This essay originally appeared in Boston Globe South  - March 7, 2015. 

Should the state adopt a graduated income tax?

YES

By Chris Matthews of Scituate, member of Progressive Massachusetts and Treasurer of the Plymouth County Democratic League.

The MBTA is falling apart, property taxes are rising annually, and Governor Baker recently cut desperately needed substance abuse funding to balance the budget. The time has come for Massachusetts to join the majority of states in implementing a progressive income tax to increase revenue and reinvest in our communities.

Today every Massachusetts taxpayer, from CEOs earning millions to waitresses earning $3.00 per hour, pay the same income tax rate of 5.15%. But when we look at the total state and local tax burden, which pays for services, infrastructure and education, the richest 1% only pay between 4.8-6% of their income, while the poorest Massachusetts taxpayers pay 10.1%.

This means we’re overtaxing those least able to contribute while giving a discount to those most able - a regressive tax structure. Instead, we could increase tax rates based on income with a graduated income tax, like our federal tax system, increasing fairness.

Despite our needs and continuing budget woes, our income tax rate has actually decreased, from 5.95% in 2000 to 5.15% today. That’s meant less money for improving education and public transit and local aid, leading to cancelled trains, growing class sizes, and unsafe roads and bridges.

The Boston Globe recently reported there's an expected $1.5 billion shortfall in fiscal year 2016.

This is an alarming figure, and as both the Republican Governor and the Democratic Speaker of the House have ruled out any tax increases, we can expect yet another round of cuts to our already slashed budgets and agencies.

Already we hear many voices rail against "living beyond our means" and the need to tighten belts further. But this narrative always leaves out an important piece of the story of our structural deficit -- we've lost $3.3 billion in FY2015 ALONE because of tax cuts enacted 1998-2002:

via Mass. Budget and Policy Center

Given the massive reduction in our revenues, it should not be a surprise that we are repeatedly facing budget shortfalls. But now that we've lived through this cycle -- and are seeing the disastrous results of underinvestment and austerity -- we need to reject the simplistic and false narrative of "overspending" and talk about how we've been underfunding.

Why is it always more cuts -- to programs and investments that have already been cut -- but never restoring lost revenue? Especially when our tax system is so unfair? 

The snowstorms have highlighted the dangers of slashing budgets -- things fall apart. We can do better. Help convince the Massachusetts Legislature -- it's time to invest in MA. 

The transportation debacle at the MBTA, after the historic snowfalls, has people talking about what happens when you don’t invest in infrastructure. Even the media have started paying attention.

But this story is bigger than just the T.

The system’s collapse foreshadows what is in store for ALL our public services and infrastructure:

> Our cities and towns are losing crucial local aid money

> In some places, the quality of our education system is dropping, while we are siphoning money to for-profit charter schools, many of which cost more and provide no benefits over the public schools they are replacing

> We have a substance abuse crisis in the Commonwealth, and too often those most in need are denied beds, or diverted into the criminal justice system, which only exacerbates the problem.

> Public higher education is becoming increasingly unaffordable for the middle class, saddling more and more young people with crippling debt.

After over a decade of cutting budgets to the bone, we need significant reinvestment in Massachusetts, and that takes revenue.  We CAN raise revenue to reinvest in Massachusetts, simply by asking that everybody pays their fair share--and right now, the wealthiest in Massachusetts are not.*

With just a small increase on taxes for those earning over half a million dollars a year, which ensures everyone pays their fair share, we could raise over $2.1 billion dollars in revenue, and revitalize our Commonwealth.

This MBTA crisis crystallizes what happens when you don’t invest, and it should be an object lesson for all our public sectors. 

Now is the time for political leadership, but we know that Beacon Hill has passed on opportunities to lead in the past. The grassroots must insist that that the right message is heard -- and that legislators act on it.

We can do so much better, and now is time to reach out to your legislators and start working with them to create bold economic and social change (review our 2015-16 Shared Prosperity Legislative Agenda here). And we must continue to work on this message until there we see political leadership and real change.

Use our SAMPLE LETTER to send to your State Representative and State Senator, to urge them to invest in Massachusetts. Or adapt the message and make a phone call! Let us know what you find out! 

Find your legislators: wheredoivotema.com

Click here to find all their contact information (including social media!) and send along. 

Sample letter

Dear Senator/Representative __________,

The spectacular collapse of the MBTA should have taken no one by surprise. This is what happens when we run our Commonwealth on the cheap, and we have been slashing budgets for over a decade.

It's time to talk about re-investing in all the systems we've been neglecting -- not just the MBTA or transportation more generally, but also education, public health, human services -- in short ALL of the public services and infrastructure that are necessary and make Massachusetts a good place to live.

I am sorely disappointed to hear Speaker DeLeo make the same promise as Governor Baker -- "no new taxes". This is gravely irresponsible.

I hope you will push your colleagues, and your Party, and your Leadership, to move away from this frankly untenable position. We must raise revenue, and we can and must do so fairly.

As you know, some Massachusetts residents are not paying their fair share. The poorest residents pay 9% of their income in state/local taxes, while the richest pay only 6%.*

I understand the political challenges inside the building, but I also know that their is broad citizen support for investment in our local infrastructure and services.

CITE LOCAL EXAMPLE OF WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH MORE REVENUE.

Look all around us. From education to homelessness to infrastructure, Massachusetts is falling apart, and it's because WE are not funding investments.

