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Fair Share in the Press Nov 1, 2022 Boston Globe: Yes on Question 1 The proposed constitutional amendment would make the state’s income tax fairer than it is now. READ MORE Nov 1, 2022 Yes on 1 Launches New TV Ad Featuring Campaign Supporters: Parents, Teachers, Workers, Small Business Owner and Retiree Question 1 on the November 8 Ballot Would Help Improve Schools, Repair Roads and Bridges, and Make Our Tax System Fairer READ MORE Oct 27, 2022 Attleboro Sun Chronicle: A 'Yes' on Question 1 will benefit most READ MORE Oct 26, 2022 100+ Massachusetts Businesses Endorse Question 1 to Improve Transportation and Public Education 100+ Massachusetts Businesses Endorse Question 1 to Improve Transportation and Public Education READ MORE Oct 25, 2022 Yes on 1 Launches New TV Ad Pushing Back on Deceptive Lies About Home Sales ‘No on 1’ Campaign Caught Lying About Home Sales; Less Than 1% Would Be Affected READ MORE Oct 25, 2022 A yes vote on Question 1 will expand opportunities for everyone The state would have more resources to support public schools, make public colleges affordable, and upgrade public transportation systems. READ MORE Oct 24, 2022 Yes on 1 Demands TV Stations to Take Down Deceptive Opposition Ad That Lies About Home Sales Less Than 1% of Home Sales Would Be Affected by Question 1 READ MORE Oct 21, 2022 Berkshire Eagle: Yes on Question 1 READ MORE Oct 21, 2022 Viewpoint: A business leader urges 'yes' on ballot Question 1 READ MORE Oct 20, 2022 Yes on 1 Campaign Responds to New Poll Showing Voters Demand Investments in Transportation Infrastructure 2nd Poll This Week Showing Strong Support for Question 1 Among Voters READ MORE Oct 19, 2022 More Than 500 Organizations Across MA Support Question 1 to Improve Schools & Roads with Tax on Million-Dollar Earners As Voting Begins, New Poll Shows 58% of Voters Supporting Question 1 READ MORE Oct 18, 2022 Amesbury, Newburyport School Committees Join 50+ Communities Endorsing Question 1 to Improve Local Schools & Roads with Tax on Million-Dollar Earners READ MORE Oct 17, 2022 Yes on 1 Campaign Responds to New Report Showing Less Than 1 Percent of Seniors Will Pay Fair Share Tax Analysis of IRS Data Shows Only a Tiny Percentage of Retirees Have Annual Taxable Income of More Than $1 Million READ MORE Oct 16, 2022 Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Teachers Union Leaders Launch Canvass for Question 1 in Dorchester Congresswoman Pressley Joins Supporters of Fair Share Amendment Tax on Million-Dollar Earners to Invest in Transportation and Public Education READ MORE Oct 15, 2022 Congressman Jim McGovern Launches Canvass for Question 1 in Worcester Congressman McGovern Joins Local Supporters of Fair Share Amendment Tax on Million-Dollar Earners to Invest in Transportation and Public Education READ MORE Oct 14, 2022 Fair Share Amendment Ballot Campaign Launches New TV Ad Focused on Retired Homeowner Question 1 on the November Ballot Would Raise $2 Billion for Schools and Roads, Wouldn’t Affect Vast Majority of Home Sales READ MORE Oct 13, 2022 Yes on 1 Campaign: School Counselors’ Plea for Help Highlights Urgent Need for Fair Share Amendment to Fund K-12 Education Question 1 on the November Ballot Would Help Fund Schools, Colleges, Roads, Bridges & Transit READ MORE Oct 12, 2022 Fair Share Amendment Ballot Campaign Launches New TV Ad Focused on Roads & Bridges Question 1 on the November Ballot Would Help Repair State’s Crumbling Transportation Infrastructure READ MORE Oct 6, 2022 City Councils, Select Boards & School Committees in 50+ Communities Endorse Question 1 to Improve Local Roads & Schools with Tax on Million-Dollar Earners From Amesbury and Bridgewater to Windsor and Worcester, Question 1 Gaining Support from Communities Large and Small Across Massachusetts READ MORE Sep 30, 2022 Fair Share Amendment Ballot Campaign Launches Fourth TV Ad Question 1 on the November Ballot Is “Good for All Businesses, Big and Small” READ MORE

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< Back 50+ Massachusetts Businesses Endorse Question 1 to Improve Transportation and Public Education Aug 23, 2022 Small Business Owners Join Growing 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 to invest in transportation and public education, today announced the endorsement of more than 50 businesses from across the state. The Fair Share Amendment is Question 1 on the November statewide ballot. “It’s been a tough couple of years for small businesses, but Question 1 gives me hope. Small businesses like mine wouldn’t pay a penny more, and we’ll benefit from better schools, colleges, roads, bridges, and public transportation,” said Valery Joseph, owner of La Perle Restaurant in Everett . “Transportation is one of the biggest challenges my employees face, and better roads and transit will make a big difference as I work to hire and retain workers in the future.” The businesses include restaurants, bookstores, farms, barber shops, breweries, and retailers from across Massachusetts, in communities such as Adams, Amherst, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Grafton, Malden, New Bedford, North Adams, Northampton, Pittsfield, Shelburne, Somerville, and Worcester. “Successful businesses know that investing in your workforce is a key to future success, and the same is true for Massachusetts,” said Jen Benson, President of the Alliance for Business Leadership . “Investing in our schools and colleges to prepare a well-educated workforce, and