In pitching Healey on tax reform, Question 1’s foes haven’t gotten the message
In November, voters chose a fairer tax system by passing Question 1, the “millionaires tax” (“Business community has a big ask of new governor: Tackle taxes,” Chesto Means Business, Jan. 19). Voters were clear that the best way to boost Massachusetts’ economy isn’t cutting taxes for the ultrarich; rather, it’s raising them to invest in public goods that help all residents and businesses succeed, such as well-funded schools, better roads and bridges, affordable public colleges and universities, and reliable public transportation.
Massachusetts faces real problems that are threatening our economic competitiveness, from our high housing costs and crumbling infrastructure to the enormous burden families face paying for child care and college.
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But the business lobbyists who led the losing fight against Question 1 clearly haven’t gotten the message. They continue to pay lip service to the need to solve those big problems while focusing their real energy on their latest effort to cut taxes for the wealthy.
The passage of the Fair Share Amendment showed that voters want to see our state government make major investments to tackle the challenges we face as a Commonwealth. Large, profitable corporations and their wealthy investors need to stop putting up roadblocks to the change voters demanded.
Jonathan Cohn
Policy director
Progressive Massachusetts
Boston
We need a way to pay for investments that help all of us
Jon Chesto’s column “Business community has a big ask of new governor: Tackle taxes” speaks to business leaders’ focus on lowering taxes. This, even though Chesto also notes that they want Governor Maura Healey to tackle the high cost of doing business by addressing issues such as housing, road congestion, crumbling transit, and child care.
Recent studies show that the annual cost for affordable, high-quality early care and education is $5 billion while expanding housing vouchers to everyone who needs them could be $3.2 billion. That’s not including the costs of upgrading our transit and repairing our roads and bridges.
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We need taxes, such as those raised by the Fair Share Amendment, to help pay for these things. That really doesn’t seem too much to ask so that we can make investments that help all of us, including our business community.
Mary Tittmann
Cambridge
