CLT Update
Tuesday, January 29, 2002
Sen. Birmingham to "rethink wisdom"
of tax rollback!
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, who supports delaying the voter-approved income
tax rollback and raising the cigarette tax, will rally support for both moves in the Senate this
spring. Birmingham said he won't rule out other tax increases if members support them....
Other taxes under serious consideration on Beacon Hill include an elimination of state income
tax deductions for charitable donations, an increase in the capital gains tax, and new levies on
gasoline and alcohol....
Birmingham said Swift used "games and gimmicks" in designing her budget to avoid reneging
on her pledge to avoid new taxes. The state's economic circumstances have changed
considerably since the income tax rollback was approved in November 2000,
he said, and it's time for state leaders to rethink its wisdom.
The Boston Globe
Legislative leaders eye tax hikes
"It's time for state leaders to rethink its wisdom"?
Excuse me, but when was there any question about their positions on our tax rollback -- since the
"temporary" income tax hike was imposed in 1989, since we started asking that the
Legislature "keep the promise" and roll it back every year during the greatest economic expansion in recent history?
"Rethink its wisdom"?
Exactly what alleged "wisdom" is it that wannabe-governor Birmingham seeks to address?
Surely not his obsessive opposition to our rollback; his and most legislators' since the early-'90s?
The intransigent Sen. Birmingham and his crowd lost Question 4; we won.
He needs to live with the occasional gray cloud of defeat. Didn't they teach him that at Oxford, if he didn't
learn it while growing up in Chelsea?
Just for the record, I've included a number of his past statements over the years. Though highly unlikely,
perhaps this is the "wisdom" about which he'd like to "rethink"?
Yeah, Mr. Senate President, we're watching, and we always have been.
As "Honest Abe" Lincoln once noted: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the
people some of the time ... but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
This is just one of those latter times.
![](images/CFord-Sig2.gif) |
Chip Ford |
"Too much too soon" has been the reaction of Senate
President Thomas Birmingham, who ... prefers that any tax cuts be targeted to those in need.
The Boston Globe
Jul. 7, 1997
CLT returns to center stage in fight for income-tax cut
By Scot Lehigh
"I wasn't there in 1989, but it appears a promise was made,"
Birmingham said. "It was represented as temporary."
State House News Service
Jul. 30, 1997
Cellucci calls for income tax cut
Birmingham (D-Chelsea), who opposes Celluci's plan to drop
the tax rate from 5.95 to 5 percent, quickly fired back.
"I'm not explaining anything," said Birmingham, adding that
the Legislature already eliminated the temporary tax Cellucci referred to.
"The fact is, it was not a temporary tax," he said.
"Cellucci was a member of the Legislature then. It's a
profession of incompetence if he thinks it was" temporary.
The Boston Herald
Feb. 27, 1998
War of words over state income-tax cut escalates
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham called Cellucci's
strategy "a shrewd political move," but warned that the income tax cut -- which would cost $1.4 billion at the end of its
three-year phase-in -- would imperil bipartisan priorities. "It is going to jeopardize our full
implementation of education reform, our expansion of health care, our improvements of
public safety -- the list goes on and on and on," Birmingham said. "Unfortunately, I think it is
a Pyrrhic victory for the people of the Commonwealth."
But though the Senate president said he didn't detect any
huge public hunger for another large tax cut, he conceded that if Cellucci succeeds in putting the rollback on the statewide
ballot, it would probably pass.
"I'm not naive about that," he said....
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham (D-Chelsea) said he
didn't expect a Cellucci-backed referendum to scare his members.
"It'll be a factor (but) I don't think it'll force our hand
in the Senate," Birmingham said.
The Boston Globe
Apr. 1, 1999
Cellucci would put rate cut on ballot
Lawmakers yesterday dared Gov. Paul Cellucci to take his
$1.2 billion tax cut to the voters, saying his threats wouldn't influence them.
