The Millionaire’s Tax may not be before voters this fall, but the broad support it enjoyed should show legislators the way forward. For decades Massachusetts has underfunded transportation and education. We’ve prioritized tax cuts, to the benefit of the wealthy, and ignored investment, to the detriment of our economy and the public good. Economic inequality has grown, while commute time has skyrocketed, education achievement gaps have persisted, higher education has become less affordable and transit has become less reliable.
Efforts have been made to solve the problem. Progressive income taxes have failed at the ballot or not gained traction in the legislature. Governor Patrick made a series of proposals, both targeted and comprehensive, only to be rebuffed by the legislature. Those failures created the frustration and energy that fueled the Raise Up Coalition and the Millionaire’s Tax. And in turn, that coalition and its organizing efforts were so successful that they convinced the most entrenched special interests on Beacon Hill that if the initiative made it the public for a vote, it would pass overwhelmingly.
Given that, the legislature has what it has assumed didn’t exist in the past, clear evidence of broad public support for new taxes, if raised fairly and focused on transportation and education. There is no excuse for inaction. Not just because of the support for the initiative, but because the health and wellbeing of Massachusetts is dependent on it. The public gets it, it’s time for their elected officials to get it as well.
Massachusetts is one of the richest states in the richest nation on earth, yet we cannot look at every girl and boy and say they will have access to same world class education regardless of where they were born. We cannot tell our workers that they can rely on their local train or bus to get them to work, even if they work during regular hours. We cannot offer universal early education or accessible, affordable public higher education. None of these are extravagances. They are the basics of what it means to be a Commonwealth in the 21st century and we have it within our power to provide them.
Ballot initiatives are often seen as a last gasp of a frustrated public, unable to make their case to their elected representatives. The thousands of voters who signed up, volunteered and advocated for the Millionaire’s Tax and countless others who supported their efforts must not be the last gasp, but the first call in a new effort to make Massachusetts everything it can and should be.
The ballot initiative might not have passed a narrow procedural test, but it did pass a more important moral test. It showed how we can provide a better today and tomorrow for the entire state. Our elected leaders should recognize that. They should answer the call of the initiative organizers and enact a fair new tax to build a modern transportation system and provide a world class education to every citizen of Massachusetts.
Ben Downing represented the westernmost district in the Massachusetts Senate from 2006 to 2016. He is currently a vice president at Nexamp, a Massachusetts-based solar energy company, and an adjunct faculty member at Tufts University.
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