who's been mugged." More accurately, "Hell has no fury
like a woman scorned" is an adage that better fits in a recent
experience. I got a call from "Laurie" of Marblehead a week
ago asking if there's any organized opposition to the town's two
Proposition 2½ overrides on the
upcoming ballot (one a debt exclusion, the other an "operational"
override meaning forever increasing the levy cap). Noting that
Laurie has never been a member, when I told
her it's nice to hear from her after forty-eight years of CLT's
existence, especially us being neighbors for over twenty years, she
replied, "Oh, I don't agree with CLT on most things but I do on
this."
I asked if she agreed with
CLT's reducing her auto excise tax by 62 percent every year and she
did. I asked if she agreed with our rolling back the income
tax to 5 percent and she did. Limiting property tax increase?
Yes, and on it went. She agreed with CLT on every single thing
that personally saved her money.
When I asked if she'd now
consider becoming a member she replied no, that CLT was too
conservative for her.
I told her she is such a
stereotypical liberal, a hypocrite in good standing, but passed her
on to the Marblehead activist who's leading the overrides
opposition, with a warning of what he can expect.
I thought of that
conversation when I read the above poll results. One thing
liberals, conservatives, moderates, and know-nothings agree on is
"stay out of my pockets!"
“That slate of issues
really deals with people worrying about themselves, their family,
and the financial future of those around them” the pollster
concluded. Even the sixth graduated income tax constitutional
amendment was opposed by 69 percent of the respondents.
The
State
House News Service's report on the poll ("Poll: More Voters Have Economics On
Their Mind"): noted:
. . . Modeled
after a similar question posed to New Yorkers
earlier this year, the foundation polled voters on
whether they are considering or have made plans to
leave Massachusetts and reside somewhere else.
Almost 25
percent said yes, and more than 75 percent said no.
Among those who answered yes, "Taxes are too high"
was the top reason, selected by 58 respondents,
followed by the 41 who chose "Cost of living is too
high."
When I decided to escape
The People's Republic back in 2019 the first thing I did was
establish my criteria for what I was seeking, to determine where I
wanted to land. They were, in order:
1) A lower cost
of living;
2) Less
government, more freedom;
3) A more
temperate climate (no weather drama).
The poll's responses,
"Taxes are too high" and "Cost of living is too high," for my own
decision were combined into the same bucket, "a lower cost of
living."
I'm encouraged by the 25
percent of respondents who said they're looking at escaping The
People's Republic too. Extrapolated to the entire population
of Massachusetts that amounts to about two million residents wanting
to get out. I would have thought there would be more of those
smart ones. I hope you are among them.
If enough of you do, then
I can finally cease my 100-plus hour CLT work weeks 52 weeks a year
and find a life and some time of my own. There certainly is a
lot of news over just the past week that I won't bother commenting
on, but which provides further motivation to consider the
alternative.
|
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|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
|
State House News
Service
Monday, June 6, 2022
Tax Relief Still In The Works
By Colin A. Young
House and Senate leaders have ruled out a suspension of the
state's gas tax, but House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate
President Karen Spilka both said Monday that their chambers
are busy crafting relief packages that will aim to help
residents feeling the pain of inflation and/or COVID-19.
Mariano said his team is working through some of the ideas
in Gov. Charlie Baker's roughly $700 million tax relief plan
and "a couple of others that I've got from members to sort
of create a wide-ranging array of help."
Spilka said senators are "in discussions and deliberation"
about a relief package and pledged it would emerge for a
vote "as soon as we have something concrete" but before the
end of July.
"We're looking at relief for low-income, the most vulnerable
populations and working families that we have. We're looking
at relief for seniors. We're looking at relief in various
forms," Spilka said Monday.
She also again rejected the idea of a gas tax suspension and
pointed to Connecticut, where the 25-cents-per-gallon excise
on gas is not in effect but a gallon of gas still averages
$4.89 compared to $4.96 in Massachusetts, as evidence that a
suspension would not meaningfully benefit drivers.
"There is nothing that we can do to mandate that if we
decrease or suspend the gas tax that it actually goes into
the pockets of those at the pump because the oil companies
can keep that gas tax and not pass it on to individuals
purchasing gas," Spilka said. "So we are looking at other
forms of assistance and tax relief for working families."
Though he was asked about tax relief Monday, Mariano never
used the phrase himself and told reporters that residents
would not see the benefit of most adjustments to the state's
tax code until they file their taxes next year.
"This whole thing about tax cuts, well tax cuts aren't going
to come 'til next year and I think we have to be mindful of
that. We keep hearing these cries for immediate relief --
eliminate the gas tax and all that -- and, you know, the gas
tax has proven to be, as the Senate president alluded to in
Connecticut, a myth," Mariano said. "So we want to make sure
whatever we do gets into the hands of the folks who are most
severely impacted by the COVID."
State House News
Service
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
MTF Chief: Tax Package Needs To Be About Growth, Not Just
Relief
Revenue Surge Approaching Formerly 'Theoretical' Territory
By Chris Lisinski
The wait continues for Democrats to formulate a tax relief
plan, and one think tank leader said Tuesday she is
concerned that a focus only on the most vulnerable taxpayers
could hamstring the state's economic growth.
Pointing to the growth of remote work and shifting
population trends, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation
President Eileen McAnneny cautioned lawmakers against
splicing off Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed tax breaks for
renters, seniors and low-income earners from his push to
overhaul the estate and capital gains taxes.
McAnneny, whose group has already endorsed Baker's $700
million proposal that remains on ice atop Beacon Hill, said
those latter two measures that have drawn more skepticism
from Democrats are important to encouraging investors and
entrepreneurs to plant roots in the Bay State.
"The chances of a tax package are pretty good," McAnneny
said during an event hosted by the Massachusetts Association
of Health Plans. "What I worry about is this: that there
will be a tendency on part of the Legislature to hand-pick
parts of the governor's tax proposal that help the most
vulnerable, and not that that's a bad thing, but that they
won't do any of the other things that better position
Massachusetts for growth."
Massachusetts relies "disproportionately" on income tax,
turning to it for about 57 percent of all tax revenue that
funds state government, McAnneny said.
More than two years after COVID-19 first upended public
life, some office workers with the flexibility to do so
continue to perform their jobs from home, a trend that
McAnneny told the News Service makes people "much more
sensitive to relative cost differences among the states."
Baker in January filed a $700 million tax relief package (H
4361) that would increase tax credits available for parents
accessing child care and for senior citizens, boost the tax
deduction renters can claim, and increase the minimum income
level above which Massachusetts residents must file taxes.
