State of Massachusetts Archives: on Tax Reform


Ayanna Pressley: Our tax code should relieve the 99%

The Republican tax bill does nothing but worsen the existing wealth disparity--providing millions in tax breaks to the top 1% and corporations--while burdening the next generation with a trillion dollars in new debt. Instead, Congress should focus on simplifying our tax code in a manner that provides relief for lower- and middle-income families, not wealthy individuals and multinational corporations.
Source: 2018 MA 7th House campaign website AyannaPressley.com Jul 4, 2018

Don Berwick: Ask people with higher incomes to pay higher rates

Q: Do you support or oppose the statement, "Higher taxes on the wealthy"?

A: "Massachusetts needs an income tax structure that asks people with higher incomes to pay higher rates and people with lower incomes to pay lower rates."

Source: Email interview for 2014 MA Governor's race with OnTheIssues Feb 7, 2014

Ed Markey: Higher-income people should pay their fair share of taxes

Markey said he wanted higher-income people to pay "their fair share" of taxes, while charging that "Mr. Gomez thinks the taxes on the wealthy are already high enough."

Markey said that he wanted to keep laws in place that were enacted after the financial crisis, but "Mr. Gomez believes those regulations are too tough."

Source: Boston Globe on 2013 MA Senate debates Jun 11, 2013

Martha Coakley: Bush tax cuts favor wealthy Americans

Does not favor continuing the Bush tax cuts, which she says favor wealthy Americans. She has proposed a tax-relief plan for middle-class Americans and small businesses. She doesn't support a Democratic proposal to tax the most expensive health care plans to help pay for new coverage.
Source: Nancy Reardon, Quincy Patriot-Ledger: 2010 MA Senate debate Jan 14, 2010

Scott Brown: Maintain Bush tax cuts after 2010

Doesn't want the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010. Saying he's the only candidate who won't raise taxes, and he has aggressively framed his opponent as weak on this issue, saying lower taxes will trigger economic growth.
Source: Nancy Reardon, Quincy Patriot-Ledger: 2010 MA Senate debate Jan 14, 2010

Martha Coakley: AdWatch: Get taxes up from more employment, not tax increase

American Future Fund's advertisement for Scott Brown claims that Coakley will raise taxes. According to the ad, "Coakley says, quote, 'We need to get taxes up.' " Coakley, in a debate with other Democratic primary candidates at Suffolk Univ. Law School on Nov. 30, did speak those words in a much lengthier response to a student's question about the deficit. But Coakley says she was referring to getting tax revenues up through putting people back to work, not to raising tax rates or imposing new levies. Here's what she said:

"We do need to get out of this recession, also. And that requires, I think, looking at a couple of things. There's no magic bullet to this. We need to get people back to work, we need to get taxes up, and we'll start to chip away at that deficit."

The Boston Globe sided with Coakley on this, saying in a news story that her words were being taken out of context and that she actually "seemed to suggest that the economy needed to improve so that tax collections would rise."

Source: FactCheck "Bay State Battle": 2010 MA Senate debate AdWatch Jan 13, 2010

Scott Brown: 15 percent across the board tax cut

Coakley's campaign, in an ad released this week, says Brown will "give more tax breaks to the wealthiest."

Brown has said he supports a 15 percent across the board tax cut, which would certainly include "the wealthiest" but would flow to people at all income levels.

Source: FactCheck "Bay State Battle": 2010 MA Senate debate AdWatch Jan 13, 2010

Martha Coakley: Extend Bush tax cuts for the lowest four tax brackets

Source: Lowell Sun on 2010 MA Senate debate Jan 8, 2010

Martha Coakley: Some taxes are investments like for infrastructure & schools

Coakley has said she views some taxes as investments needed to pay for things such as infrastructure and schools. She is not completely averse to cutting taxes, however, particularly those for the lower and middle classes. She does support letting the Bush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 expire for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans earning more than $250,000 a year.
Source: Lowell Sun on 2010 MA Senate debate Jan 8, 2010

Scott Brown: Permanently eliminate the estate tax

Source: Lowell Sun on 2010 MA Senate debate Jan 8, 2010

Alan Khazei: Supports a war tax to pay for Afghanistan surge

Alan Khazei kicked off the primary campaign's final debate by saying he would support a special levy to fund the 30,000-troop buildup in Afghanistan outlined by Pres. Obama.

Martha Coakley also said she would consider it, but Rep. Michael Capuano said he would not. "I would vote for a tax for a moral war, if I thought it was right," said Capuano. "I will not vote, not only for taxes, I will not vote for funding for this surge, either, as I have not voted for the funding in Iraq, either."

Source: WBZ-TV on 2009 MA Senate Debate Dec 2, 2009

Martha Coakley: Consider a war tax to pay for Afghanistan surge

Alan Khazei kicked off the primary campaign's final debate by saying he would support a special levy to fund the 30,000-troop buildup in Afghanistan outlined by Pres. Obama.

Martha Coakley also said she would consider it, but Rep. Michael Capuano said he would not. "I would vote for a tax for a moral war, if I thought it was right," said Capuano. "I will not vote, not only for taxes, I will not vote for funding for this surge, either, as I have not voted for the funding in Iraq, either."

