Sep 29, 2022
More Small Business Owners Joining Coalition Supporting Fair Share Amendment Tax on Million-Dollar Earners on November Ballot
BOSTON – The campaign working to pass the Fair Share Amendment, the proposed state tax on incomes above $1 million which would raise billions of dollars that are constitutionally dedicated for transportation and public education, today announced the endorsement of more than 75 businesses from across the state. The Fair Share Amendment is Question 1 on the November statewide ballot.
“I’m thrilled to be supporting the Yes on 1 campaign because I want to see better roads and fully-funded schools. Small businesses like mine have really struggled over the last few years, and Question 1 is a chance to turn things around,” said Netania Shapiro, owner of Caravan Kitchen in Northampton. “We depend on good roads for our employees and customers, and Question 1 will mean $2 billion a year for schools, colleges, and transportation infrastructure, without small businesses paying a penny more.”
The businesses include restaurants, bookstores, farms, barber shops, breweries, retailers, hotels, solar installers, banks, home repair contractors, and other businesses from across Massachusetts, in communities such as Adams, Amherst, Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Grafton, Greenfield, Hyannis, Lexington, Malden, Montague, Newburyport, New Bedford, North Adams, Northampton, Pittsfield, Randolph, Shelburne, Somerville, South Hadley, Stoneham, and Worcester.
“As a socially responsible bank, we know that investing in our basic infrastructure is the best way to grow our economy and make it work for everyone,” said Kathleen Gasperine, First Vice President of Amalgamated Bank in Boston. “We're supporting Question 1, the Fair Share Amendment, because it will make Massachusetts' tax system more fair and improve schools, colleges, roads, bridges, and transit across the state. That means more jobs, more opportunity, and more economic growth. Question 1 is good for business and good for our clients.”
Opponents of Question 1 are trying to scare business owners and mislead voters by claiming that it is a tax on businesses, but that’s not true. The Fair Share Amendment adds a tax only on personal income over $1 million – business taxes would not increase. The only individuals who will pay more, including business owners or shareholders, are those who earn more than $1 million in personal income in a single year, regardless of their business’ revenues or profits. Less than 3 percent of all business owners in Massachusetts have taxable personal income over $1 million that would be subject to the Fair Share Amendment.
“These misleading ads against Question 1 make me sick. They make it seem like struggling small business owners would be affected, but you’d have to make over a million dollars in personal income to pay a penny more!” said Christopher Cuff, owner of Coffee Liberation Front in Adams. “Even if someone earns $2 million in one year, they’d only pay an extra $40,000: just 2 percent of their earnings that year. For someone making so much money, that’s a small price to pay for better schools and roads. The billionaires and multi-millionaires who would actually pay a lot more under Question 1 have gotten away without paying their fair share for years. Their misleading ads won’t work on me: I’m voting Yes on 1.”
The endorsing businesses join more than 350 organizations and thousands of activists across the state who are working together to pass Question 1 on the ballot. After years of grassroots advocacy, the state Legislature voted in June 2021 to place the Fair Share Amendment on the November 2022 statewide ballot, where it is now set to be decided on by the voters as Question 1.
“When you look at the facts, supporting Question 1 is common sense for small businesses like mine,” said Valery Joseph, owner of La Perle Restaurant in Everett. “Even if my business’ annual revenue was over $1 million, I wouldn’t pay more because Question 1 is a tax on personal income over $1 million, not a tax on businesses. In all the years I’ve been in business, I’ve never made a million dollars myself. Question 1 means better roads and schools, and a stronger economy, which is great for businesses like mine. And only the richest one percent will pay more.”
The full list of endorsing businesses is below and can be found at https://www.fairsharema.com/local-businesses.
