Cross-post note: This appears at Marry in Massachusetts.
For one example, look at our collapsing bridge and road infrastructure. Had the legislature raised the revenue decades ago and a decade ago to fix them, the solutions were relatively easy and inexpensive. Since then, the problems have worsened and the cost soared. It's not so manageable now.
For another, look to the MBTA. The same cluckers cut a deal years ago, forcing the T to tie its debt reduction to the state sales tax. For that, the lawmakers demanded level funding, that is, operating at breakeven or better. When the sale taxes fell dramatically and stayed low, they refused to acknowledge their mistake or adjust anything. As a direct result, the T is consumed by debt and slashing services just to function.
Both of those are only two in a long list of cowardly moves by the General Court. Up there, they operate under two deadly premises:
- Do not raise taxes if you want to stay in office and power.
- Do the minimal and say the job is done.
For the first, we pay big time and long-term. Avoiding the necessary simply delays it and makes it more expensive. These chickens are like a homeowner who won't pay $1,000 for a simple roof patch job and then ends up paying $7,000 to replace the whole thing as a result. This robs us.
The second is like the old Lone Ranger shows. The masked man captures the bad guy, turns to his faithful Indian companion and says, “Our work is done here, Tonto.” They ride off to praise and expressions of wonder.
In this case, our chickens want to do a half or third measure by raising the sales tax from 5% to 6.25%. They want to forestall Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal of a 19¢ gas-tax hike. Despite the Boston Globe's muddled editorial today, the sales-tax bump is not the best solution.
What it emerges as is another of those Long Ranger fantasies. Do the simple and easy with the smallest number and their work is done.
Not by a long shot. Patrick's plan gives workable amounts of revenue. The legislature's barnyard clucking provides just a start. They'll be back in the fall with another fantasy — that casino gambling and/or slots wills provide the needed money.
Both of those legislature ploys will end up taxing the poor and middle class citizens the most. The gas tax is by far a fairer way to fund transportation and infrastructure needs…from transportation-related activities.
The other side is what the chickens in the hilltop coop have run from so many times. We need a progressive income tax. We need to bring our tax rates up above the bottom third to half of the nation. Yes, times are tough, but we need to do this now as we should have a long time ago.
The chickens are afraid of cries of Taxachusetts! Playing cheap, cheap, cheap on taxes has ended up costing us billions in increased costs instead. Surely there are adults among the chickens up there, adults who know about false economies of not spending for the essentials.
There is too much flailing going on as trial balloon after trial balloon is floated. It is too easy for the anti-tax, eliminate-government crowd to pick them off.
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p>I have not yet heard an anti-tax plan to balance the budget except with “cuts”. People need to realize that this is the M.O. of the anti-tax crowd — the never propose specific cuts because those trial balloons are easy to pick off too, since their plan is to go way, way beyond the “fraud, waste, and belt-tightening” that is being sold to us. They want to eliminate things like health care for the poor, public schools, etc. — make them show their hand.
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p>However, even though I follow this stuff pretty closely, I have not yet heard a comprehensive “big picture” analysis of the state’s problems. I know that revenue is down — but I don’t know by how much. I know that we have a backlog of transportation problems — but I don’t know exactly how much. And I know that many communities are at the end of their ropes as they try to provide basic services with fewer and fewer resources — but I don’t know how much it would take to fix that.
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p>I recognize that the governmental process is often like nails on a chalkboard — but at some point the flailing needs to end and a plan needs to materialize.
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p>I don’t need much convincing that taxes need to go up. However, I think that probably more than one should go up rather than lumping a whole lot of increase into one area.
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p>I’d be OK with an increase in the gas tax coupled with MBTA reform and a small increase in tolls — spread the pain.
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p>I’d be OK with an increase in the income tax coupled with pension reform, provided that burden is not shifted to local communities. I think the income tax is the least regressive tax we have.
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p>I think that an increase in sales tax should be considered as a local option, not funneled to the general budget. I think it could be coupled with some tinkering of the state aid to give communities more independence from the two-headed beast we call local revenue — property tax or state aid. I live in a community with low property values, and I’m sick of my community having to hold the tin cup to the state ever year, and to have that aid slashed every 3-4 years. It’s a terrible way to live, it’s like being on welfare with the pubic ire focused every downturn.
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p>If Deval Patrick did this, he would have made good on his promise to reduce property taxes because communities have shown, time and time again, that they don’t tax to the maximum when they don’t need to. Check the state website, you will see plenty of communities which have left room under their levy limit when things were going well for them.
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p>I still emphasize, to the anti-tax crowd, what are your solutions? Specifically, not generally? We need to hold these people’s feet to the fire — don’t let them give anecdotes like “so and so’s cousin is a loser and is employed by the state — so we shouldn’t raise taxes!”. Make them find the $3 billion or whatever in revenue that we are down.
PATRICK: WITHOUT REFORMS, I’LL VETO SALES TAX HIKE — Gov. Deval Patrick, in a letter to legislators about to entertain tax increases, said Monday, “Without final and satisfactory action on the several reform proposals before you, I cannot support a sales tax increase and will veto it if it comes to my desk.” Patrick again emphasized his “targeted” tax increases and his plan to boost the gas tax. “I have deep reservations about imposing a higher sales tax on people during these difficult economic times, especially at the risk of costing the Commonwealth jobs and at a time when we can least afford that trade-off,” Patrick wrote. “Doing so without meaninful results on the reform agenda is unacceptable.” In his letter, Patrick pointed out that both transportation and pension reform bills are before House-Senate conference committees and that the Senate “has taken no action at all yet on our ethics reform measures.” He also said his administration had been forced by legislative inaction on his revenue-side proposals “to make deeper cuts in local aid and other programs in the current fiscal year.” 12:46 P.M.
The House could have taken this opportunity to act in a way that actually addresses the problems the state is facing. Instead they’ve offered half-measures that will leave us scrambling in another 6-12 months.
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p>I’m not so upset about general revenue. Raising $500+ million to supplement the budget and offset some cuts is a start. I’d like more, but that’s not the biggest issue for me.
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p>Transportation, on the other hand, is where they’ve completely dropped the ball. The Globe story indicates this package will bring in roughly $275 million for transportation. That’s probably enough to ensure tolls don’t go up and little else. The T will still end up cutting service and raising fares. Roads and bridges will still go unrepaired, and in another year we’ll be back again facing transportation deficits with no solution in sight.
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p>This is half of what the Governor proposed for transportation (19-cent gas tax = ~$570 million). Even the Governor’s proposal wasn’t enough to solve the problems our state’s transportation system is facing, but it was at least a decent start.
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p>This, on the other hand, is a joke.
I had a question about whether the Mass. constitution prohibits graduated income taxes. I should have mentioned that.
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p>Yes. At the moment, the constitution prohibits graduated income taxes. However, as the state budget folk describe forms of it already exist here by policy. Getting buy-in and then amending the constitution would take awhile. Expanding the policy and administration aspects do not.