Source: WBZ-TV on 2009 MA Senate Debate Dec 2, 2009

Stephen Pagliuca: Job Focused Tax Reform: incentives, training, & funding

Steve's latest plan on Job Focused Tax Reform complements his previous plans on a Blueprint for Job Creation to put people back to work in the state's most innovative sector and a Financial Regulatory Reform plan that will secure our markets and strengthen the regulations that govern Wall Street.
Source: 2009 MA Senate Campaign website, stephenpagliuca.com, "Tax" Nov 15, 2009

Jeff Beatty: Abolishing state income tax would act as economic stimulus

Kerry slammed Beatty’s support of Question 1 on the state ballot, the proposal to abolish the state income tax. “My prayer is that Jeff Beatty’s position will be soundly rejected by this state. To do what Jeff Beatty says we should do would be calamitous,” he said.

But Beatty said the abolition of the state income tax would act as an economic stimulus for families and businesses and would bring more jobs and opportunities to the state.

Source: 2008 MA Senate Debate reported in the Boston Herald Oct 20, 2008

John Kerry: Abolishing state income tax would be calamitous

Kerry slammed Beatty’s support of Question 1 on the state ballot, the proposal to abolish the state income tax. “My prayer is that Jeff Beatty’s position will be soundly rejected by this state. To do what Jeff Beatty says we should do would be calamitous,” he said.

But Beatty said the abolition of the state income tax would act as an economic stimulus for families and businesses and would bring more jobs and opportunities to the state.

Source: 2008 MA Senate Debate reported in the Boston Herald Oct 20, 2008

Christy Mihos: Get money out of Beacon Hill and back to cities & towns

Q: You talk about rolling back the state income tax, you also talk about putting a tax on local property taxes. How can you do both?

MIHOS: Well it’s not local property taxes, it’s local property assessments for residences and businesses. Look, under the Republican’s administration, they’ve been in charge for 16 years, the Democrats have been in power forever. Massachusetts has become unaffordable. We have to do it, we have to get the money back out of Beacon Hill, back to the cities and towns and it can be done. We’ve run billion plus dollar surpluses in revenue over the last three years. This money is sitting up there on Beacon Hill. They’re giving it to the Turnpike Authority, $31 million to start the Rose Kennedy Greenway up again with your money, they’re giving it to the Red Sox and their corporate neighbors to upgrade the infrastructure up around Fenway Park. That’s your money, that’s money that should be going back to the cities and towns, not to the special interests.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Christy Mihos: Roll back taxes but restore local aid

Q: What about rolling back the state income tax from 5.3% to 5%?

MIHOS: I’m for it. The people voted overwhelmingly for it. I’ll work the legislature to get it done over time, certainly. Statutorily it’s being done as we sit here, but this administration has taken local aid away from this cities and towns. They’re starving. They’ve taken well over $2 billion in local aid away from the cities and towns so the property taxes have gone up.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Deval Patrick: Cut property tax; expand circuit breaker & senior exemption

Q: You oppose rolling back the state income tax from 5.3% to 5% and one of your opponents, Lt. Gov. Healey, says you will be the biggest tax and spender since Mike Dukakis.

PATRICK: Well, no is the answer to that. I think it’s a mistake to roll the income tax back to 5% right now. I think we can do it but we have to grow the economy so that we can afford to do it. I think its interesting to be lectured on taxes by the Lt. Gov., whose administration is responsible for $985 million of new taxes and fees. That’s what’s come from this administration. What I want to do is cut the property tax. I want to expand the senior exemption for property taxes and the circuit breaker. I want to extend them to low and moderate income home owners. I want to eliminate all those nuisance fees for playing on a high school team or parking in the school parking lot, and I want to restore local aid so we can get property taxes down and keep them down.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Deval Patrick: Tax rollback is shell game, shifting burden to property tax

Q: What would an income tax rollback do to property taxes?

HEALEY: By rolling back the income tax we’ll put more money into working peoples’ pockets, and I have a plan to take pressure off our local taxes as well by reforming our pension system, and allowing our cities and towns to invest their pensions with our state treasurer’s office. That will take literally hundreds of millions of dollars that is wasted right now and put it back onto the plate of our cities and towns and that will relieve the pressure on local taxes.

PATRICK: We’ve been playing the fiscal shell game with this administration. This is an administration that talks about rolling the income tax back and is responsible at the same time for proposing $985 million in new taxes and increased fees. $1.8 billion in increases in property taxes. That’s all about shifting the burden. Let’s be clear and candid with each other. People are ready for the truth. We can afford a 5% income rate when the economy has expanded to enable it.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Grace Ross: We don’t have enough income tax

Q: What about rolling back the state income tax from 5.3% to 5%?

ROSS: I support the idea that we shouldn’t be rolling back the state income tax. Our taxes have gone through the roof because we don’t have enough income tax and so the local cities and towns are raising property taxes. Those hit the rest of us. The income tax is the only thing that folks at the top actually have to pay the same amount as the folks at the bottom. Fees and property taxes tend to hit folks at the lower end more.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Grace Ross: Tax rollback kills cities via property tax increase of 35%

Q: What would an income tax rollback do to property taxes?