"This has been taken to the voters already and they said no
to it," state Rep. John H. Rogers (D-Norwood), co-chair of the Taxation Committee, said referring to voters' 1990 rejection
of a ballot question pushing a massive tax rollback.
The Herald reported yesterday that Cellucci plans to use his
political muscle to launch a referendum drive to slash the state's income tax by $1.2 billion....
The Boston Herald
Apr. 1, 1999
Lawmakers call tax bluff:
Pols tell Cellucci voters don't want cut
Legislators like Senate President Thomas Birmingham argue
the state can't afford to cut taxes by $1.4 billion while paying for needed health care and education expansions.
State House News Service
Jun. 16, 1999
Cellucci, TEAM Laying Groundwork for Tax Rollback Campaign
Finneran's plan - approved by the Taxation Committee this
afternoon and to likely to see House approval in two weeks - cuts taxes by $135 million next year and then $275 million
every year afterward when fully phased in. It would save the average family $135 a year.
Once fully implemented, Cellucci's plan would save taxpayers
$1.4 billion annually, although it would cost about the same as Finneran's plan in the first year. Finneran said his plan gives
lawmakers flexibility to respond to future economic changes.
Senate President Thomas Birmingham said his colleagues would
likely reject both plans as too expensive. He said the Senate has "higher priorities."
"I'm not saying it's dead on arrival, but I'm highly
doubtful the Senate will do an income tax reduction on the order of the governor or the speaker," Birmingham said at his
own press conference later in the day. "I think it is highly doubtful the Senate will do an income tax cut
because we have higher priorities" like education, health care and public
safety, he said.
State House News Service
Apr. 15, 1999
Birmingham, Finneran, Cellucci
Stake Out Tax Cut Positions
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham yesterday rejected the
idea of a major tax cut this year - just minutes after House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran called for a $270 million
income tax reduction.
"We have different and higher priorities," Birmingham said.
Birmingham rejected both Finneran's call for dropping the
income tax rate from 5.95 to 5.75 percent next year and Gov. Paul Cellucci's plan to drop the rate to 5 percent by 2002.
"I am highly doubtful that the Senate will do an income tax
reduction to match the governor or what I understand the speaker has proposed," Birmingham said, adding there is no
current public demand for further tax cuts....
Birmingham said voters are not clamoring for what he called
"an irresponsible tax cut."
The Boston Herald
Apr. 16, 1999
Birmingham says no to tax cut:
But House speaker has different view
Now that Cellucci and Finneran both favor a rate reduction,
Birmingham is left as the odd man out. That will put pressure on him.
Birmingham faces a basic choice: a rate cut or no sizable
tax cut at all. Yesterday, Birmingham seemed determined to follow the latter course.
The Boston Globe
Apr. 16, 1999
Cellucci gains as Finneran gives on tax cut
House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran wants a gradual rollback of
the state income tax to 5 percent, conditioned on a strong economy. Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham
opposes the rollback and would prefer to spend the windfall on programs such as the Senate
plan for senior drug benefits.
The Boston Globe
Jul. 2, 2000
State surplus swells by $200m
Birmingham has called the cut reckless and the theory that
it will actually spur revenue growth, "Rumplestiltskinomics."
The MetroWest Daily News
Oct. 15, 2000
Tax cut ballot flashpoint
"It's probably one of the last options, because the voters
did vote for it," Birmingham said. "But I think in these fairly dire circumstances, one should never say never."
The Boston Globe
Oct. 25, 2001
As revenues drop, Democrats eyeing a delay in tax cut
Birmingham, a likely candidate for governor, threatened deep
cuts in local aid, education and health care if something drastic like freezing the tax cut isn't done to raise money.
"You can't get there without cutting some of the primary
functions of government," he said.
Despite his initial resistance, Finneran said he's willing
to cut a deal. The House would like to slap economic triggers onto the tax cut, freezing its phase-in only in the economy
really tanks, he said.
The Boston Herald
Nov. 8, 2001
Finneran counters Senate with economic trigger plan
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