His legislation also seeks to reduce the short-term capital
gains tax rate from 12 percent to 5 percent, a step Baker
said in his filing letter would "align the Commonwealth with
most other states and make Massachusetts a more attractive
place to live," as well as double the threshold at which the
estate tax kicks in to $2 million and apply it only to value
that exceeds that level.
In an interview with the News Service after the MAHP event,
McAnneny said Massachusetts is an "outlier" on the estate
tax.
"Massachusetts is an aging state, and a lot of people are
thinking about those things. As they plan where to live in
retirement, I think that weighs heavily," she said. "There's
a tax burden for Massachusetts folks that doesn't exist in a
majority of states, and in those states with an estate tax,
it's far less burdensome."
Legislative leaders have neither advanced Baker's tax relief
package nor rolled out their own counterproposal, but they
continue to say some kind of relief -- excluding suspension
of the state's gas tax -- remains on the to-do list in the
next two months.
Some top Democrats have indicated they want reforms to focus
on helping residents who face the greatest needs.
"We're looking at relief for low-income, the most vulnerable
populations and working families that we have. We're looking
at relief for seniors. We're looking at relief in various
forms," Senate President Karen Spilka said Monday.
The Tufts Center for State Policy Analysis floated some
other ideas in a new report published Tuesday. The "simplest
approach," cSPA Executive Director Evan Horowitz wrote,
would be to give all taxpayers a one-time rebate, an option
under consideration in 10 other states across the political
spectrum.
Other options that the non-partisan center mentioned include
consolidating two separate tax breaks for young children,
adjusting the rate table while increasing the estate tax
threshold, boosting the earned income tax credit, and
exempting some unemployment benefits from taxes.
Lawmakers should consider keeping some tax cut options
temporary, Horowitz wrote, warning that "when today's good
fortune dissolves, we may miss those lost tax dollars."
Pressure has been growing on lawmakers to enact some form of
tax relief, particularly amid what MTF Executive Vice
President Doug Howgate called an "absolutely unprecedented"
rate of revenue growth in the past two years.
The Bay State is on pace to haul in about $6.5 billion more
in taxes through fiscal year 2022, which ends June 30, than
it did a year earlier when taxpayers produced a surplus of
roughly $5 billion, McAnneny and Howgate told attendees at
Tuesday's event.
Some of that money will automatically go into the state's
rainy day savings account, which is set to swell above $6
billion by the end of this year -- roughly 12 percent as
much as the House and Senate proposed spending in their FY23
annual budgets -- and could surpass $7 billion by the end of
next fiscal year.
Howgate said state law currently imposes a ceiling on that
savings account. Once the rainy day balance hits 15 percent
of the state's "operating revenues," a term he said has not
been clearly defined in some time, additional dollars that
would be transferred to savings instead must go into a tax
reduction fund that would offer rebates to taxpayers.
"Territories that I think were kind of theoretical a few
years ago are getting to be not theoretical now," Howgate
said.
Even after accounting for transfers and other needs,
lawmakers are still in line to be gifted a
multibillion-dollar budget surplus for the second straight
year, this time just a few months before all 200 seats in
the Legislature are up for election.
"The fiscal overview, in a word, is rosy," McAnneny said. "I
can't recall a time when the state had so many resources at
its disposal."
The Boston
Herald
Monday, June 6, 2022
Massachusetts gas prices may hit $5 a gallon this week,
State House leaders refuse to suspend gas tax amid soaring
prices
The Bay State average is $4.96 per gallon
By Rick Sobey
Remember when we were stunned that gas prices had eclipsed
$4 a gallon? Those were the days.
The unimaginable pain at the pump is expected to hit a new
level of sticker shock this week as the average gas price in
Massachusetts approaches $5 per gallon. Meanwhile, State
House leaders on Monday reiterated that they won’t suspend
the gas tax amid these staggering record-high prices.
In Suffolk County, the average for a regular gallon of gas
is now a whopping $5.08, according to AAA Northeast.
“It’s a tough situation for sure,” said Mark Schieldrop of
AAA Northeast. “We could reach an average of $5 a gallon
this week in Massachusetts, and it just doesn’t seem like
these prices are sustainable.
“These are definitely unprecedented times,” he added.
Prices at the pump have skyrocketed following the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. The $4.96 a gallon is $2.03 higher than
one year ago when gas was $2.93 a gallon.
The current average is 66 cents higher than a month ago
($4.30), and 23 cents more than last week ($4.73). The Bay
State’s average is 10 cents higher than the national average
($4.86).
The cost of a barrel of oil is nearing $120, nearly double
from last August, as increased oil demand outpaces the tight
global supply. There have been major supply concerns after
the U.S. and European countries banned Russian oil.
“We are very interested in numbers later this week about
demand, and whether the high gas prices are causing
behavioral changes,” Schieldrop said. “Anecdotally, we’re
hearing that behavior is changing.
“We’re hearing that people are not filling their tanks
completely, and are buying less gas,” he added. “If
consumers are cutting back on fuel, then we should start to
see prices cool off a little bit.”
Other states have suspended their gas taxes because of the
surging gas prices, but Massachusetts State House leaders
have continued to reject calls to freeze the tax.
Senate President Karen Spilka on Monday noted that
Connecticut’s gas prices are similar to the Bay State’s
after our southern neighbor suspended the gas tax. The
average in Connecticut is now $4.89.
“There’s nothing that we can do to mandate that if we
decrease or suspend the gas tax that it actually goes into
the pockets of those at the pump,” Spilka told reporters.
“Because the oil companies can keep that gas tax and not
pass it on to individuals purchasing gas. So we are looking
at other forms of assistance in tax relief for working
families.”
House Speaker Ronald Mariano also said that relief from
suspending the gas tax — based on what has happened in
Connecticut — has “proven to be … a myth.”
State House News
Service
Monday, June 6, 2022
Election Forecast: Most Lawmakers Will Cruise To Reelection
GOP Candidates Active In Less Than Half of Legislative
Districts
By Chris Lisinski
Most Massachusetts state lawmakers will stroll into another
term in office unopposed, poised to face no declared
opponents in both the Sept. 6 primary and Nov. 8 general
elections.
All 160 House districts and 40 Senate districts are up for
grabs every two years. Among the pool of lawmakers seeking
reelection, 92 representatives and 16 senators are the only
candidates to qualify for the ballot in their respective
districts, according to a News Service analysis of
preliminary data from Secretary of State William Galvin.
Those legislators could still face write-in challenges, but
given the sizable advantage incumbency offers, it appears
nearly certain that 54 percent of the Legislature will
cruise to another two years in office with minimal friction.
Those easy glides will play out in the first election season
with newly redrawn districts in place following the 2020
U.S. Census and in a year with open contests for governor,
lieutenant governor, attorney general and auditor driving a
spike in political engagement.