building a more reliable transportation system to get employees to work and goods to market, is the best way to strengthen and grow Massachusetts’ economy. That’s why the Alliance for Business Leadership, representing business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals from across the state, is supporting Question 1 in November.” “I work hard running my business, and I pay my fair share in taxes. It’s frustrating that the super-rich pay less of their income in taxes than the rest of us,” said Matthew Glidden, owner of KrafTea Kombucha in Worcester . “Question 1 will fix our unfair tax system and make sure the super rich – those who earn more than $1 million in a single year – pay their fair share to help grow our economy and make it work for everyone. That’s good for my business, and for everyone in Massachusetts.” 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. It doesn’t matter how much revenue or profit a business has: only business owners or shareholders who earn more than $1 million in personal income in a single year will pay more, 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. “It is completely disingenuous to say that Question 1 would hurt small and family-owned businesses — our business is both small and family owned, and if we made a million dollars a year from it we would be happy to pay an extra tax bill on the excess,” said David Sandberg, owner of Porter Square Books in Cambridge . “Business owners who make more than a million dollars in a single year are not ‘small,’ they are wealthy, and usually the reason their businesses can be so successful is that they live in a state where they can have an educated, competitive workforce. Having a small extra tax on such large incomes will enable Massachusetts to continue to grow and attract the type of people that can make all of our businesses more successful.” The endorsing businesses join more than 300 organizations and thousands of activists across the state who are working together to pass Question 1 on the ballot. The campaign previously announced support from 63 community organizing groups , 26 housing and community development organizations , 28 social service providers , 15 faith-based groups , 7 public health organizations , 7 environmental and climate organizations , 10 transportation advocacy organizations , and 18 education and youth advocacy organizations . 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. “I’ve spent the last few weeks reaching out to businesses across the state to talk about Question 1. When business owners learn that only people who earn more than $1 million in annual personal income would pay more, and that all the funds would be constitutionally dedicated to our local schools, roads, colleges, and transit, they’re excited to vote YES,” said Gerly Adrien, Small Business Director for Fair Share for Massachusetts and the owner of Tipping Cow Ice Cream in Somerville . “As more business owners learn about how Question 1 would help improve our schools and roads with a fairer tax system, we expect this list to grow even 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 All She Wrote Books, Somerville Amherst Books, Amherst Apex Noire, Boston Asamass Trading, Worcester Bedlam Book Cafe, Worcester Belltower Records, North Adams Boston Black News, Boston Brewer Banner, New Bedford Brothers Kafe Kreyol, Everett Cambridge Local First, Cambridge Cambridge Naturals, Cambridge Caravan Kitchen, Northampton 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 Flint Fruit and Variety, Fall River Foxtrot Farm LLC, Shelburne Hartley's Original Pork Pies, Fall River Henna Inspired, Malden House of Art and Craft, Boston KrafTea Kombucha, Worcester La Perle Restaurant, Everett Leise Jones Photography, Boston Micky's Hair Design, Everett N.P. Hayes LLC, New Bedford Neighborhood Produce, Somerville New Bedford Noodle Bowl, New Bedford Panda's Playcare Family Childcare, Boston Peace Train Tees, Pittsfield 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 Sanctum Folklorica, New Bedford Simple Gifts Farm, Amherst 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. Learn more and get involved at FairShareMA.com ### 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. Previous Next

< Back WAMC: Springfield City Council backs higher tax on millionaires with ‘Fair Share Amendment’ Patrick Johnson | MassLive Apr 5, 2022 The City Council has unanimously endorsed the Fair Share Amendment, a referendum on the November ballot Original SPRINGFIELD — The City Council has unanimously endorsed the Fair Share Amendment, a referendum on the November ballot that seeks to raise money for public education and transportation by taxing millionaires and billionaires across the state. Councilors on Monday voted in favor of a resolution proposed by Councilor Jesse Lederman to endorse the referendum, which if approved by Massachusetts voters in November, would levy a tax of 4 percent on any income beyond $1 million. The estimated $2 billion annually would be used to supplement spending on public education, public colleges, and transportation issues across the state. Previous Next

