Republicans put $60B tab on promises by Gonzalez
Doubt Dem’s plan could pay for them
Jay Gonzalez has built his campaign for governor on promises of an “aim high” agenda that includes single-payer health care, universal pre-K and a massive investment in the T, but critics say it will cost billions and it’s unclear how he plans to follow through.
A Massachusetts GOP analysis of Gonzalez’s running tab shows that his proposals amount to upwards of $60 billion.
To pay for his promises, Gonzalez would reintroduce the millionaire tax to raise $2 billion annually — something that couldn’t go into effect until a potential second term due to constitutional requirements. He’s also for a 1.6 percent endowment tax on Massachusetts colleges and universities, which would raise an estimated $1 billion per year.
Experts said the combined new revenue wouldn’t be enough to sustain his agenda.
“Jay Gonzalez’s campaign platform is completely unfeasible and could never be paid for, even with the reckless tax increases that he’s proposing,” political consultant and former Romney adviser Ryan Williams said. “Anybody who understands basic math can understand that Jay Gonzalez’s plan is a complete sham.”
John Walsh, former Democratic state party chairman and campaign aide to ex-Gov. Deval Patrick, fired back, saying the initiatives proposed by Gonzalez address needs in the Bay State.
“If you’re happy with traffic and health care deductibles, Charlie Baker has no plan for it,” Walsh said. “Jay Gonzalez says, ‘I’m going to put $3 billion on the table, I’m identifying where I’m going to get the money. I’m going to ask people doing the best in our commonwealth, individuals and institutions, to pay a little more.’ I think that’s a good plan.”
The priciest of Gonalez’s proposals is a single-payer health care system he says will be “cheaper, simpler and better,” according to his website.
A Beacon Hill Institute analysis found that a single-payer system would “impose the heaviest burden,” and would cost around $35 billion based on its formula.
“It would impose huge economic losses on the state,” said David Tuerck, executive director of the institute. “The cost is not just the amount of money, the cost is also in terms of the negative impact on businesses and employment this would create … we’d have an increase in tax rate of well over 100 percent approaching 200 percent.”
Gonzalez has also promised to fix the “broken MBTA system” with numerous proposals, including the North-South Rail Link, the South Coast Rail project and the Extended Blue Line.
“I particularly get concerned about huge transportation investments,” said Charlie Chieppo, senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute.
Chieppo said he could see value in a North-South Rail Link, which would connect commuters across Boston, but he questioned whether or not it was worth the $12 billion-to-$21.5 billion price tag estimated by a state feasibility study released in June.
Asked about the costs tied to Gonzalez’s proposals, campaign manager Kevin Ready said, “Jay is being honest that we need new revenue to take on the big challenges we face and that is why he proposed a plan to generate $3 billion from the wealthiest individuals and institutions in our state.”
Baker said in the first gubernatorial debate last week that $3 billion wouldn’t be nearly enough to fund Gonzalez’s campaign promises.
“What we’re talking about here are empty promises from my opponent. The amount of money he wants to spend and the amount of money he’s willing to acknowledge that he’s going to raise is not even close to what he’d need to get there,” Baker said.