And as a result, millions of voters will effectively have no
options in the House or Senate beyond the status quo as they
grapple with rampant inflation, lingering COVID-19 threats,
a growing climate crisis and more.
The uncompetitive trend is present up and down the
legislative hierarchy.
Some of the newest lawmakers atop Beacon Hill have been
effectively gifted another term by drawing no challengers,
such as first-term Republican Rep. Steven Xiarhos of
Barnstable and Democrat Sen. Lydia Edwards of East Boston,
who joined the Senate less than six months ago after winning
a Jan. 11 special election.
Many veteran lawmakers are in line for easy wins, too. Rep.
Kevin Honan, a Boston Democrat and the House's
longest-serving member, does not face a declared opponent
after fending off a primary challenge two years ago.
Neither House Speaker Ronald Mariano of Quincy nor Senate
President Karen Spilka of Ashland are set to face primary or
general election opponents on their ballots, and the same is
true for most of their inner circles.
Only two members of Senate leadership drew challengers:
Salem Democrat Sen. Joan Lovely, who faces a primary from
Kyle Alexander Davis as well as a Republican bid from Damian
Anketell, and Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Michael
Rodrigues of Westport, who is the only Democrat on the
ballot and will square off against Republican candidate
Russell Protentis in the general election.
Mariano has a few holes to fill in his leadership team if he
secures another term as speaker as expected, but those stem
more from mid-session resignations for other jobs or
retirements than the prospect of voter dissatisfaction.
Provincetown Democrat Rep. Sarah Peake is the only person in
House leadership with a declared opponent after drawing a
primary challenge from lobsterman and onetime Senate
candidate Jack Stanton.
A handful of high-ranking lawmakers are among the 21 reps
and senators who face primaries from members of their own
party, including Transportation Committee co-chair Rep.
William Straus of Mattapoisett, Rules Committee co-chair
Rep. William Galvin of Canton, House Ways and Means
Committee Vice Chair Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante of
Gloucester, and Public Safety Committee co-chair Sen. Walter
Timilty of Milton.
Compared to two years ago, the current cycle is a bit more
competitive for legislative elections. A total of 125
incumbent lawmakers were the only major-party candidates on
the ballot in 2020, representing nearly two-thirds of the
Legislature.
Departures, Redistricting Open Up Contests
At least 24 new faces are guaranteed to join the Legislature
next term with open races in five Senate districts and 19
House districts. That would create a freshman class
representing roughly one in every eight lawmakers who will
take the oath of office in January.
On the Senate side, all of the open contests will take place
in districts where sitting senators are leaving.
Sen. Harriette Chandler, an 84-year-old Worcester Democrat,
announced in January she would not seek reelection to the
district representing her city as well as West Boylston,
Boylston, Northborough, Berlin and Bolton.
Like many Senate districts in the center and west of the
state, the First Worcester District's boundaries slid
eastward on the new map, reflecting population shifts over
the past decade.
Two Democrats filed nomination papers seeking to succeed
Chandler: Worcester Mayor Joe Petty and longtime Beacon Hill
aide Robyn Kennedy of Worcester. The winner of that primary
will face unenrolled candidate Lisa Kair in the general
election.
All four of the other open Senate seats are being vacated by
Democrats who launched campaigns for statewide offices: Sen.
Sonia Chang-Díaz of Boston, who is on the ballot for
governor; Sen. Eric Lesser of Longmeadow, a lieutenant
governor candidate; Sen. Diana DiZoglio of Methuen, an
auditor hopeful; and Sen. Adam Hinds of Pittsfield, who also
sought the lieutenant governor office but failed to qualify
for the ballot at Saturday's Democratic nominating
convention.
The 19 open House districts stem from a mixture of lawmakers
who resigned and others who are seeking higher office. Some
also stem from the redistricting process after Democrats who
control the maps opted to draw "incumbent-free" districts
aimed at maximizing the opportunities for candidates of
color.
Lawmakers created a new Hispanic-majority, incumbent-free
11th Suffolk House district anchored in Chelsea. Chelsea
City Councilors Judith Garcia and Leo Robinson and Chelsea
School Committee Member Roberto Jiménez Rivera, all
Democrats, are on the ballot for that race, as is Republican
Chelsea City Councilor Todd Taylor.
Another new district with no sitting lawmaker and a Hispanic
majority is the Fourth Essex House district representing
parts of Lawrence and Methuen. That race drew three
Democrats: James McCarty, Lawrence City Councilor Estela
Reyes, and former Rep. William Lantigua, who in 2010
resigned from Beacon Hill to serve as Lawrence mayor before
launching two unsuccessful campaigns to unseat Rep. Marcos
Devers.
One race is all but decided already. In the 15th Essex
District that will represent parts of Methuen and Haverhill,
former Methuen City Councilor Ryan Hamilton, a Democrat, was
the only candidate to file nomination papers.
Other contests are crowded. Six Democrats make up the ballot
in the House's Eighth Essex District covering Marblehead and
Swampscott: Jennifer Armini, Diann Mary Baylis, Tristan
Smith, Theresa Tauro, Douglas Thompson and Polly Titcomb.
The winner of the primary is set to join the Legislature
with no declared Republican opponent.
The fight to fill Chang-Díaz's Senate seat, which will also
be effectively decided in the Democratic primary, could be
one of the most intense across the state.
Two sitting representatives, Nika Elugardo and Liz Miranda,
are giving up their House seats to run for the Senate
opening. They will face off against Chang-Díaz's immediate
predecessor, Dianne Wilkerson, who is mounting a comeback
bid after she resigned from the Senate, pleaded guilty to
federal corruption charges, served prison time and then took
on a new role in the activism world. Deacon James Grant and
Rev. Miniard Culpepper round out the field.
Republicans Aim to Stave Off Further Losses
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is wrapping up an eight-year
tenure in the corner office, but the MassGOP has seen its
numbers on Beacon Hill diminish in recent years.
The House kicked off the 2019-2020 lawmaking session with
127 Democrats, 32 Republicans and one independent, Rep.
Susannah Whipps of Athol, while the Senate opened that term
with 34 Democrats and six Republicans.
Today, following the most recent round of biennial general
elections and a string of resignation-fueled special
elections, Republicans hold 28 seats in the House compared
to Democrats' 126 and only three of 40 Senate seats.
MassGOP leaders hope the party's rightward shift and vocal
embrace of President Donald Trump can pry a few wins away
from Democrats, or at least prevent their opponents from
further expanding on supermajority margins in both chambers.
Altogether, 55 House districts and 19 Senate districts will
feature at least one Republican candidate on the ballot in
November -- less than half in each chamber -- while
Democrats are in the mix for 141 House districts and 38
Senate districts.
