MILLIONAIRE TAX NOT DEAD YET
State sen. pledges to bring bill on issue
As the Massachusetts High Technology Council took a victory lap celebrating the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to block a ballot question on the so-called millionaire tax, a state lawmaker promised to revive the popular proposal to boost spending on education and transportation next year.
State Sen. Jason Lewis (D-Winchester) said in a statement he will revive the millionaire tax — in identical fashion to the ballot initiative — when lawmakers return in January 2019.
“Income inequality is at unacceptable levels in Massachusetts and, at the same time, our transportation infrastructure is woefully inadequate and our schools are struggling to provide a quality education to every student,” Lewis said. “If we don’t act boldly and comprehensively to address these issues, then we will put the future of our communities and state economy at risk.”
The proposal would have added a 4 percent surtax on incomes above $1 million and directed the resulting $2 billion to be spent on education and transportation.
Lewis said his proposal wouldn’t face the same constitutional challenges since it is a legislative proposal. It would need support in two successive sittings in the Legislature, then it could go before voters as soon as 2022.
Lewis said polls indicated “overwhelming public support for the proposal” and lawmakers previously voted with 70 percent support to move the ballot initiative forward.
Speaking to members of the Massachusetts High Technology Council — which fought the millionaire tax in court — Chairman Aron Ain, the chief executive of Kronos Incorporated, said the ballot initiative’s aim to tell lawmakers how to raise and spend state funds was unconstitutional.
“Allowing any special interest group, regardless of their objective, to permanently enshrine budgetary decisions and favored spending priorities in the state constitution is simply a bad idea for the commonwealth and it has always been prohibited it,” Ain told a gathering of the group yesterday at the Seaport Hotel.
“To do so would open a Pandora’s box of budget-by-bumpersticker efforts for years to come with devastating efforts for our long-term fiscal stability,” Ain added. “The decision issued by the Supreme Judicial Court yesterday reinforces that this type of end-run around the process is something the Massachusetts Constitution simply does not allow, and we applaud the court for its careful consideration and wise decision.”
The SJC blocked the ballot initiative on the grounds that it included too many unrelated subjects — taxation, education and transportation.