Jonathan Cohn, “Letter: It’s our high cost of living, not the tax, that’s driving people to leave the state,” Boston Globe, April 28, 2025.

Chris Anderson,president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, and Jim Stergios, executive director of Pioneer Institute, cite U-Haul data to argue that residents of Massachusetts are fleeing the state’s new Fair Share millionaires tax (“The millionaires tax: A cautionary tale for R.I.,” Opinion, BostonGlobe.com, April 23). But are multimillionaires really the ones renting U-Hauls?

Massachusetts is experiencing outmigration, but it’s not multimillionaires who are fleeing slightly higher taxes. It’s young workers fleeing our high cost of living.

As a millennial, I’ve become accustomed to seeing friends move out of Boston, then out of the state entirely, due to the high cost of living. If you want to buy a home for a decent price or find affordable child care, good luck. We are losing people because affording the high quality of life we tout is getting farther and farther out of reach.

By supporting massive investments in education, from prekindergarten through college, and in transportation infrastructure that will enable new housing production across the state, Fair Share is addressing the real drivers of outmigration. New policies such as free school meals, free buses, and free community college are making the state more affordable for middle-class families.

I hope our neighbors in Rhode Island join us in building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.

Jonathan Cohn

Policy director

Progressive Mass

Boston