Eighteen incumbent Democrat representatives face a
Republican challenger, as do 15 incumbent Senate Democrats;
on the flip side, Democrats will look to unseat eight
Republican representatives seeking reelection and Republican
Sen. Patrick O'Connor of Weymouth.
Some of the races will take place in areas proven to be
competitive. Republican Rep. Shawn Dooley of Norfolk is
challenging Needham Democrat Sen. Becca Rausch for her seat
in the upper chamber, which she flipped in 2018 -- under the
previous district lines -- from Republican Sen. Richard Ross
with 51 percent of the vote.
Republicans will hope they can hang onto Dooley's House
seat, too, where Democrats Kevin Kalkut and Stephen Patrick
Teehan will face off to meet Republican Marcus Vaughn in the
general election.
Another open seat along the New Hampshire border,
represented by Republican Rep. Sheila Harrington of Groton
until she resigned for a judiciary post, will be in play for
the minority party. Republicans Lynne Archambault and Andrew
James Shepherd will face off in a primary for the First
Middlesex District, then go on to challenge Democrat
Margaret Scarsdale and unenrolled candidate Catherine
Lundeen in the general election.
MassGOP lost a nearly guaranteed seat via the decennial
redistricting process when former Ipswich Rep. Brad Hill's
district got carved up. Democrats at the time signaled they
think another new incumbent-free district -- the 19th
Worcester District containing parts of Northborough,
Southborough and Westborough -- could present an opportunity
for Republicans.
Two candidates filed nomination papers to run for that new
seat: Democrat Kate Donaghue and Republican Jonathan
Hostage.
The Boston
Herald
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
A Boston Herald editorial
Dems embrace voter ID – for themselves
Democrats have long considered the use of voter ID anathema
to democracy.
It’s been derided as restrictive, racist and a stain on the
sanctity of elections in America.
Except when Democrats vote among themselves, as in last
weekend’s state convention in Worcester. Then maintaining
voting integrity is the order of the day.
As the Herald reported, delegates were ordered to complete a
voter identification process by 11:30 a.m. Saturday or they
were banned from voting, said a delegate who spoke with the
Herald on the condition of anonymity.
A deadline to register, and consequences if it isn’t done on
time? Where were the protesters crying foul? Where was the
outrage?
“If you didn’t follow the instructions the rolls were closed
— no room at the inn,” the delegate, an elected official,
explained. “The party folks wanted a level of legitimacy
with voting. ”
As do we all. As Republicans have been touting for years.
But a Republican promoting the need for voter ID is a
rights-quashing villain, according to the left’s narrative.
“This is simply a redux of a failed system that is designed
to both scare people out of voting and make it harder for
those who are willing to push through, make it harder for
them to vote,” Stacey Abrams, then Democratic candidate for
Georgia governor said on CNN’s “State of the Union” back in
2018.
Abrams was slamming Georgia’s voter registration law, which
marked an applicant’s registration as “pending” if the
personal information on their voter registration form didn’t
match the information on the state’s Department of Driver
Services or the Social Security Administration, according to
the Hill.
There were some 53,000 voter registration applications,
mostly from black voters, that had been put on hold for
failing to meet the state’s “exact match” law.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey, in slamming
a Supreme Court decision last year upholding Arizona’s
out-of-precinct voting rules, said, “Voter ID laws, long
lines and other discriminatory policies are taken from the
same playbook as Jim Crow.”
Georgia’s voting laws became a cause celebre nationally,
framed as a battle between Republicans and their punitive
need to verify voters’ identities, and Democrats who were
protecting people’s God-given right to cast a ballot.
Fallout came in the form of Democrats’ The Freedom to Vote:
John R. Lewis Act earlier this year. Among other things, the
bill would have allowed documents such as a utility bill to
serve as identification for voting, the Associated Press
reported. The bill failed in the Senate.
Chances are slim to none that delegates at the Worcester
convention were flashing their Eversource bills to secure
the ability to vote.
The double standard wasn’t lost on Massachusetts Republican
Party Chairman Jim Lyons.
“The Democrats deployed a voter identification requirement
on Saturday they’ve long smeared as being racist, even
though it’s a policy that an overwhelming majority of
Americans support,” Lyons said in a statement.
“It all boils down to this: If the Democrats are requiring
voter ID to participate in their intraparty elections, why
won’t they support the same requirement to ensure the
integrity of Massachusetts elections?”
Precisely. There’s far too much “me but not for thee” in
today’s politics, where pols do what works best for them,
ordinary citizens be damned.
And for voters, that just doesn’t register.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Window Closing For Legislature To Set Sales Tax Holiday
By Colin A. Young
The speaker and Senate president made clear this week that a
gas tax suspension isn't in the cards, but people in
Massachusetts will get at least some form of tax relief this
summer regardless.
The "grand bargain" that legislative and administration
leaders agreed to in 2018 made a sales tax-free weekend an
annual holiday and calls for the Legislature by June 15 to
choose a weekend that the state will give up tens of
millions of dollars in taxes in a bid to spur buying and
consumer savings.
If lawmakers don't, the Department of Revenue will announce
by July 1 which weekend in August it will suspend the 6.25
percent sales tax on most items up to $2,500.
Massachusetts has had a sales tax holiday weekend most years
since 2004 and while critics have knocked the idea as a
gimmick that just shifts when people make purchases, it is
likely to be a popular topic on Beacon Hill this year as
residents contend with sky-high gas prices and persistent
inflation while the state sits on a glut of tax revenue.
Eliminating the sales tax would provide some immediate
relief for consumers -- the 6.25 percent sales tax on an
item that cost the maximum $2,500 would be $156.25. The
sales tax, and therefore its suspension, does not apply to
sales of gasoline however.
In a similar position last year but without as intense
inflation, Gov. Charlie Baker proposed a two-month sales tax
holiday in August and September, saying it would help give
the state's economy "some momentum as we come out of this
sort of pandemic doldrums that we've been in." Legislative
Democrats slammed the idea and instead stuck with the
prescribed two-day version.
Massachusetts has long offered the tax holiday during a
summer weekend as a way to boost local businesses, though it
did not have one in place in 2016 or 2017. In 2018, the
dates weren't officially set until one day ahead of time.
The first was a single-day holiday, held Saturday, August
14, 2004 and authorized by an economic stimulus package
signed into law the previous November by Gov. Mitt Romney.
The first sales tax holiday was estimated to have saved
consumers about $10.1 million, the News Service reported,
and the House chairman of the Revenue Committee, Rep. John
Binienda, said retailers that day "did Christmas Eve numbers
in August."
State House News
Service
Friday, June 10, 2022
License Access Bill Enacted Over Baker’s Veto
By Michael P. Norton
Starting next summer, immigrants without legal status in
Massachusetts will have access to state-issued driver's
licenses thanks to a policy muscled through by lawmakers
this week over Gov. Charlie Baker's veto.
