(BOSTON)--The Legislature, meeting in joint session today, voted to move along the so-called Millionaire's Tax. The tax scheme, would increase rates by 80 percent for some. For the proposed constitutional amendment to advance, only 50 members needed to vote yes. Similar schemes have been rejected by the voters five times, each time failing by wide margins (1962, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1994).

“Proposition 80, which would establish a graduated income tax, is bad enough in itself, but this specific measure is poorly designed. Earmarking revenue and specifying tax brackets aren't the sorts of things that belong in our constitution," Paul Craney, Executive Director of The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said. "Putting such a muddled mess on the ballot is unfair to voters.”

Craney also pointed out that increasing taxes generally backfires on lawmaker’s intent on raising revenue. A single taxpayer, David Tepper, left New Jersey because of a similar tax scheme earlier this year, taking his investment company with him. Estimates put the loss of revenue upwards of $140,000,000 a year (New York Post, 4/10/16).

"And when the tax doesn't generate the expected revenue," Craney said, "That million-dollar threshold will crash down on the rest of us."

# # #