I look forward to working with you and supporting your efforts to raise fair and responsible revenue so we can take care of all of the Commonwealth's needs. Please be in touch to share your leadership and advocacy in these areas. Thank you. 

Sincerely,

 * http://massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=income_tax_primer.html

This essay originally appeared in the Boston Globe North section - February 8, 2015. 

Should Massachusetts consider adopting a graduated income tax?

Yes

By Amanda Smith, Malden Democratic activist and member of Progressive Massachusetts

If you ask most people, fairness is something we value strongly. But our income tax system here in Massachusetts is incredibly unfair, and it fails to generate adequate revenue to fund important public services that make Massachusetts a place where businesses thrive and people want to live.

We have a flat tax system, which our state Constitution mandates. By taxing everyone at the same rate, a flat tax overly burdens low and middle income families while taxing the very wealthy the least. A family making $30,000 or $100,000 is taxed at the same rate as a family making $1 million or $10 million [see fig. 1 below for more on how taxes disproportionately burden lower income families]. So the responsibility of funding public services falls disproportionately on those who are the most strapped financially — especially in a high cost of living state like ours — while those who’ve been doing very well for decades avoid paying their fair share.

Excerpted from the Boston Globe.

Should the state adopt a graduated income tax?

Yes 

State senator James Eldridge, an Acton Democrat

Last week, I filed a constitutional amendment to create a graduated, or progressive income tax that would allow us to invest in our communities to ensure a quality public education for every child in Massachusetts, improve our transportation infrastructure, provide police and fire protection to keep our neighborhoods safe, and enhance public and individual health.

Unfortunately, our current tax system is not doing that. Local aid has been cut 40 percent compared to a decade ago, our state has hundreds of roads and bridges in disrepair while our public transportation system ages, many police and fire departments have laid off staff, and hospitals and medical clinics continue to close across the state.

Haverhill resident and Progressive Mass member Bill Taylor wrote an opinion piece for the Boston Globe. You can read the published version here, and a longer, original draft below.

"Will the election of Charlie Baker as governor improve Massachusetts?"

No.

During his campaign, Governor-elect Charlie Baker promised to smartly reform government spending, reduce the supposed culture of dependency and abuse in the welfare system, and never, ever raise taxes.  He argued that his experiences in the Weld and Cellucci administrations and private sector made him uniquely qualified to deliver on those promises and tackle the state’s most pressing, complex issues.  But tackling these issues takes much more than flimsy campaign rhetoric, and his track record as a policymaker suggests that he won’t be up to the task.

On November 4, Massachusetts voted to defund road and bridge repair, by eliminating the 'indexing' on the gas tax, part of the flawed and inadequate "Transportation Funding Package" passed in Spring 2013. Jim Aloisi rightly points out in the Boston Globe that this is an opportunity to go back to the drawing board and get transportation funding right this time: 

ON ITS FACE, last Tuesday was a bleak day for anyone who rides a train or a bus around Boston. Massachusetts voters overturned a new law that would have ratcheted up the state’s gas tax at regular intervals, and they installed in the governor’s office Charlie Baker, who doesn’t want to backfill the hole the gas tax repeal will leave behind. This should be a recipe for more broken trains, fewer buses, shoddier transit service, and ever-worsening traffic in and around Boston.

But it’s also a blessing in disguise. The gas tax repeal took the stuffing out of a weak transportation finance package that the Legislature enacted last year.

Beacon Hill now has a chance to take a second run at the issue, and get it right this time. 

Members and organizational partners are sharing their experiences and expertise as part of our blog series on our Shared Prosperity Agenda. This week, Patricia Negron from Needham argues that fiscal conservatism means investing smart.

As a business owner, I know that I’m only going to be as successful as the community I serve.

Any good businessperson knows, our transportation infrastructure is paramount to the smooth flow of commerce.  Cargo ships, trains, and planes, tractor trailers and delivery trucks bring us all of our critical as well as discretionary goods and raw materials day in and out.  This requires properly working, state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for our ship and air ports, railways, and roads.  

We also know that a properly educated workforce is essential to creating competitive businesses that are positioned to succeed over the long-term.  I stress “long-term” because it is expensive for businesses to open and close, for the business owner and employees, but there are implications also for the larger community every time a local business shuts its doors.  Dollars previously spent at the business often move out of the community, along with the associated tax revenue, drying up community investment and we all lose, yet again.  

Over the summer, we are highlighting aspects of our Shared Prosperity Agenda. Our members are sharing their experiences and expertise on Education, Healthcare, Housing, Jobs and Wages, and Progressive Revenue.

This week we are focusing on Jobs -- Within five years, every job in Massachusetts should pay at least $15/hour, and everyone should have access to safe, affordable transportation; a good first step would be an increased minimum wage, indexed to inflation, and earned sick time.

Lizzi Weyant is the Advocacy Director at Transportation for Massachusetts.Transportation for Massachusetts is working with the Committee for Safer Roads and Bridges, formed to defeat Question 1.

A good transportation system drives our economy. We need choices about how we get to work, school, and job training, and employers of all sizes need to be able to move people and goods efficiently and effectively.

Consider these facts: every $1 billion we invest in transportation infrastructure supports 36,000 jobs. And every $10 million we invest in public transportation generates $30 million in increased business sales.

I don’t know about your portfolio, but most investments I read about don’t have a 3:1 rate of return in job creation and economic development. But transportation does!