The battle over whether to roll back the Massachusetts
income tax over the next three years falls to individual voters today.
But not without an 11th-hour effort from both sides.
Proponents of the cut, led by Gov. Paul Cellucci, launched a
$40,000 radio blitz over the weekend and plan to deploy an army of volunteers at polling places throughout the state. "We
have an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign with paid and volunteer phone banks ... we're
going to be covering polling places, doubling up with Republican candidates," said John
Brockelman, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party. Question 4, if passed,
would cut the income tax to 5 percent from 5.85 percent over three years.
Republicans are also linking forces with Citizens for
Limited Taxation on last-minute literature drops and putting sign-holding volunteers at polling places.
Backers say the cut was promised when the tax rate was
boosted -- ostensibly temporarily -- during the recession of the late 1980s and early '90s.
"I think most voters know this was a promise that was meant
to be kept and it's been 11 years since that promise and it's time to roll back the tax," Brockelman said.
The pro-4 forces will spend more than $1 million, Brockelman
predicted.
Opponents, meanwhile, have employed similar tactics and
expect to spend $3 million or more, said Jim St. George, executive director of the Tax Equity Alliance of Massachusetts.
TEAM is coordinating the effort through the Campaign for
Massachusetts' Future. The coalition is fighting the ballot question primarily on behalf of unions and other Democratic
interests.
"We'll have at least several thousand people on the streets
tomorrow -- probably in the range of 7,000 people across the state who will be holding signs, doing calling, doing the stuff
you do on election day," St. George said. "It's just about visibility."
Funding for anti-4 forces includes a $350,000 contribution
from the National Education Association, a teachers' union, according to a report filed yesterday with the state Office of
Campaign and Political Finance.
The Question 4 foes need the money to make the comparatively
complicated argument that a tax cut would hurt efforts such as education and health care, St. George said.
"That's where we've spent that money -- making sure (voters)
have made that connection," he said.
One thing working in the Campaign for Massachusetts' Future
favor has been Cellucci's involvement in George W. Bush's presidential campaign, St. George said. "I don't see much
evidence that he has worked hard on (Question 4). He could have raised more money. He
could have been more visible. He's put his energy into the Bush campaign."
For some activists, the fight over Question 4 is having a
deja vu effect.
Barbara Anderson, director of Citizens for Limited Taxation,
was a major force behind the passage of Proposition 2½, which forced cities and towns across the state to slash
spending in the early 1980s.
While Question 4 draws the spotlight, other financial
initiatives are also on the ballot.
Question 6 would give commuters a tax credit on tolls and
automobile excise taxes. Question 7 would make charitable gifts deductible for state income taxes.