Coalition for Our Communities - The Campaign to Defeat the Ballot Initiative to Eliminate the Income Tax

The Truth About Income Tax Repeal

Income Tax Repeal: A group called the Committee for Small Government is qualifying a question for the November ballot that would repeal the state personal income tax. If it passes, this initiative will become law, costing the state more than $12 billion a year in revenues, or about 40 percent of the state budget. A similar question on the 2002 ballot garnered 45 percent of the vote, and early poll results show that this question could pass if the public is not educated about how much damage it would cause. The Coalition for Our Communities strongly opposes the initiative because it would devastate the economy, public education and our quality of life in Massachusetts . The consequences would be dire:

· Economy: By making deep cuts in investments in education, public safety, roads and bridges and many other areas, this proposal would do severe damage to our economy, making it harder to attract new businesses to the state.

 

· Public Education: Slashing state revenues would lead to unprecedented and unsustainable cuts in public schools and higher education, which receive a substantial share of their funding from the Commonwealth. Our schools would be thrown into chaos and dysfunction. Our public colleges and UMass would have to cut services and sharply increase tuition and fees, putting the cost out of reach for many students.

· Property Taxes: The initiative would force local communities to raise property taxes significantly to lessen the damage. Those who think New Hampshire has a tax model we should follow should consider that New Hampshire ranks first in the country in property taxes as a share of personal income.

Coalition Opposes Ballot Measure: This ballot proposal is opposed by a growing coalition of labor, civic, human services and business organizations. Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog group, said, “The income tax repeal would have a dramatically negative impact on the Massachusetts economy. Essentially, the sponsors of this ballot question are attempting to repeal the 20th century.”

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The kick-off meeting of the Coalition for Our Communities, the organization to defeat the ballot initiative to eliminate the income tax, draws large and diverse crowd.

The kick-off meeting of the Coalition for our Communities, an extremely important and broad-based group committed to defeating a ballot initiative to eliminate our state income tax, was held on the afternoon of Thursday April 24th. The discussion focused on the overall strategy, how symbolic it is to have so many different groups (groups who often disagree on many issues) on the same team, and what public opinion on the matter is presently. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO urges all unions to contribute to, endorse, and be involved with this campaign to ensure that this dangerous and irresponsible measure does not pass. (Click HERE to download an endorsement form.)

The unions involved in the Coalition understand that the ballot proposal to eliminate the income tax would be devastating to the Commonwealth's economy and jeopardize the local services on which our families and communities depend. Many union members would be directly affected by such a devastating cut in state revenue. Both public sector unions and unions representing workers in private sector industries that rely on public investment in infrastructure projects and business development will be significantly impacted by the loss of public revenue from the state income tax.

Governor Patrick spoke of the dangers of this ballot initiative at the Greater Boston Labor Council Legislative Breakfast recently, saying, "Remember when [President Bush] was selling a federal tax cut? He kept talking about how ‘it's your money.' He's right! It is your money." Governor Patrick went on, "the point is, though, that that's not the whole story because it's also your broken roads, it's your overcrowded schools, it's your broken neighborhoods and your broken neighbors. And it's time we all started taking responsibility for that, and one way we take responsibility for that is by the income tax. So let us not do something foolish." At the same breakfast Legislative and Coomunications Director Tim Sullivan called it "a certifiably insane notion."

It is crucial that as many unions as possible join into this broad coalition of communities, non-profits, businesses and individuals who are opposed to the decimation of local aid to cities and towns, and the inevitable property tax increases to provide the necessary funding for our schools, police and fire protection, emergency medical services, and transportation infrastructure.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes paraphrased Congressman Barney Frank to convey the importance of protecting the services that come from the income tax: "Government consists of the things we choose to do together and the income tax is one price of membership in society we all have to pay. We must pay our fair share so our kids are educated, our roads, bridges, and core infrastructure are kept up, our public safety is ensured and delivered by the very best trained, equipped and prepared professionals, and the basic foundation of a true concept of community remains strong and uncompromised by needless fights over too few resources."

Tom Kiley is a polling professional who has researched what it will take to defeat the measure, and he gave an excellent, yet disturbing presentation. Despite all of the devastating ills this measure would create if passed, there are still a large number of voters who would vote for it. Again, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO urges all unions to contribute to, endorse, and be involved with this campaign to ensure that this dangerous and irresponsible measure does not pass. (Click HERE to download an endorsement form.)

Stay tuned for more information on the Coalition for Our Communities. For questions on this important coalition to defeat this potentially devastating initiative, or how your local can become involved, please contact Massachusetts AFL-CIO Legislative and Communications Director Tim Sullivan at tsullivan@massaflcio.org or (781) 324-8230.

 

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