‘Millionaires’ tax’ takes next step toward voters
A proposed 4 percent additional tax in Massachusetts on individual income over $1 million on Wednesday took a step toward voters, who could weigh in on the idea in 2018.
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The proposed constitutional amendment needed the support of 25 percent of the state’s lawmakers, who met Wednesday in a Constitutional Convention, to advance to the next stage. It easily reached that tally, with 135-57 approval.
The proposal must receive 25 percent or better support from lawmakers again in the 2017-2018 legislative session in order to go in front of voters in the fall of 2018.
The new tax would be applied only to income over the $1 million barrier, not the entirety of a person’s earnings, and the threshold would adjust annually with inflation.
If eventually passed, the tax proposal — alternately referred to as the “millionaires’ tax” or the “fair share amendment” — could raise more than $2 billion per year.
The amendment calls for the funds must be spent on education or transportation, subject to budgetary appropriation with legislators.
Though a ballot effort is more than two years away, the politics have already begun heating up. Opponents — which include business organizations — say the law would not necessarily require the money go to those areas, and that lawmakers could use it for other purposes, while advocates argue historical precedent says otherwise.
Two recent polls have shown fairly strong support for the idea: 72 percent of Boston-area residents gave it the thumbs up in one sampling, as did about 70 percent of statewide voters in another.
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