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Weekly Roundup
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April 27th, 2009
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Greetings!
 Today, the Massachusetts House of Representatives will begin debate on our state budget.
The budget funds the system of public structures that our state has worked for decades to build - they keep our communities safe and healthy, educate our children, and draw business to our state.
Last week, in an effort to avoid raising state taxes, the House Ways and Means Committee dramatically cut those public structures in a time when we all rely on these structures more than ever.
[Analysis of the Ways & Means Budget]
According to the Boston Globe, Speaker Robert A. DeLeo today "plans to push a 1.25 percent sales tax increase, which would bring the state's 5 percent sales tax to 6.25 percent, and bring in an estimated $900 million in new revenue."
[Globe Article] [Analysis of the Sales Tax]
Folks from across the state have been holding rallies and calling their legislators to tell them that they support an adequate, balanced tax package. This will culminate in a rally at the State House!
[Today's Rally] [Coverage of the Week's Events]
It is not too late to talk to your legislators.
Participate in our Virtual Rally!!
- Contact your legislators - in the House and in the Senate - and tell them that you support an Adequate, Balanced tax package that both addresses our structural deficit and stabilizes the public programs that we depend on!
Customize your message by telling them why this is important to you and your local community!
- Pass it on via Facebook, email, or in person - to five of your friends and neighbors.
- Once you've called your legislators, and asked five of your friends to do the same, Twitter about your conversation with the tag: #MassRevenues
Have Questions?
Here is a look at what else has been going on across Massachusetts: |
Goal: By 2013, the voice and input of the state's multi-racial, multi-ethnic communities will create a counterweight to the currently dominant voice and will be tangibly reflected in the public decision making process.
Current Developments:
- THIS WEDNESDAY: Election Day Registration Lobby Day. We need all the help possible in making this day a success. Please contact Cheryl Crawford, MassVOTE Policy Director at ccrawford@massvote.org if you or your organization would like to bring volunteers to help us spread the word to our legislators on the importance of this bill.
If you can not attend this event but you would still want to help us support the bill, please consider talking to your town clerk! For more information and talking points you can use when talking to your town clerk go to: [Frequently Asked Questions] [Town Clerk Script]
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Goal: By 2013, a fair, adequate, and stable tax system will be implemented. It will raise sufficient revenue so that state and local governments can fund the array of services needed.
Current Developments:
 TODAY at 12:00pm - Stop the Cuts - Invest in Our Future Rally and Lobby Day. The House Ways & Means Budget made well over a billion dollars in cuts to the public structures that our communities depend on - now more than ever! Join us in Room B-1 at the State House from 12:00pm - 1:00pm to tell your legislators "We need to raise new revenue to invest in our future and reduce these cuts!" For more information on the Rally, contact carl@n2nma.org 617-470-5664
- TODAY at 1:00pm - House Revenue Debate Begins. The House [will take] up 60 amendments that would collectively raise the state's revenue collection by billions... Lawmakers have bandied about proposals to hike the state sales tax by 2 percentage points to 7 percent, increase the gas tax as much as 29 cents (about $26 million is generated with every penny increase), increase the income tax by a percentage point, tax junk food and alcohol, and give cities and towns the option to raise the sales tax on meals and hotels by up to 3 percentage points.
All told, the amendments would raise the state's bottom line by billions. Economists estimate that adding a penny to the sales tax would bring in $750 million a year - under current definitions of what is taxable - and adding a tenth of one point to the income tax would boost the state's revenue by $200 million. [State House News Service]
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Goal: By 2013, a transparent, accessible and accountable state and local policy-making process will be in place.
Current Developments: - Transparency in Federal Stimulus Funds. The federal economic stimulus package will increase the amount of funding Massachusetts receives in Medicaid reimbursements by up to $3 billion over the next three years. Representative Harriet Stanley has sponsored an amendment (#486) that would create a separate fund to maintain services, prevent reductions and provide investments in health and human services programs! For more information, contact Suzanne Curry at scurry@hcfama.org
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Boston community groups gathered Wednesday, April 22nd at the Massachusetts State House to tell their legislators:
 "We need to raise new revenue to invest in our future and stop these cuts!"
Meanwhile, in the Boston Globe:
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said [Tuesday, April 21st] that he is
"open-minded" about raising the Massachusetts sales tax to help the
state cope with a historic economic downturn, a sign that
representatives will seriously entertain at least a one-cent hike in
the sales tax in an upcoming budget debate.
"I'm open-minded towards it, as I am with the others," DeLeo told
reporters yesterday, after being asked how he felt about increasing the
sales tax.
...The House is scheduled to begin debating its budget Monday, a
spending plan that is loaded with deep cuts that have drawn protests
from social-service advocates, as well as unions. Business groups and
state residents have said a recession is the wrong time to raise taxes.
[Boston Globe]
Coverage of the public events on adequate, balanced tax revenues and the Virtual Rally:
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