The Massachusetts Senate voted 32-8 Thursday afternoon to
complete the override of the governor's veto. The House
voted 119-36 on Wednesday to initiate the override, with the
law's passage reflecting the strength of Democrats, and
weakness of Republicans, in the 200-seat Legislature.
Prior to the vote, Sen. Adam Gomez recalled growing up in an
impoverished and diverse area of Springfield and said the
new law will allow undocumented immigrants struggling with
jobs and housing to flourish and make more meaningful
contributions to communities.
Emotional supporters of the bill watched it move past the
finish line following years of unsuccessful advocacy.
The bill was dubbed the "Work and Family Mobility Act" and
its backers said licenses would remove fears undocumented
immigrants carry with them about losing their residency
should they be pulled over by police while driving to work
or a medical appointment or taking kids to sports practice.
And they said roads will be safer if more drivers receive
training and have insurance.
Sen. John Keenan said that he's been hoping for 12 years
that the federal government would address the issue through
comprehensive immigration reform, but he doesn't believe
that will happen in a Congress where partisan divisions run
deep.
Opponents of the bill (H 4805) worried about the message the
policy sends about illegal immigration and said the law
could open up questions about citizenship and an opportunity
for voter fraud, assertions rejected by proponents.
The law leaves the job of verifying foreign documents
presented by individuals seeking licenses to the Registry of
Motor Vehicles, which will be under the oversight of a new
governor by the time licenses become available in July 2023.
Baker's teams have run the registry for seven years and he
wrote in his veto (H 4822) that the RMV "does not have the
expertise or ability to verify the validity of many types of
documents from other countries."
All three Senate Republicans voted to sustain the governor's
veto and they were joined by Senate Democrats Nick Collins
of South Boston, Anne Gobi of Spencer, Marc Pacheco of
Taunton, Walter Timilty of Milton, and John Velis of
Westfield.
Candidate for governor Geoff Diehl said he would support a
ballot question that would repeal the new law.
State House News
Service
Friday, June 10, 2022
Weekly Roundup - The (Temporary?) Law of the Land
By Chris Lisinski
When House and Senate leaders can get most or all of their
Democrats on board behind a bill, their supermajority
margins render the governor all but inconsequential to what
becomes state law. It's ironing out the intraparty
disagreements that often proves tougher, and more
time-consuming.
Immigration reform advocates and some public safety leaders
have pressed, often loudly, for more than a decade to grant
residents without legal status in the U.S. some form of
access to driver's licenses. Their bills to accomplish that
never surfaced for floor votes, but legislative leaders kept
the conversations going behind closed doors. This session,
having amassed enough votes to steamroll a veto, they went
for it.
The votes were there to pass the bill and Democrats in both
branches flexed their political muscles in a 24-hour span to
cement the licensing bill as law by clearing the two thirds
hurdle needed for a veto override.
Even Baker, who argued that allowing immigrants without
legal status to apply for standard driver's licenses could
spiral into ineligible residents registering to vote,
accepted that he was fighting a losing battle.
"I don't see this the same way the House and the Senate see
it," Baker said Monday. "That's democracy."
But the decisive roll calls (119-36 in the House and 32-8 in
the Senate) may have just triggered the start of a larger
fight. Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl and
lieutenant governor candidate Leah Cole Allen said after
Thursday's vote they would back a ballot question asking
voters to repeal the new law.
"Leah and I will not sit by idly and watch the consequences
of this bill take away the safety and democratic rights of
Massachusetts residents. We fully support submitting this
question to the people to give them a direct say in their
future," Diehl said Thursday without making clear [sic]
The calendar could shape the dynamics at play there. State
law allows petitioners to bring forth a referendum to strike
a newly enacted law if they collect, in this case, 40,120
signatures from Massachusetts voters, of which no more than
10,030 could come from one county, within 90 days after its
passage.
If opponents of the new law pursue that action -- and are
successful at gathering signatures -- the timing could line
up almost perfectly to put the question before voters at the
Nov. 8 election. They'd have until Aug. 24 to submit
signatures to local election officials for certification and
then Sept. 7 to submit them to Secretary of State William
Galvin's office.
Otherwise, a more common initiative petition likely could
not go before voters until 2024, more than a year after the
July 1, 2023 start date on which immigrants without legal
status can begin applying for licenses.
A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of Massachusetts
residents conducted in April found a nearly even split of
support and opposition for the licensing idea, an uneasy
balance that could get tilted one way or the other once
prospective campaigns begin flooding the public sphere.
The override was not the only display of political strength
Democrats made this week. Without the support of Republicans
who negotiated the final bill, lawmakers began advancing a
measure to make mail-in voting and expanded early voting
permanent options in Massachusetts.
Both of those ways of casting ballots proved popular and
mostly successful as temporary measures during the COVID-19
pandemic, improving voter access despite threats posed by
the virus.
Legislators, who often wrap up work at the last minute or
blow past deadlines altogether, faced pressure to finalize a
bill soon with the Sept. 6 statewide primary less than three
months away. The conference committee that took months to
produce an accord agreed to give prospective voters 10 more
days before an election to register, but they opted against
a Senate-approved policy allowing new voters to register and
cast a ballot in one trip to the polls. The Senate signed
off on the deal and a House vote could come as early as next
week.
While GOP lawmakers are not on board, there's a chance
Democrats will need to take fewer steps to finalize the
elections reform bill than they did the licensing law. Baker
in the past has voiced support for broader voting by mail,
and he signed both the temporary law and extensions to it
during the public health crisis.
Action would put mail-in voting and more early voting days
on the table for this fall's elections, but for a majority
of the legislators responsible for the bill, it won't make
all that much of a difference.
Ninety-two representatives and 16 senators face neither a
declared primary nor a general election opponent,
essentially granting them a pleasant stroll into another two
years in office with next to no campaigning required, no
need to answer to their opponents, and none of those
candidate debates and Q&A forums.
As a result, millions of voters will have no alternatives in
the House and Senate if, say, they are frustrated by
wherever their elected legislators land on tax relief, an
area where the cloudy outlook has yet to give way to
sunshine.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen
Spilka, as they have for months at this point, said their
respective branches continue to deliberate in private about
still-in-development tax packages without offering many
details beyond a broad promise that the bills would aim to
help vulnerable populations.
Their spending plans for the fiscal year that starts July 1
do not broach the idea of tax relief, though the final
fiscal 2023 budget deliberations could revise the state's
tax revenue forecast. That surplus-bound outlook is, well,
pick your description from the latest batch offered this
week: "rosy," as Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation
President Eileen McAnneny put it; "absolutely
unprecedented," in the words of MTF's Executive Vice
President Doug Howgate; or "just crazy," as Baker told
business leaders.