The Fair Share Amendment on the November ballot will allow Massachusetts to improve our transportation and public education systems by making the very rich pay their Fair Share in taxes. Why Fair Share The case for the Fair Share Amendment The Breakdown The Fair Share Amendment is Question 1 on the November ballot. It 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% tax on the portion of a person’s annual income above $1 million and require – in the state constitution – that the funds be spent only on transportation and public education. Only people who earn more than $1 million annually will pay more; 99% of us won’t pay a penny more. And we’ll all benefit from better schools, colleges, roads, bridges, and public transportation. That's why so many people across Massachusetts are coming together to vote YES on 1: because with Question 1, we all win. As we recover from COVID, we need to make sure our public schools have everything they need for students to thrive. We need to end the educator and counselor shortages so that every student has the support they need. We need to help students get back on track from COVID disruptions and ensure that all students have access to a complete, well-rounded education. We need to repair our state’s backlog of hundreds of neglected and structurally dangerous bridges, roads, and trains. We need to make our public colleges affordable again so students can graduate without taking on enormous debt. And we need to increase access to vocational education as we rebuild our economy for working families. If we don’t address these problems now, they’ll only hold back our economy and hurt working families. It’s time for the very rich to pay their fair share so we can recover from the pandemic and rebuild a Massachusetts economy that’s stronger than ever. The bottom line: the Fair Share Amendment would only raise taxes on the top 1% of Massachusetts residents—those who earn more than a million dollars in a single year. It will make our tax system fairer while generating $2 billion a year, every year, that is constitutionally dedicated to transportation and public education. That’s why the Fair Share Amendment is crucial to our economy and our recovery from COVID-19: because it’s a win-win for all of us. Vote YES on 1 for a fair Massachusetts. Help us make that Massachusetts a reality. JOIN US The Breakdown The Amendment says... Article 44 of the Massachusetts Constitution is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph at the end thereof: To provide the resources for quality public education and affordable public colleges and universities, and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges and public transportation, all revenues received in accordance with this paragraph shall be expended, subject to appropriation, only for these purposes. In addition to the taxes on income otherwise authorized under this Article, there shall be an additional tax of 4 percent on that portion of annual taxable income in excess of $1,000,000 (one million dollars) reported on any return related to those taxes. To ensure that this additional tax continues to apply only to the commonwealth’s highest income taxpayers, this $1,000,000 (one million dollars) income level shall be adjusted annually to reflect any increases in the cost of living by the same method used for federal income tax brackets. This paragraph shall apply to all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023. Read the Amendment Have questions about Question 1? Read the FAQ. FAQs Get everything you need to know about exactly how to vote Yes on 1. HOW TO VOTE YES ON 1 What this means... The Fair Share Amendment is a call for the richest Massachusetts residents to step up and pay their fair share in taxes. Our Commonwealth's economy is working great for those at the very top—now it's time for it to work for everyone. The Fair Share Amendment will require those making more than $1 million in a single year to pay their fair share in taxes—just 4¢ more on each dollar after their first million dollars a year. No one who makes under $1 million a year will pay a cent more. When millionaires and billionaires pay just 4¢ more on each dollar after $1 million, Massachusetts will raise $2 billion a year, every year, to invest in education and transportation. That $2 billion is constitutionally required to go only to education and transportation: our public schools from pre-K to college, roads, bridges, trains, and buses around the Commonwealth. With $2 billion a year, we can End the educator and counselor shortages in our schools Ensure all educators are paid the livable wages they deserve Give students, educators, and schools the resources they need Fix our crumbling bridges and pothole-filled roads Provide safe, reliable, and affordable public trains and buses statewide Ensure no one has to take on debt to get a college or vocational education. Vote YES on 1 to make that a reality. How will this impact Massachusetts? Will Fair Share improve education & transportation? I want to get involved! How can I help? READ THE BREAKDOWN READ THE FAQ JOIN US This November 8, we're coming together to vote YES on 1 and make the Massachusetts tax system fair. MORE STORIES JOIN US Join the movement for the Fair Share Amendment. JOIN US

< Back Marcus Harris Account Director This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Workers Launch Campaign For High-Earner Surtax Colin A. Young | State House News May 11, 2022 Workers Launch Campaign For High-Earner Surtax (original / Source) Previous Next

< Back Brad Grecco Marketing Associate This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Want to view and manage all your collections? Click on the Content Manager button in the Add panel on the left. Here, you can make changes to your content, add new fields, create dynamic pages and more. Your collection is already set up for you with fields and content. Add your own content or import it from a CSV file. Add fields for any type of content you want to display, such as rich text, images, and videos. Be sure to click Sync after making changes in a collection, so visitors can see your newest content on your live site. info@mysite.com 123-456-7890

