Highest in all of New England

The same week that United Van Lines released their organization’s 45th Annual National Movers Study, the Tax Foundation released a similar report analyzing data from the United States Census Department. Their analysis shows Massachusetts has the fifth highest rate of outward migration in the country and is the highest state in all of New England. By comparison, according to the Tax Foundation’s study, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine all saw increases to their populations. The only states that did worse than Massachusetts were New York (#1), Illinois (#2), Hawaii (#3), and California (#4). According to the Tax Foundation’s report, “the picture painted by this population shift is a clear one of people leaving high-tax, high-cost states for lower-tax, lower-cost alternatives. The individual income tax is only one component of overall tax burdens, but it is often highly salient, and is illustrative here.” A copy of the report may be found at https://taxfoundation.org/state-population-change-2021/

While the Tax Foundation points to the income tax as a “salient” point for the population loss of states that experienced the most outward migration, that has not deterred Massachusetts Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka from proposing a gimmicky ballot question that would allow them to bypass the state constitution’s equal taxation clause to raise the income tax rate for certain earners by 80% and open the door to further income tax rate increases to other tax brackets.

“According to the Tax Foundation, the income tax is a significant point for why people leave or relocate to a state. Massachusetts has the highest outflow of population in New England and is among the highest in the country seeing more people leave than coming to settle down and start a life here. Despite all this, our out of touch Speaker and Senate President are persistent to accelerate the downward economic decline of our state,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

“It’s worth noting that pretty much all of the states with high levels of inbound migration have low taxes and continue to improve their tax friendliness. Any rational person looks at this and realizes that the current leadership are completely out of touch with the reality around them. This November’s legislative ballot question to allow the Speaker and Senate President to raise the income tax rate will drive more people from out state to other states like Florida and New Hampshire,” concluded Craney.