Two conference committees kicked off their work this week,
one tasked with resolving major differences between House
and Senate sports betting bills and the other assigned with
producing a final annual state budget.
Outside of spending levels, the budget talks -- which opened
with brief public remarks before moving into private -- will
feature some significant policy decisions as well, including
a Senate proposal to create new licensing protections for
Massachusetts reproductive health and gender-affirming care
providers who may face legal challenges originating in other
states.
Attorney General Maura Healey implored Bay State employers
to think about abortion laws, too, saying that heightened
restrictions being put in place in other states could cost
billions of dollars in productivity "because it actually
affects whether women go to school, stay in school, join the
workforce, stay in the workforce, contribute to our
economy."
The gubernatorial candidate told business leaders she is
among those concerned about the statewide housing shortage
and the high costs of living, two days before the man she
hopes to succeed in the corner office delivered a similar
message dubbing the lack of available and affordable housing
an "existential threat."
Whether it's Healey or someone else, the next governor will
have their work cut out on a series of intimidating and
harrowing obstacles even if the state remains on good fiscal
footing. Booming inflation intertwining with a runaway-train
housing market have created major struggles for voters, who
appear more likely in new polling to have economic issues
top of mind.
Opioid overdose deaths reached a new high in 2021, according
to data released this week, fueled in part by the widespread
presence of fentanyl and the anguish imposed by the
pandemic.
"I'm not throwing stones, (but) I filed legislation three
years ago, before the pandemic, to significantly shift
investments in primary care, addiction services, behavioral
health and gerontology because we underfund those things. We
always have," Baker told the crowd at a New England Council
event. "We still need to do something like that if we really
want to get our arms around this."
STORY OF THE WEEK: Democrats used the political firepower
they have amassed at the ballot box over the years to make
driver's license access regardless of immigration status the
law of the land, but the fight might not be over.
State House News
Service
Friday, June 10, 2022
Advances - Week of June 12, 2022
Lawmakers put a driver's license access bill on the books
this week over Gov. Charlie Baker's veto but will try to get
his signature on an historic elections reform bill that
could reach his desk next week. The bill (S 2924) that would
make mail-in and early voting permanent sailed through the
Senate Thursday on a 37-3 vote and is expected to easily
clear the House.
After a Senate vote this week, the branches also have an
opportunity before summer to send the governor a bill
authorizing $350 million in investments in local roads and
transportation projects, including $200 million that will be
run through the Chapter 90 formula used to spread aid among
the 351 cities and towns.
This week's sudden announcement of a House-Senate agreement
on the election bill served as a reminder that it's the
point in the two-year session when the branches can strike
sudden accords on major bills, or start advancing bills that
have been toiling all session in committees.
The Ways and Means committees, which are graveyards for many
major bills, also become more active in June and July,
popping out bills that often quickly cruise to passage. This
week, Speaker Ron Mariano said he believed bills were
ripening that would address workplace violence and access to
prescription drugs.
While conference committees continue to shape the annual
state budget, a climate and emissions bill, and sports
betting legislation, the branches have a long way to go --
and about seven weeks to get there -- on a major economic
development bill and legislation designed to help the state
capture its share of federal infrastructure funds and,
perhaps, to take a major step toward passenger rail service
to the state's westernmost regions.
Another investment bill, the so-called general government
bond bill focused on upkeep of state assets, is set to be
amended and approved Thursday when the Senate plans a formal
session. The House version of that bill totaled about $5
billion.
Also next week, things are heating up before the Governor's
Council, where Gov. Baker has a chance during his final
months in office to load up the judiciary with scores of
appointees. Among the nominees set for hearings on
Wednesday: state Rep. James Kelcourse, an Amesbury
Republican picked to join the Parole Board.
The Boston
Herald
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Massachusetts voters stance on Biden, governor,
policy driven by ‘economic anxiety,’ poll finds
By Gayla Cawley
A poll commissioned by Fiscal Alliance found that “economic
anxiety” is shaping how Bay State voters feel about the
president, policy issues, and what candidate they prefer for
governor.
“The real driver of this survey, the thing that makes
everything about it make a lot of sense is when you look at
the way people feel about … the economic anxiety issues —
the jobs and economy, taxes and inflation,” said Jim
Eltringham of Advantage Inc., who conducted the survey.
“That slate of issues really deals with people worrying
about themselves, their family, and the financial future of
those around them,” he added.
The poll, which surveyed 750 likely general election voters
from June 1-5, included questions on President Biden’s job
performance, how voters feel on a range of policy issues,
why residents are choosing to leave the state, and what
candidate they plan to support for governor.
Paul Craney, spokesperson for the Fiscal Alliance
Foundation, said the results showed decreasing support for
the president, particularly around his handling of
inflation. Biden’s approval rating for how he was dealing
with inflation dropped from 48% in March, with a 48%
disapproval, to 39% approval and 53% disapproval in June.
How voters feel about his job performance also dropped over
that time frame — from 54% support and 44% against in March
to 49% support and 46% against this month, Craney said.
Craney said the majority, or 68%, of Democrats, Republicans
and unenrolled voters support suspending the gas tax, which
has failed to pass in the legislature.
The majority of voters polled, or 69%, were against a
graduated income surtax amendment — the so-called
millionaire’s tax that would create a new surtax on income
in excess of $1 million — which the legislature voted to
place on the ballot a year ago.
One in four voters polled said they are considering or
planning to leave Massachusetts, with higher taxes and cost
of living cited as the top two reasons, according to
Eltringham.
Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, garnered the most
support among gubernatorial candidates, at 26%, but saw a
decrease from 31% in March. Republican Geoff Diehl also saw
a drop, as 60% of polled voters remain undecided, Craney
said.
“The national mood to what I call economic anxiety seems to
be now starting to spill out into the governor’s race,”
Craney said.
State House News
Service
Thursday, June 9, 2022
Poll: More Voters Have Economics On Their Mind
Healey Leads Guv's Race, But 60 Percent Undecided
By Katie Lannan
Massachusetts voters have economic issues on their minds,
according to a poll the Fiscal Alliance Foundation released
Thursday.
The conservative foundation's poll, conducted from June 1-5
by Jim Eltringham of the Virginia-based Advantage, Inc.,
surveyed 750 likely voters on issues involving taxes, their
opinions on President Biden and the governor's race.
Eltringham said the "real driver of this survey, the thing
that makes everything about it make a lot of sense, is when
you look at the way people feel about ... the economic
anxiety issues, the jobs and economy, taxes and inflation."