40 South St. Vintage, Boston
Acorn Business Advisor, Grafton
Adeline's Hair Salon, Everett
All She Wrote Books, Somerville
Almquist & Associates, Somerville
Amalgamated Bank, Boston
Amherst Books, Amherst
Apex Noire, Boston
Asamass Trading, Worcester
Avest Home Repair and Painting, Cambridge
Bedlam Book Cafe, Worcester
Belltower Records, North Adams
Boston Black News, Boston
Bread + Roses Bookshop and Cafe, Hyannis
Brewer Banner, New Bedford
Brothers Kafe Kreyol, Everett
Cafe Beirut, Jamaica Plain
Cambridge Local First, Cambridge
Cambridge Naturals, Cambridge
Caravan Kitchen, Northampton
Center Goods, Lexington
Ceramica Paint Studio, Stoneham
Chill Out First Class Limo Service Inc, Everett
Chuck Talley Illustrations, New Bedford
Coffee Liberation Front, Adams
Democracy Brewing, Boston
dNB Craft Kitchen, New Bedford
Fairhaven Yacht, Fairhaven
Fiore's Bakery, Jamaica Plain
Flint Fruit and Variety, Fall River
Foxtrot Farm LLC, Shelburne
Greenfield Solar, Greenfield
Hartley's Original Pork Pies, Fall River
Henna Inspired, Malden
Herrera's Mexican Grill, Boston
Hope and Feathers Framing, Amherst
House of Art and Craft, Boston
Irving House at Harvard, Cambridge
Katiejobelle’s Gifts, Randolph
Katy Rogers Photography, Everett
Kitchenwitch, Jamaica Plain
KrafTea Kombucha, Worcester
Kusiak Music, Arlington
La Perle Restaurant, Everett
Leise Jones Photography, Boston
Mechanica, Newburyport
Micky's Hair Design, Everett
Montague Village Store, Montague
Monumental Market, Jamaica Plain
MVP Barber Shop, Jamaica Plain
N.P. Hayes LLC, New Bedford
Nadia Colburn: Align Your Story, Cambridge
Neighborhood Produce, Somerville
Nifty Nate's, Hyannis
Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley
Panda's Playcare Family Childcare, Boston
Papercuts Bookshop, Boston
Peace Train Tees, Pittsfield
Pikliz International Kitchen, Somerville
Porter Square Books, Cambridge
Punk Rock Aerobics, Boston
Purveyor of the Unnecessary & the Irresistible, Boston
Radio Concorde, Boston
Red Sun Press, Boston
Rosaline's Skin Care & Spa, Brookline
Rosetta Languages, Malden
Said & Done Tattoo, Jamaica Plain
Sanctum Folklorica, New Bedford
Simple Gifts Farm, Amherst
Stand Up 8 Dance Studio, Malden
Talk of the Town Barber, Fall River
Teletronics Broadway, Everett
The Island, Malden
Tibari Travel, Everett
Tipping Cow Ice Cream, Somerville
TL6 The Gallery, New Bedford
Tony's Barber Shop, Malden
Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy, Malden
Background on Question 1: the Fair Share Amendment
The Fair Share Amendment – Question 1 on the November ballot – will allow Massachusetts to improve our transportation and public education systems by making the very rich pay their fair share. Question 1 would create a 4 percent tax on the portion of a person’s annual income above $1 million and constitutionally dedicate the funds to be spent on transportation and public education. Only people who earn more than $1 million annually will be impacted; 99% of us won’t pay a penny more. And we’ll all benefit from better schools, roads, bridges, and public transportation.
Thousands of educators, workers, small business owners, parents, faith leaders, municipal officials, drivers and transit riders, and more than 350 organizations across the state are working together to pass Question 1. Our campaign has been endorsed by 80 labor unions, 63 community organizing groups, 15 faith-based groups, more than 75businesses, and more than 100 other social service and not-for-profit organizations focused on housing, education, transportation, public health, and the environment. Learn more and get involved at FairShareMA.com.
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The Fair Share for Massachusetts campaign is led by Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of community organizations, faith-based groups, and labor unions committed to building an economy that invests in families, gives everyone the opportunity to succeed, and creates broadly shared prosperity. Since our coalition came together in 2013, we have nearly doubled wages for hundreds of thousands of working people by winning two increases in the state’s minimum wage, won best-in-the-nation earned sick time and paid family and medical leave benefits for workers and their families, and started to build an economy that works for all of us, not just those at the top.