© 2026
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Debate Over Tax Hikes Expected On Beacon Hill

The Massachusetts State House

Battle lines are being drawn on Beacon Hill for a fight over taxes.

A coalition of progressive activists and unions, called  the Campaign for Our Communities is pushing for an increase in the state’s income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 5.95 percent that would raise $2 billion annually. The coalition’s Andi Mullin said the rate increase would be coupled with a  large increase in the personal exemption.

Citizens for Limited Taxation points out voters in 2000 approved a roll back of the income tax rate to 5 percent, but the legislature blocked it. Legislative leaders say they’ll carefully review Gov. Patrick’s tax and spending plans.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.