"That suite of issues really deals with people worrying
about themselves, their family and the financial future of
those around them -- and the financial present for those
around them -- and I don't think there's anywhere in the
country where that's not something that's being discussed,
and it shows up here in these numbers," he told reporters.
About 21 percent of voters labeled jobs and the economy as
the most important issue behind their vote for governor,
with 13.7 percent picking climate change, 13 percent taxes,
12.3 percent health care, 12.1 percent inflation and 11.3
percent "something else."
Almost 55 percent of respondents were not enrolled in a
political party, more than 35 percent were Democrats and 10
percent Republicans.
Rather than dividing the candidates for governor by their
party, the poll asked all participants which of the four
contenders they would pick if the election were held today,
giving them a choice among Democrats Sonia Chang-Diaz and
Maura Healey and Republicans Geoff Diehl and Chris Doughty.
The bulk of respondents -- 60 percent -- either didn't know
or were undecided. Twenty-six percent picked Healey, with
almost 12 percent for Diehl, 1.33 percent for Chang-Diaz and
0.93 percent for Doughty. Healey, the attorney general, led
among Democrats and unenrolled voters who had candidate
preferences and was the choice for 8 percent of the
Republicans, behind Diehl's 33.33 percent.
Fiscal Alliance Foundation spokesperson Paul Craney flagged
that the number of undecided voters increased from 50
percent in the group's last similar poll, fielded in March.
He called that a "pretty pronounced swing."
Craney said he believes the increase in undecided voters,
combined with a greater share of voters labeling taxes,
inflation, jobs and the economy as their top issue than in
the past poll, shows a "strong undercurrent of economic
anxiety."
With Massachusetts on track for another significant revenue
surplus when the fiscal year concludes at the end of this
month, top Democrats in the Legislature have indicated
interest in pursuing some sort of tax relief, with an eye
towards helping vulnerable populations and those most
affected by COVID-19. While they have not put forward
specific plans with less than two months of formal lawmaking
sessions left for the year, House Speaker Ron Mariano and
Senate President Karen Spilka have ruled out the possibility
of a gas-tax suspension.
After mentioning rising gas prices, fuel tax pauses in other
states, and Spilka and Mariano's opposition to such a policy
here, the poll asked voters if Massachusetts should
temporarily suspend its gas tax. Sixty-eight percent said
yes, and 18 percent no.
The poll also asked about a proposed constitutional
amendment on November's ballot that would impose a new 4
percent surtax on annual income above a $1 million
threshold, on top of the state's 5 percent income tax.
Democrats in the Legislature advanced the measure as a way
to raise money for education and transportation.
The poll described the amendment as one that would "raise
the income tax from 5 to 9 percent, which represents an 80
percent increase, on some earnings from high-income earners
and middle-class small businesses." It found about 69
percent respondents opposed, with about 20 percent in
support and 11 percent unsure.
Other polls have found high levels of support for the surtax
at various points, and wording differs among the surveys.
A MassINC Polling Group survey, conducted last December,
found 69 percent in support of the amendment and 21 percent
opposed. That poll said the proposal "would create an
additional 4% tax on the portion of someone's income over $1
million a year," with the minimum amount to trigger the tax
rising annually with inflation and the money collected
"dedicated to transportation and public education."
In the Fiscal Alliance Foundation's poll, Eltringham said
the goal was to "try to get kind of a baseline understanding
using language that was as neutral as we could come up
with."
"If you have unlimited time to talk to people on the phone,
you could ask the question about eight different ways and
see different angles of it," he said.
The Supreme Judicial Court last month heard arguments in a
case challenging the summary of the surtax that Attorney
General Healey has prepared for voters. The lawsuit takes
issue with the summary's statement that "Revenues from this
tax would be used, subject to appropriation by the state
Legislature, for public education, public colleges and
universities; and for the repair and maintenance of roads,
bridges, and public transportation," and seeks to order that
ballot materials tell voters that lawmakers could choose to
reduce education and transportation funding from other
sources and use the surtax revenue to replace it.
Craney is among the plaintiffs in that suit, and the Fiscal
Alliance Foundation sponsored an amicus brief in the case
authored by the Beacon Hill Institute.
Modeled after a similar question posed to New Yorkers
earlier this year, the foundation polled voters on whether
they are considering or have made plans to leave
Massachusetts and reside somewhere else.
Almost 25 percent said yes, and more than 75 percent said
no. Among those who answered yes, "Taxes are too high" was
the top reason, selected by 58 respondents, followed by the
41 who chose "Cost of living is too high."
State House News
Service
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Senators Want Turnpike EV Chargers Fixed
By Chris Lisinski
Frustrated by a pair of Massachusetts Turnpike electric
vehicle charger stations that have been inoperable for more
than a year, a pair of senators pressed Transportation
Secretary Jamey Tesler to fix the problem by next month and
make clear how the administration will expand EV
infrastructure.
Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem and Sen. Michael
Barrett, who co-chairs the Telecommunications, Utilities and
Energy Committee, wrote to Tesler on Monday voicing
"disappointment" that vehicle charging stations at I-90 rest
stops have been broken for a year-plus.
"The continued inoperability of these chargers hampers the
Commonwealth's ability to reach its EV goals, not only
because it makes it more difficult for EV drivers to travel
across the Commonwealth, but also because it feeds into an
inaccurate yet prevalent narrative that EVs are not reliable
for long-distance travel," Creem, a Newton Democrat, and
Barrett, a Lexington Democrat, wrote. "Indeed, the
psychological impact of these broken chargers on residents
whom we would like to become EV drivers may be even more
detrimental than their practical impact on residents who
already own EVs."
Creem's office told the News Service she noticed the problem
while traveling recently and, after looking into the issue,
determined that the charging stations at the eastbound
Natick rest stop and the westbound Charlton rest stop are
not functional. That takes two of the turnpike's six
charging stations out of the mix and leaves motorists
driving electric vehicles with no options to recharge on
I-90 across large stretches of the state.
The lawmakers asked Tesler's secretariat to bring broken
chargers back to operation by July 1 "ahead of the busiest
periods of summer travel" and requested additional
information about the location and status of each Mass. Pike
EV charger, how MassDOT maintains that infrastructure, and
plans to install additional chargers.
A bill the Senate approved in April would pump $250 million
into clean energy expansion, electric vehicle purchase
incentives and EV charging infrastructure, though it remains
unclear which provisions will survive negotiations with the
House.
A MassDOT spokesperson did not respond directly to the Creem
and Barrett letter on Tuesday but noted that a department
official planned to discuss broader efforts to expand
electric vehicle charging at an 11:30 a.m. event with AAA
Northeast.
State House News
Service
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Mass. Lawmakers Sharing Gun Law Ideas With Other States
By Katie Lannan
In the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo,
New York and other gun-violence incidents, state
representatives from Massachusetts are offering to serve as
a resource to their counterparts around the country.
