New legislative season means hold onto your wallets

Don’t breathe a sigh of relief that House Speaker Robert DeLeo walked back his comments on raising taxes!

He still has his heart set on taking more money out of our wallets. Remember, DeLeo plotted for more than two years to pass the legislative pay raise heist. He’s not going to give up on tax increases. His quest started last fall when he met with “economists” to discuss “tax policy.” Don’t you wish Bacon Hill officials would meet with experts on how to cut spending?!

DeLeo’s latest statement was actually that there would be no “broad base tax” hikes. That’s Bacon Hill speak for brace for increases.

Unfortunately, Gov. Charlie Baker has put three tax increases on the table — including requiring small businesses to pay $2,000 per employee per year for health insurance, new taxes on renting your home, and requiring more online businesses to collect sales taxes.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

State Sen. Michael Barrett has filed legislation to tax your food by ending the sales tax exemption for soft drinks. State Rep. Cory Atkins wants taxes on both candy and soda.

State Sen. Jason Lewis is pushing legislation that would allow communities to increase the local meals tax, as well as a new surcharge on your car’s carbon footprint, and a pilot program for a mileage tax. While state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz wants to “sunset tax expenditures.”

Bacon Hill considers not collecting taxes on something as an expenditure on behalf of the state. ChangDiaz’s bill would end investment tax credits for companies doing research and development in the Bay State. It’s a jobs killer, like the tech tax that had to be repealed three years ago.

State Sen. Michael Rodrigues has filed “an act enhancing the creative economy through the tax code.” If passed, it would create a property tax break for people who “practice the arts” including: painting, sculpture, drawing, etching, calligraphy, mixed media, book writing, musical composition and fine crafting. I guess taxes are bad economic policy for artists but good on research companies?

State Sen. Anne Gobi has filed legislation to create a local gas tax in the town of Charlton. She should rename the bill “buy your gas anywhere but Charlton.” The bill has received local approval, which Bacon Hill will use as justification for passing it. Warning: this is a roundabout way of opening the door for new local option gas taxes.

This is shaping up to be a banner year for Bacon Hill — one when they put more money in their wallets by taking it out of ours.