Sep 16, 2022
With Question 1 on the November Ballot, “Opportunity Is Knocking”
BOSTON – The campaign working to pass the Fair Share Amendment today announced the launch of its third television ad, part of an eight-figure TV ad campaign that is running through Election Day. The Fair Share Amendment, the proposed state tax on incomes above $1 million, would raise billions of dollars to invest in transportation and public education. It is Question 1 on the November statewide ballot.
“With this ad, we’re highlighting the once-in-a-generation opportunity Massachusetts has this November to make our tax system fairer, improve our schools and colleges, and fix our crumbling transportation infrastructure,” said Fair Share for Massachusetts Campaign Manager Jeron Mariani. “At the same time, thousands of workers, students, and retirees are knocking on doors and calling voters to share the facts about Question 1: only those who earn more than a million dollars a year will pay more, and we’ll all benefit from $2 billion a year that’s constitutionally dedicated to transportation and public education. From TV ads and digital media, to grassroots campaigning and conversations between neighbors, our campaign is pursuing every opportunity to make sure voters understand the importance of passing Question 1.”
Titled ‘Knocking,’ the new ad explains how “Question 1 opens the door for a $2 billion a year investment in public schools, colleges, and transportation, strengthening our economy and creating jobs.”
“After years of the very rich paying less in taxes than everyone else, they’ll finally pay their fair share. While the rest of us, students, workers, retirees, won’t pay a penny more,” the ad says. “And the money is constitutionally protected to be spent on public schools, colleges, roads, and bridges. So everyone wins. Vote YES on Question 1.”
Thousands of educators, workers, small business owners, parents, faith leaders, municipal officials, drivers and transit riders, and more than 300 organizations across the state are working together on the Fair Share for Massachusetts campaign to pass Question 1. 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.
The new ad can be viewed here. Previous ‘Yes on 1’ TV ads can be found here and here.
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. 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.