NEWTON, Mass. (AP) In the first of a series of debates on Gov.
Paul Cellucci's bid to reduce the state income tax, challenger Steve Grossman said the cut would allow the average
Massachusetts family to buy a submarine sandwich each week but not a side order of potato chips.
"I support tax cuts, but this would give the average working
family 60 cents a day, or $4.60 a week," Grossman said. "The governor's plan makes no sense whatsoever."
Grossman, an envelope company executive and former
Democratic National Party chairman, went head-to-head with Cellucci Wednesday night in a debate broadcast live by New
England Cable News. Grossman is also a candidate for the 2002 governor's race.
The debate was the first in a series Cellucci is set to hold
with a variety of state politicians on a proposed tax cut that will be on the state's November ballot. The state income tax
would be cut from 5.85 percent to 5 percent.
Cellucci, the proposal's most visible and outspoken
supporter, said Grossman was using "fuzzy math."
"If you have a teacher and a plumber, married with two kids,
that family would save over $400," Cellucci said. "Why not trust that family to spend their own money?"
In the contentious half-hour debate, marked by interruptions
by both men, Grossman said the tax cut would only benefit the wealthy.
A recent study by the Tax Equity Alliance of Massachusetts,
which opposes the cut, said the top 1 percent of taxpayers would save more than the bottom 60 percent combined, if the cut
were passed.
Cellucci insisted all taxpayers especially the middle class
will benefit from the cut.
Supporters say the tax cut would save a family of four
making $60,000 between $450 and $500 per year money that could be tucked away to help pay for college or heating bills.
Opponents say the cut would save only about $220 per year.
They say the more than $1 billion the tax cut would cost the state each year would hurt spending in other areas such as
education and health care.
Tax cut proponents say another principle is at stake too:
honesty.
The Legislature approved the tax increase during the fiscal
crisis of the late 1980s, with a pledge to scale the rate back to 5 percent when the crisis ended.
But tax cut opponents say since then, dozens of tax cuts
have been implemented that are more fair than a reduction in the income tax.
The Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation, a business-backed
watchdog group, issued an economic analysis Monday showing the state could afford the tax cut as long as it continues to enjoy
revenue growth and slows spending.
"Of course it's affordable if you don't want to make
investments in education, to reduce class size, if you don't want to pay down the debt, and if you don't think it's
important to pay for senior pharmacy and to protect public hospital and nursing homes," Tax Equity Alliance of
Massachusetts spokesman Jack McCarthy said.
The MTF estimated the tax cut, when fully implemented, would
reduce the state's tax revenues by $1.04 billion per year. The state Department of Revenue estimated it would cost $1.2
billion.
In the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, the state's
total revenue was $15.6 billion.
If the cut were passed, it would drop the current 5.85
percent state income tax to 5.6 percent in 2001, 5.3 percent in 2002, and 5 percent in 2003.
Under current law, the income tax will drop from 5.85
percent to 5.8 percent in 2001 and 5.75 percent in 2002.
The tax cut will be Question 4 on the November ballot.
Cellucci, a Republican, also has tax-cut debates scheduled
with state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien on Oct. 12, Speaker of the House Thomas Finneran on Oct. 21, and Senate President Thomas
Birmingham on Oct. 30.
Grossman, O'Brien, Finneran and Birmingham are Democrats.