< Back Boston Globe: Yes on Question 1 The Editorial Board Nov 1, 2022 The proposed constitutional amendment would make the state’s income tax fairer than it is now. On Election Day in November 1915 , the men of Massachusetts went to the polls and made two mistakes. First, they voted overwhelmingly against extending voting rights to women. Second, they inserted tax language into the state constitution that forbade the Legislature from enacting a graduated income tax. Ever.The suffrage vote soon became moot when the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution overrode state laws. The tax amendment, though — a century later, that’s still with us.As a result of that misguided amendment, Massachusetts can’t have what 32 states and the federal government take for granted: an income tax code that expects wealthy people to carry a heavier burden. The state income tax rate ( currently 5 percent ) is the same for everyone, regardless of individual circumstances. In an ideal world, Massachusetts would simply get rid of the flat-tax requirement enshrined in 1915. That would allow our Legislature to do what most legislatures do: set and change tax rates and tax brackets in a fair way, and in response to the state’s needs and economic conditions. Question 1 , the only constitutional amendment on the November ballot, does not do that. Instead, it’s a much more complicated approach to making the income tax progressive, one that runs the risk of creating unintended consequences that may be difficult to undo. Still, for all its faults, Question 1 would make the income tax better than it is now, and for that reason the Globe endorses a yes vote on Question 1. The amendment is backed by a broad coalition of labor and advocacy groups. It would not remove the flat-tax language from the constitution, as we would have wished. Instead, it would keep the existing flat tax, but add a surcharge of four percentage points for incomes over a threshold of $1 million. That threshold would rise with inflation, with the stated goal of never reaching into the pockets of middle-class families.AdvertisementSomeone earning $2,000,000 in taxable income would pay the ordinary 5 percent tax on their first million dollars, and a 9 percent tax on the second million. The universe of taxpayers who would be affected is small: In 2019, only about 21,000 tax filers in Massachusetts had incomes over $1 million . The tax increase for that group is predicted to raise somewhere between $1 billion and $2 billion in new state revenues per year, though estimates vary widely.Voters have been told that the new money would be spent on education and transportation — and, crucially, that the funding would be added to what the state already spends in those categories. So if it passes, and those promises are kept, we should expect to see combined spending on education and transportation shoot up by up to $2 billion almost overnight. Opponents, mainly business groups, fear the higher tax will make the state less economically competitive, driving away some employers and scaring others from coming here in the first place. They question whether a tax whose proceeds are likely to be highly volatile is a good way of funding transportation and education, which need steady, predictable funding streams. They raise the issue of “one-time millionaires,” people who are hit by the tax when selling a home or business that has appreciated in value. They question why a state that is currently running a huge budget surplus needs more revenue. And they point out that once the tax surcharge is embedded in the constitution, changing it would be very difficult. Tax writers should be able to respond nimbly to economic circumstances. But the Massachusetts Legislature will be stuck with this unwieldy apparatus of two tax rates that must always rise and fall in tandem with each other, and must always be separated by four and exactly four percentage points. Getting rid of the amendment, if the worst-case warnings of its opponents come to pass, would require a lengthy process that can stretch out over four years. Those are valid objections — and all the more reason why a straight-up repeal of the uniformity rule, which would take the minutiae of tax policy out of the constitution entirely, would have been preferable. It is also the case that advocates of Yes on Question 1 are deceiving voters in one respect. Despite their insistence to the contrary, it is not possible to guarantee that the money raised by the surcharge will, in fact, be added atop the existing transportation and education budgets. There is nothing to stop legislators from shifting existing transportation and education funding into other parts of the budget, then backfilling with the proceeds of Question 1. The only recourse if the Legislature fails to spend the money as promised is political: voters would have to vote out legislators who don’t heed the voters’ will. Frankly, though, many voters seem to understand the limitations of the amendment. They also get that it may not even be advisable to immediately plonk $2 billion into education and transportation agencies that don’t necessarily have the capacity to spend that money