Rep. Marjorie Decker, the House chair of the Public Health
Committee and a key player in recent gun legislation
efforts, is circulating among her House colleagues an open
letter to legislators in other states, inviting them to
"look towards Massachusetts as you reimagine your gun laws
in a way that is respectful of the needs of your
communities."
"In the notable absence of national measures, the
Massachusetts Legislature has demonstrated its commitment to
responsible gun safety measures by implementing common-sense
laws," the letter says. "Over the past decade especially, we
broke the mold by refusing to kowtow to national pundits on
either side of the aisle."
Laws Decker cites include the 2004 ban on "military-style
assault weapons and high-capacity magazine," a 2014 package
that among other measures gave police chiefs more discretion
over gun licensing, a 2017 ban on bump stocks and the 2018
"red flag" law allowing family members to petition courts to
suspend gun ownership rights of someone they believe to be a
danger.
Representatives have until 5 p.m. Tuesday to sign the
letter. Speaker Ron Mariano has already added his name.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday said he, too, has recommended
to other governors that they "look at the Massachusetts laws
and make some decisions of their own based on those."
"I tend to try and give them as broad a commentary on it as
I can, because I don't want to prejudge whatever they think
might make the most sense with regard to whatever else they
might already have in place," Baker said. "But I think it's
undeniable that the laws we have here work pretty well."
The
Epoch Times
Friday, June 10, 2022
This Is How Prosperity Dies
By Jeffrey A. Tucker
Now that the lockdown, mask, and mandate wars have died
down, I’m getting calls from friends who two years ago cut
me off because of my writings and views. They are also
looking for insight into the unfolding economic chaos around
them. And of course they want some insight into how best to
protect themselves.
It’s all a consequence of the thing they supported for two
years, I explain. The lockdowns prompted government spending
which fired up the printing presses and hence inflation. The
masking led to demoralization of the population and falling
interest in large events. Who wants to sit in a Broadway
play or opera in a mask? And the mandates devastated the
labor pool, tossing millions out of jobs and treating
remaining workers like chattel.
As for the crime, which is roiling American cities in wave
after wave, it’s almost as if locking people in their homes,
closing their churches and rehab clinics, taking away social
opportunities, and otherwise treating people like lab rats
was not overall good for the human psyche. It made good
people bad and bad people evil. Who would have thought? Oh,
just about anyone who thought about it for a few moments.
But of course this is not a message anyone who backed all
these terrible policies wants to hear. In fact, I can think
only of a few authors—just a handful of us—who have drawn
this connection at all. That’s an intellectual scandal! Most
writers are just going about their merry way as if there is
no relationship at all between the pandemic response and the
gradual and systematic end of American prosperity and
tranquility.
Maybe this should not be surprising. We live in strange
times when basic matters of science and logic are being
displaced by ridiculous sloganeering and poses. Biden says
this is the best economic recovery ever, and the White House
spokesperson backs him up, and we are just supposed to nod
our heads as if our fantasies are the same as reality.
It’s the very essence of postmodern thinking: reality is a
social construct and ideology overrides even the law of
cause and effect. If you are worried and concerned about
your economic future, it’s all your fault for imagining such
things.
Of course what has prompted all this public concern—and
which has driven Biden’s popularity down to rock-bottom
levels—is inflation above all else. The latest report from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just came out and its
report exceeded my worst expectations. I figured it would be
a bit better than last month. It was worse; 8.6 percent year
over year.
In reality, the rate is far worse, closer to 12 percent,
according to real-time data, and people know this. Still the
official CPI matters simply because it is a consistent
metric generated by a stable methodology and also because it
is official. Even the official statistics cannot lie all the
time....
My friend Doug Rudisch did some quick checking on the
figures this morning, asking a more foundational question:
why are we only comparing year over year data? Is there
something magical about 12 months that gives us some access
to an imagined real rate whereas looking at 11 or 13 months
does not? It’s a good point, so he decided to look at the
data over two years. The results fit much more with our own
intuition. Have a look:
Feast your eyes on the bottom
line: prices now are rising at a two-year rate of 13.6
percent. And the trend line looks truly terrible. As I
mentioned in my
yesterday piece, based on a supposition that there is
some relationship between the money supply and the price
level, we have a very long way to go before this flood of
paper reaches a new equilibrium level.
Let’s pull back a bit and track this relationship between
money as measured by M2 and the price level. There is a lag,
typically assumed to be about 18 months, between the
expansion and the effect on prices, all else equal.
Mitigating factors in the way the index is calculated
suppress the seeming relationship in the 2010s but our times
feel much more like the 1970s when the traditional theory
seems more operative.
The actions of the Federal Reserve—in response to wild bouts
of spending from Congress on demands from two successive
presidential administrations—were insanely irresponsible.
They knew it. They did it anyway. Pretty much that impulse
sums up government over the last two years and several
months. No one seemed to care about the future. It was all
about getting rid of the virus now.
It was sheer mania and insanity. Some people think it is not
that but rather a “controlled demolition,” which is to say
that all of this is fully intentional. I believe that when
it comes to the price of oil and gas. No question that the
milliennarians in the White House want to push the great
transition from a modern method of generating energy to a
more primitive form. Just live off the wind and sun, they
tell us!
Or maybe it is more like the great scene in “Pee Wee’s Big
Adventure” when he falls off of his bike. “I meant to do
that,” he says, brushing off his clothes.
Whether this is intentional or accidental or just sheet
stupidity at work, what we have here is the display of
tremendous irrationality. Literally, the regime decided to
forget about basic economics.
“All things are subject to the law of cause and effect,”
begins Carl Menger’s great economic treatise of 1871. “This
great principle knows no exception, and we would search in
vain in the realm of experience for an example to the
contrary.”
So true. Economics has always been the great reality test
for all regimes. That’s why so many despots eventually turn
on the economists. It is they who are constantly (or at
least supposed to be) reminding the rulers that their
actions will certainly have consequences that they cannot
avoid.
For goodness sake, they imagined that they could shut down
economic life, cover it up with debt and devaluation, and
then life would go on as normal after. In no world is this
possible. Now there is no going back. The American people
are being pillaged. Nothing anyone in power right now does
will stop the law of cause and effect from operating.
This is what the decline and fall of prosperity looks like.
To those who say that it cannot get that much worse, I would
respond that there is no way they can know that for sure. We
truly have no idea how much worse it can get. All the press
conferences on the planet, running 24/7, cannot delete the
reality unfolding before our eyes.
— Jeffrey Tucker is founder
and president of the Brownstone Institute. He is the author
of five books, including "Right-Wing Collectivism: The Other
Threat to Liberty."
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