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initiative, referendum, and recall tax policy

Automatic Tax Hike Nixed

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The contest? Uneven, in a sense. My side was outspent more than 17 to one.

But, in another sense, the odds were closer, maybe even on my side.

Well, our side.

That is, Liberty Initiative Fund, my 501(c)(4) outfit, was the largest contributor to a referendum campaign in Massachusetts.

In 2013, the legislature had passed a bill to turn a fuel tax of 24 cents per gallon into a more permanent rate structure, increasing the tax every year as the Consumer Price Index rose.

Citizens of “Taxachusetts” objected to the idea of automating tax hikes. Perhaps thinking about their wallets, they were hardly amused by their state government piling further taxes on whenever prices, including fuel prices, rose. It’s one thing to have to pay more when supplies get tight or demand bids up prices, making gasoline and diesel more expensive. But why pay extra to the government?

Automatically. Without a legislative vote on the record.

So citizens petitioned to have the law referred to a general vote. The measure became Question 1 on last week’s ballot.

It won with a 53 percent majority. The automatic tax hike was nixed.

So, who outspent us? Who wanted the permanent, automatic tax hike? The extra tax revenues, I wrote before the election, “are slated to go toward road construction and maintenance in the Bay State. And — surprise, surprise — the biggest opponents of Question 1 are construction companies doing business with the state.”

But, despite special interests dumping tons of money, citizens won.

The money spent by Liberty Initiative Fund was leveraged effectively. Because, on issues like this, siding with the people is no long shot.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

2 replies on “Automatic Tax Hike Nixed”

What is truly sad is that 47% — 47(!) — actually voted to allow the government to automatically raise taxes with no citizen input allowed.
Didn’t Massachusetts host a Tea Party a long time ago to protest basically the same thing — taxation without representation?
How sad that one of the founding colonies/​states of this great union has turned into such a mess.

Honestly, Paul.
You can be so annoying.
Really making it difficult for the beknighted, self-​appointed to keep you controlled.
If they “let you keep your money, you might have not spend it in the right way.”, as Slick Willy said.

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