wisely; look how hard it’s been for the T to even spend the money it has. The reality is that the state has plenty of needs — in education and transportation, but also other areas — that the extra money could either pay for directly, or free space in the budget for through some legislative sleight of hand. The Commonwealth has a backlog of bridges that need repair. It has notoriously high child care costs. It has a housing affordability crisis. It has a vulnerable coastline that will need costly protection against rising sea levels. If the amendment passes, officials will certainly need to keep a careful watch for the kind of unintended consequences that critics foresee. Though the experience in other states with extra taxes on high-earners suggests fears of an exodus are overblown, it’s always possible the new tax will lead to a flight of high-earners that offsets its benefits. If the tax causes small-business owners to relocate out of Massachusetts — to avoid being hit by a one-time tax — that’s something that the state will need to counter with incentives to keep employers here. As is often the case with ballot questions, voters on Question 1 are being asked to choose between two less-than-optimal choices. Overall, though, a yes vote would move Massachusetts a step away from the unfair income tax system created in 1915 and toward a fairer Commonwealth that’s capable of making the investments it needs. Previous Next

< Back Push for millionaires' tax in Massachusetts ramps up Adam Reilly | WGBH May 11, 2022 The Fair Share Amendment, which is also referred to as the millionaires’ tax, will go before voters as a ballot question this fall... Push for millionaires' tax in Massachusetts ramps up (Original / Source) The campaign to change the Massachusetts Constitution to create a new surtax on income in excess of $1 million officially kicked off Wednesday, escalating an long-simmering battle that's been brewing since 2015. The Fair Share Amendment, which is also referred to as the millionaires’ tax, will go before voters as a ballot question this fall. If passed, it would impose an additional tax of 4% on income over the million-dollar mark. The ensuing revenue would be used to fund investments in transportation and education. Unlike many other states, Massachusetts currently taxes all income levels at the same 5% rate. Previous attempts to amend the constitution to create a graduated income tax have failed, most recently in 1994, when two-thirds of voters rejected the idea. In a Zoom kickoff event for the millionaires' tax, proponents indicated that they're likely to use the state's experience during the COVID-19 pandemic to make their case for taxing higher incomes at an increased rate. The Rev. Ann-Marie Illsley, a pastor at Christ Congregational Church in Brockton, praised the efforts of essential workers such as personal care attendants and grocery store employees during the pandemic, and cast passing the proposed amendment as a way to reward their sacrifices. "In the hardest moments of the pandemic, they stepped up to make sure that our communities had what they needed," Illsley said. "Our essential workers have been putting in their fair share, and they continue to. But these folks and their communities have needs also — needs for better-funded school systems and increased training opportunities, improved infrastructure." Worcester City Councilor Khrystian King said the amendment would raise approximately $1.3 billion by requiring the state's wealthiest residents to make a relatively small financial sacrifice. "You're talking about folks that make around $20,000 per week — per week, $20,000," King said. "Those folks are going to have to pay an additional $31 per week.” An analysis earlier this year by Tufts University's Center for State Policy Analysis also said the amendment would raise about $1.3 billion, and found that it would do so "in a highly progressive way likely to advance racial and economic equity." However, the analysis warned that there could be a "disproportionate effect on state coffers" if just a few of the state's wealthiest residents move out of the commonwealth to avoid a new surtax, and that the shift to hybrid and remote work could lead to more residents relocating than previously anticipated. The Coalition for a Strong Massachusetts Economy, which opposes the amendment, said people relocating is a likely outcome of the proposed tax hike. "Proponents of the measure claim that it will raise taxes only on Massachusetts’ highest earners," spokesperson Dan Cence said in a statement, "but in practice, the measure will damage our economy, threaten small business owners, harm retirees, and result in more lost jobs and more people leaving Massachusetts." Supporters of the proposed amendment had planned to place it before voters in 2018, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled at the time that the effort, which relied on the state's initiative-petition process, didn't meet specific constitutional requirements. In this electoral cycle, supporters circumvented a possible repeat challenge by using the referendum process, which is driven by legislative support rather than citizen signatures. In Constitutional Conventions in 2019 and 2021, the Massachusetts House and Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of advancing the measure to the ballot this year. Now, opponents are asking the Supreme Judicial Court to amend Attorney General Maura Healey's description of the proposed amendment to convey that the funds