A PROMISE TO KEEP: 5%
A Ballot Committee of
Citizens for Limited Taxation & Government
PO Box 408 * Peabody, MA 01960
Phone:(617) 248-0022 /(508) 538-3900 E-Mail: cltg@cltg.org
Visit our web-page at: http://cltg.org
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*** PROMISE UPDATE ***
Wednesday, December 31, 1997

Greetings activists:

I hope you had a good holiday and are looking forward to a prosperous and promising new year . . . and I’ll bet you almost forgot all about us!

We’ve been flat-out busy seven-days-a-week right through evenings, weekends, and holidays, since we turned in our income tax rollback petitions on December 3rd and learned that the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA, now "affectionately" known as *More Taxes Always*!) and the Tax Equity Alliance of Massachusetts (always known as *Tax Everything And More*!) would be going to extraordinary lengths to deprive taxpayers of their promised tax rollback.

The next time you meet your child’s teacher, or bump into your friend or neighbor who’s a teacher, ask them why they’re setting such a bad example "for the children" that it’s okay to lie and break promises for personal gain. Then ask your neighbor the teacher, or your children’s teachers, why they so desperately want to deprive you of an end to the "temporary" tax increase of 1989. Remind them that, for you, every tax is a pay-cut.

And, don’t let them hide behind the skirts of the teachers’ union bosses—because "all it takes for evil to triumph if for good men to remain silent," or as the old bumper-sticker used to remind us: "If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem."

We’re having some pretty remarkable success identifying signatures that the city and town clerks *should* have certified as those of registered voters—but didn’t. The work of clerks in many city and town halls was pretty sloppy and, through the state voter registration database that we were finally able to procure from the Secretary of State’s office, we have begun to identify a slew of them that we intend to challenge and have certified.

[Examples of what we’ve found so far: 16 good signatures in Harwich that *should* have been certified, but weren’t; 53 in Orleans; 10 in Sandwich; 30 in Lowell; 18 in Woburn; and statewide, over 200 "T" coded signatures (meaning the voter had signed a petition more than once) that were not counted—but we can find only one signature. And we’ve only *begun* the project of identifying good signatures that weren’t certified!] My thanks go out to the handful of dedicated volunteers who’ve contributed so much of their time and energy—and holiday season! -- to making sure all the effort and money we’ve invested into the petition drive over the past four months will not be wasted.

It’s encouraging to see that some, even if the same always-reliable few, are so willing to pull themselves out of the stink of oppressive big government and selfish special interests—not just sit back on their haunches and wait for someone else to toss them a tow-rope and carry their load. *It’s exactly that latter attitude that got us all into this mess!*

BUT WE STILL NEED LOTS OF HELP CHECKING THE SIGNATURES!

Almost 6,000 petition sheets need to be scrutinized against the actual voter registration rolls in city and town halls—and we can’t do it all by ourselves! *There simply isn’t any more time left in the day to do any more than what we’re already doing!* DON’T WAIT FOR THE TOW-ROPE -- *SAVE YOURSELF!*

WE NEED YOUR HELP! If you can help out in ANY WAY—in Boston or at your own town hall—call Loretta Hayden or Chip Faulkner at our Boston office at: (617) 248-0022. And call NOW, because our time’s running out! (See the front-page story from today’s Boston Globe, below.)

Thanks so much to those of you who’ve helped; we wouldn’t have gotten this far without your commitment.

And thanks in advance to those of you who *will* help— because we *won’t* be able to pull this off without you! (You’ve heard that before but, *this* time, I hope you’ll believe it while there’s still time to act!)

Chip Ford—
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The Boston Globe
Wednesday, December 31, 1997
Page One
Coalition challenges state tax-cut petition
By Frank Phillips
Globe Staff

In a development that could have vast political implications on Beacon Hill, a coalition organized by the Massachusetts Teachers Association declared yesterday it has the ammunition to keep a proposed $1.2 billion tax cut from appearing on the 1998 ballot.

