Group battles back for millionaires’ tax

A group supporting the proposed “millionaires’ tax” is fighting back against the powerful business groups who are asking the state’s highest court to invalidate the 2018 ballot question.

Attorneys with Raise Up Massachusetts, the coalition behind an initiative petition, filed a brief with the Supreme Judicial Court arguing that the proposed amendment is constitutional and that Bay State voters should have the ability to vote for it.

“We are proud to represent the original signers of this constitutional amendment initiative petition,” said Kate Cook, an attorney for the group, in a statement.

The proposal, which is slated to be on the statewide ballot in November, would impose a 4 percent surtax on incomes over $1 million. The money raised would fund education and transportation.

Christopher Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council; Christopher Carlozzi, the Massachusetts director of the National Federation of Independent Business; and others have asked the SJC to boot the proposed amendment.

They argue the state constitution forbids initiative petitions from being “used to embed spending earmarks in the Constitution,” and that the millionaires’ tax does just that.