raised might not lead to the spending increases advocates promise . Andrew Farnitano, a spokesperson for Raise Up Massachusetts, which supports the amendment, insisted Wednesday that concern is misplaced. “Dedicating the funding from the Fair Share Amendment in the text of the constitution is the strongest possible way to ensure that it goes to transportation and public education,” he said. “That is an iron-clad dedication that the funds raised by this amendment must be spent on those two areas.” An Supreme Judicial Court ruling on the challenge to Healey's summary is expected in the coming weeks. When Farnitano was asked if the Legislature might diminish spending drawn from other sources if the amendment passes, leading to smaller-than-advertised new investments in education and transportation, he suggested that such maneuvering would be politically risky. "When you look at the words that they have said and the commitments they have laid out, it's clear that their intention is to spend more on education and transportation," Farnitano said. "And we will hold them to that." Toward the close of Wednesday's event, campaign manager Jeron Mariani acknowledged that supporters of the proposed amendment have already been campaigning for months. “We've been out there knocking on doors, open-air canvassing at rallies, making phone calls,” he said. "This is only going to continue," Mariani added. "And one way that we're continuing it is that this very weekend we're launching seven canvasses — seven different cities, all across the commonwealth.” Mariani also announced the launch of a new website, fairsharema.com, which he described as a "hub for how to get plugged into the campaign ... to be an active member of this movement." This story was updated to include a comment from the Coalition for a Strong Massachusetts Economy. Previous Next

< Back Amesbury City Council endorses Fair Share Amendment Jim Sullivan | The Daily News of Newburyport Jul 5, 2022 AMESBURY — The city has been added to the list of Massachusetts municipalities endorsing the Fair Share Amendment ballot initiative. The state ballot question calls for assessing an additional 4% tax on incomes over $1 million if approved at the polls Nov. 8. The money raised from the additional surcharge would then be used to fund schools, roads and other infrastructure needs. Amesbury City Councilors Nicholas Wheeler, Adrienne Lennon, Anthony Rinaldi and Roger Deschenes sponsored a resolution in support of the ballot measure, which was approved unanimously after a first reading June 28. The Newburyport City Council voted 7-4 to endorse the Fair Share Amendment in May. Lennon said the city had gone through a very difficult budget cycle, especially for the public schools, and approval of the amendment could go a long way in relieving the financial pressure. The amendment is an “obvious opportunity” for the state’s wealthy investors to offer some assistance to the rest of the population, according to Lennon. “They do not live on their income, they live on the dividends of their income and it harms them in no way, whatsoever, to be contributing to the opportunities of the rest of the people of the commonwealth,” she said. Cindy Yetman, president of Amesbury Local 1033 of the American Federation of Teachers, appeared before the City Council on June 28 to request the resolution’s approval. Yetman said Friday she is very happy with the resolution and believes most, if not all, Massachusetts labor unions will eventually endorse the Fair Share Amendment. “Faith-based groups are endorsing it, community-based groups are endorsing it, and now municipalities are also endorsing it, one by one,” she said. Municipalities such as Amesbury are relying more on real estate property taxes to fund programs, Yetman said. She pointed out that the School Committee cut $477,589 from its proposed operating budget in the spring. “All the department heads in the city needed to tighten their belts this year, so we need relief. Passing the Fair Share Amendment will bring on approximately $2 billion in additional state revenue,” she said. “This is not going to affect 99.5% of the residents of Massachusetts. It is only going to ask a small group of residents to pay an additional 4% over each dollar earned over $1 million. So, that first $1 million has no additional tax. For each dollar after that, we are asking them to pay four cents.” The social/emotional needs of students have always been important but the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic have made them even more acute, according to Yetman. “We are finding from that experience that this year particularly was very challenging in terms of students adjusting back to face-to-face education,” she said. “We also need to get all of the students back to where they should be so additional resources are certainly needed now to be able to make sure that our students are in a place where they can learn best.” Yetman said Massachusetts residents can expect to see union members canvassing the state to drum up support for the amendment heading into the election. “Our next step will be a very broad campaign,” she said. “We will be knocking on doors and having meetings with community groups to inform our voters of the importance of the passage of the Fair Share Amendment. Because we do have an opposition that spins another tale about what it will bring and do,” she said. Image of Amesbury Town Hall by Fletcher6, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Previous Next