Applauds Bi-Partisan Lawmakers for Stepping Out as Plaintiffs

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance made the following statement in response to a recently filed lawsuit urging the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to instruct the state to more accurately describe the legislature’s ballot question before the voters. The state constitution currently protects all taxpayers with an equal taxation guarantee and as a result, Massachusetts has a flat tax of 5%. This November, legislative leaders put forward a ballot question seeking to amend the state constitution and allow lawmakers to raise the state income tax from 5% to 9%, an 80% increase, on some high-income earners, middle-class small businesses, and their owners. In 2018, the SJC ruled that a similar ballot effort was unconstitutional and found that the taxpayer money collected from this tax was not guaranteed to go toward additional spending for “transportation” and “education,” despite what the proponents market in their propaganda. The lawsuit is asking the court to ensure there is accuracy in how the ballot question is presented to the voters.

Among the plaintiffs are a group of bi-partisan lawmakers who have consistently voted against the legislature’s 80% tax increase in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. They are state Representatives Colleen Garry (D-Dracut), David DeCoste (R-Norwell), Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) and Nick Boldyga (R-Southwick). Additionally, MassFiscal founder Rick Green is signed on as a plaintiff along with board members Paul Diego Craney, Mike Kane and Fiscal Alliance Foundation board member Toby Burr.

“MassFiscal applauds the effort of this lawsuit to bring accuracy to what is before the voters this November. We hope the merits of the lawsuit will prevail. Voters deserve to know the truth about how the legislature’s 80% income tax increase will not guarantee additional funding for what they claim. It’s a powerful statement that a group of bi-partisan lawmakers have stepped up as plaintiffs to make this message crystal clear before the state’s highest court,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance and plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“Anytime the legislature wants to amend the state constitution to raise any tax by 80%, the people of Massachusetts deserve to have the full story before them when weighing such a significant tax hike proposal. If legislative leaders are able to successfully deceive the voters with this ballot question, there is no stopping them from coming back again with another ballot question to raise the income tax on other middle-class taxpayers,” concluded Craney.