ROSS: This no new tax pledge -- anybody at the state level who wants to argue that you’re not raising taxes because you’re rolling back the income tax is just not telling the truth. That’s why we’ve got property taxes at 35% or 42% above what they were before. Our cities and towns are dying, but they need increased minimum wages, help to the small businesses and things like that.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Grace Ross: Tax rollback gives middle class $100s, but $100,000s to rich

We talk about the 5% role back. For people like me that’s going to be, what, $100 a year or something like that, but the really wealthy in this state will get back probably $100,000 or $200,000. When they say that they want the money back in our hands, well that money’s not coming back in our hands. That money’s going to be gone and if we want to talk about special interests wanting something, those hundreds of thousands of dollars are going to go to the top income earners in our state.
Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Kerry Healey: Avoid property tax increases by reducing waste

Q: What would an income tax rollback do to property taxes?

HEALEY: By rolling back the income tax we’ll put more money into working peoples’ pockets, and I have a plan to take pressure off our local taxes as well by reforming our pension system, and allowing our cities and towns to invest their pensions with our state treasurer’s office. That will take literally hundreds of millions of dollars that is wasted right now and put it back onto the plate of our cities and towns and that will relieve the pressure on local taxes.

PATRICK: We’ve been playing the fiscal shell game with this administration. This is an administration that talks about rolling the income tax back and is responsible at the same time for proposing $985 million in new taxes and increased fees. $1.8 billion in increases in property taxes. That’s all about shifting the burden. Let’s be clear and candid with each other. People are ready for the truth. We can afford a 5% income rate when the economy has expanded to enable it.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Kerry Healey: Failure to roll back taxes cost people $2 billion since 2000

Q: What about rolling back the state income tax from 5.3% to 5%?

HEALEY: The people of this state voted overwhelmingly back in the year 2000 to cut the tax rate to 5 percent. Since that time they have paid in $2 billion in extra taxes that we didn’t need. The last two years we’ve had billion dollar budget surpluses, each of those years. Now the legislature has spent that money. We need to take it off the table in order to have fiscal discipline and my opponent cannot provide that.

Source: 2006 MA Gubernatorial debate on Fox News with Chris Wallace Sep 25, 2006

Christy Mihos: Set aside 40% of state revenue for local aid

Mihos would set aside 40 percent of state revenue for local aid; and he would freeze property values for existing homeowners, reevaluating houses only when they are sold. That would bring “some type of certainty to a real estate tax bill and allow people to stay in their homes,” he said.
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: on 2006 MA Governor race Jun 3, 2006

Deval Patrick: Restore local aid so towns can cut property taxes

Patrick opposes a cut in the income tax rates to 5 percent, something the other candidates at least give lip service to. “The fact is that rolling back the income tax from 5.3 to 5 percent is fiscally irresponsible. We can’t afford it,” he says. “The tax to cut is the property tax. And we can’t cut the property tax if we don’t restore local aid and we can’t restore local aid if we roll back the income tax.”
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: on 2006 MA Governor race Jun 3, 2006

Deval Patrick: Supports local meals tax and local-option taxes

Deval Patrick is the only candidate to endorse the idea of allowing Boston and other municipalities to impose a meals tax, or other local-option tax, saying they would help towns manage their budgets without having to raise local property taxes.
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: on 2006 MA Governor race Jun 3, 2006

Kerry Healey: More local aid, to keep property taxes low

Healey believes municipalities need more revenue, and has pledged to increase local aid. “As governor, I will find every opportunity to reduce fees and hold down property taxes by giving a larger share of our state tax revenue to our cities and towns,” she says. Her campaign manager, Tim O’Brien, pointed out that the Romney administration recently proposed a 17 percent increase in local aid.
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: on 2006 MA Governor race Jun 3, 2006

Kerry Healey: Opposes local meals tax and local-option taxes

Healey is against local-option taxes as a means of raising revenue for cities and towns, including the meals tax sought by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: on 2006 MA Governor race Jun 3, 2006

Tom Reilly: Lift lottery fund cap to increase local aid

Reilly wants to lift the current cap on lottery funds, to send more money to cities and towns. Reilly also wants to direct the state’s budget surplus to communities to provide services and offer property tax relief.
Source: Boston Globe Issue Outlines: on 2006 MA Governor race Jun 3, 2006

Steve Grossman: Fund health care with greater cigarette tax

Grossman favors raising the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack, and using the $150 million in revenues to pay health care costs.
Source: Rick Klein, Boston Globe on 2002 MA Gov. race Feb 24, 2002

Steve Grossman: Supports income tax rollback

I don’t think putting our hands right back in the taxpayers’ wallet - which is what my opponents propose - is the right approach.
Source: Frank Phillips in Boston Globe on 2006 MA Gov. race Feb 13, 2002

  • The above quotations are from Commonwealth of Massachusetts Politicians: Archives.
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2020 Presidential contenders on Tax Reform:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)
Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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