Get tougher on taxes

Massachusetts taxpayers can’t afford for House Speaker Robert DeLeo to go weak in the knees on the issue of a tax increase. The Democratic speaker has been a steady voice of reason in the legislative branch over the last several years, a bulwark against the spending-mad Senate (not to mention Deval Patrick, when he was governor).

Over the last two budget cycles, DeLeo and Gov. Charlie Baker have joined forces to hold the line on taxes, understanding that more revenue isn’t the answer to every budgetary challenge — and that spending should be kept in line with available revenue. But there are worrying signs. “In terms of next year’s budget, I’m not ruling out the possibility of any increase in taxes,” DeLeo told reporters Monday.

While he said a broad-based tax increase is “the least thing I’d probably want to do,” the comments are a departure from DeLeo’s firm, no-new-taxes message of the last several years. That they came just a few weeks after he and Senate President Stan Rosenberg engineered a sneaky, $18 million pay hike package for their members makes the idea of a tax hike even more galling.

Perhaps DeLeo is merely tossing a rhetorical bone to his more progressive members, who have felt marginalized by his previous no-go statements on taxes. Indeed, we have little doubt his studied hesitation will be perceived by advocates of higher taxes as a chance to go hog wild with their budget requests.

The worry is that his shaky messaging could translate into action. Massachusetts taxpayers have had a mostly reliable friend in DeLeo over the last several years. It’s a relationship that shouldn’t end.