The coalition - which also includes the Tax Equity Alliance for Massachusetts - notified Secretary of State William F. Galvin that it has found scores of what it called dubious signatures on papers for the ballot question and will petition the state Ballot Law Commission to reject them.

The tax-cut campaign, led by Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation & Government, has filed only 81 voter signatures more than the 64,928 needed to get the initiative petition on the ballot.

If Anderson’s foes can prove at least 82 signatures are either fraudulent or from people who are not properly registered voters, the question could be blocked from going to voters, but Anderson could resort to legal appeals. Typically, ballot-question organizers try to get tens of thousands of signatures more than they need as insurance.

The proposed ballot question would drop Massachusetts’ income tax, over three years, from 5.95 to 5 percent, the longtime level in effect before the Legislature and former governor Michael S. Dukakis twice raised it to bail the state out of the 1989-90 fiscal crisis.

Whether the petition is on next year’s ballot will play a critical part in the political and budget deliberations at the State House. Acting Governor Paul Cellucci, who is promoting his antitax image as he seeks a full four-year term next year, is trying to cajole Democratic legislative leaders into rolling back the state tax to 5 percent.

But if the petition - which political observers think would easily win voter approval - were to be thrown off the ballot, Cellucci would lose a powerful club to force his own tax-cut plan through the Democrat-dominated House and Senate.

Even with the wafer-thin margin of signatures, Anderson yesterday remained confident she can beat back the teachers union challenge. "We are extremely confident. It is very hard to throw out signatures," said Anderson, a veteran of ballot petition drives, citing the ballot commission’s history of dealing with challenges.

Since the tax-cut petitions were filed earlier this month at Galvin’s office, opponents have combed through the documents looking for legally dubious voter signatures that they can challenge before the Ballot Law Commission.

But Anderson said her group can add a slew of signatures that were not certified by city and town clerks but did legally qualify.

"We found at least another 300, and we are just starting," Anderson said. "We have volunteers out there working in their own communities and we expect to find a lot more" that could be used to offset any signatures the commission throws out.

Anderson said she and other tax-cut advocates are ready to take the issue to the state’s courts, particularly if the commission refuses to recognize the signatures her group contends were not properly certified by local clerks.

Specialists interviewed said the statute governing ballot access is unclear. The question that may have to be answered in the courts is whether the commission can entertain a request from the tax-cut petitioners to add signatures that were not initially certified.

But Anderson said there is legal precedent on her side. She noted that the petitioners came up short in filing the required signatures to repeal rent-control laws in 1994, but a court allowed them to add more than 300 signatures that city and town clerks should have certified.

Meanwhile yesterday, Galvin, who is serving as acting governor because Cellucci is out of state, signed papers ratifying Cellucci’s choice, retired Superior Court Justice Robert J. Hallisey, as new chairman of the five-member commission.

In a move that could help Anderson, Cellucci has also recently appointed former state representative John F. Cruz, a one-term West Bridgewater Republican and a favorite of Anderson’s tax-cut group.

During his 1991 and 1992 term, Cruz received a 100 percent rating from the tax-cutting group.

By law the commission must have two Democrats, two Republicans and a retired judge. Decisions to throw out signatures must be approved by at least three of the commission’s five members.

The commission will hold its first meeting Jan. 12 and by law must make a final decision on the teachers association challenge by Jan. 23.

Besides Hallisey and Cruz, the other members are Mary Sullivan Kelly, a Democrat, and Republican Harold Stoddart. There is one Democratic vacancy Cellucci is expected to fill before Jan. 12.

Galvin said he is working with both sides to make sure a proper record is in place in case there is litigation.

"Since both parties are familiar to the courts, I suspect strongly that this will be reviewed by appellate courts, whatever the result," Galvin said. "So I want to preserve a good record and ensure everyone gets to be heard fairly."

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You can e-mail A Promise to Keep: 5% at --> cltg@cltg.org
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