Did you happen to see this interview where former New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick outlined how difficult the imposition of the income surtax amendment has made it for the Patriots to recruit top tier talent?

If not, take a minute to watch the clip here: https://x.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1828124944187728218
 

When asked about the millionaire’s tax now in effect in Massachusetts, Belichick replied, “That’s Taxachusetts, yeah. Virtually every player, even the practice squad, well the minimum players, are pretty close to a million dollars, so once you hit that million-dollar threshold then you pay more state tax in Massachusetts. Just another thing you’ve got to contend with in negotiations up here, it’s not like Tennessee, or Florida, or Nevada, or some of these teams that have no state income tax. You get hit pretty hard on that with the agents, they’ll come and sledgehammer you down about the types of taxes they’re paying…”

There’s no defense for an 80 percent tax increase but that is what happened overnight when this tax was implemented. This is just another concrete example of how the income surtax amendment punishes excellence and makes it difficult for the state to recruit top tier talent. In this case it’s the New England Patriots, but it could apply equally to any other highly productive professional field. Massachusetts businesses and industries now start off with a 9% deficit when looking to recruit top talent versus no income tax states.

The massive outflow of people and wealth from Massachusetts that we’ve seen over the past two years should be warning enough to Beacon Hill, but our state’s competitive disadvantage continues to be ignored by both the Healey administration and the legislature. Perhaps if people start blaming them for the Patriots losses, they’ll begin to pay attention. They’ve certainly played a part in it.

This isn’t just a problem being faced by one of the state’s top tier sports franchises, these same conversations are taking place in industries across the state. How can our businesses and industries recruit top tier talent at such a competitive disadvantage? Poll after poll has shown that more than one in five Massachusetts residents are trying to figure out how to get out of the state at any given time. We need to stop the bleeding. Beacon Hill needs to get serious about economic competitiveness, and it starts by eliminating the income surtax. Anything else is simple nibbling at the edges.