To update the tax rollback debate, in the Senate last week our side got all the
Republican votes (7) to keep the promise and roll back the income tax rate to 5 percent,
and picked up two Democrat votes as well -- Sens. Guy Glodis (Worcester) and Sue Tucker (Andover). Sen.
Tucker was a Rep. in the House back in 1989 when the promise was made, and remembers
making it. Still it went down in flames: 9 votes for; 30 to keep breaking the promise.
But hey, look at what's soon going to be on the backside of quarters!
The federal mint will be adding a new image -- each state gets to submit its
choice and it will be added a few states each year in the order in which they ratified the
U.S. Constitution or were granted statehood.
Massachusetts' choice is the Minuteman. Hmmm, where have we seen that
before?
Hey ... that's the CLT logo ... going out all across America now!
Chip Ford --
State House News Service
www.statehousenews.com
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Week of June 14, 1999
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JUNE 18, 1999 ... About 20,000 traveled to
Boston Wednesday hoping to deliver a lesson to Gov. Paul Cellucci about respect.
Tired of being blamed for lackluster SAT scores, and stung by rhetoric like the
speech in which House Speaker Thomas Finneran (D-Mattapan) called some of their would-be
colleagues "idiots," teachers organized by the Massachusetts Teachers
Association gathered on Boston Common. They urged lawmakers to spend less time complaining
about who's at the front of the classroom and more money on improving what goes on there.
[...]
Cellucci complained about more than budget timing; he also reiterated his plaint
that lawmakers have refused to roll back income taxes in Massachusetts to 5 percent. The
governor is vowing to bring income taxes to next year's statewide ballot. At the same
time, the Tax Equity Alliance for Massachusetts vowed to defeat the rollback as it
defeated a similar bid in 1990.
[...]
But enough of this trivia. The real news of the week came from Lt. Gov. Jane
Swift, who said Massachusetts' entry in the nifty series of quarters emanating from the US
Mint will feature a Minuteman. "Gov. Cellucci and I are looking forward to the new
Massachusetts quarter making a big splash at the start of the new millenium," said
Swift, who made the decision along with Gov. Cellucci last week.
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