Post Office Box 1147  ●  Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945  ●  (781) 639-9709
“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”

45 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
and their Institutional Memory

CLT News Release

Tuesday. January 22, 2019


Gov. Baker’s latest disappointment



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Chip Ford, Executive Director
 

Governor Baker's next assault on taxpayers was announced on Friday with his scheme to hike the deeds excise tax by 50 percent. 

When he increased payroll taxes last year on employers and employees by an annual $800 million as part of his "Grand Bargain," he defended betraying his alleged opposition to tax and fees increases by stating:  "I guess the way I think about this is there's a benefit that's attached to this thing, and that benefit is a paid family leave provision that did not previously exist in state law." 

Has the governor ever come across a tax hike that didn't have some "benefit that's attached" for somebody?  Every time spending is increased it benefits somebody, and every time someone benefits from government spending that benefit is paid by taxpayers. 

In a lame defense of this latest breach of trust he stated:  "This is an excise tax that's basically about property and the proposal we're making here is to protect property. We think, in the long run, the cost/benefit on this one is a good deal for Massachusetts residents." 

Gov. Baker previously defended additional taxes and fee increases by saying he can get behind a tax hike if it funds a new program.  With his proposed 50% tax hike on the cost of property deed transfers he has acknowledged this will further fund an established, existing program:  "This proposal will build on the over $600 million we have already invested to mitigate and prepare for the adverse effects of climate change and help to build more resilient communities.” 

Gov. Baker has an excuse for every betrayal.  He's smooth, he’s slippery, and he’s sliding down the slope, seemingly a victim of Stockholm syndrome. 

For a candidate who campaigned on opposition to raising taxes and fees, Gov. Baker has become — well, a disappointment.

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Citizens for Limited Taxation    PO Box 1147    Marblehead, MA 01945    (781) 639-9709