broad based taxes

from NYTimes.

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders on Tuesday announced that they had reached an agreement to raise taxes on New York state’s wealthiest residents as part of a deal to overhaul the state’s tax rates.The leaders, seeking simultaneously to make the state’s income tax system more progressive and to boost tax collections during a down economy, announced their agreement as lawmakers began to arrive at the Capitol for an expected special session of the Legislature later this week.

Matt Murphy in the State House News Service reports here on the message from the Admininstration -- delivered on Thanksgiving Eve.

THE STATE HOUSE — Heavily into planning for next year’s state budget, Administration Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez on Tuesday said the Patrick administration plans no new broad-based tax increases in fiscal 2013, and will have to find ways to cover surging demand for social services that is expected to outpace revenue growth.

“Even though tax revenues are growing modestly, and we may have more resources next year, the demands in our safety net programs and health care costs generally, the rate of growth in those areas exceeds the growth in resources,” Gonzalez told the News Service during a 20-minute sit-down interview in his office.

Through mid-November, tax collections of just over $7 billion since the start of the new fiscal year in are up 5.8 percent over the same period in fiscal 2011 indicating that the Massachusetts economy continues to rebound from the recession that began in 2008 and forced rounds of budget cuts.

“Tax revenues have been growing and we expect them based on economic forecasts to continue to grow so I think next year’s budget will be bigger than this year’s budget, but probably only modestly,” Gonzalez said.

Well, with any new taxes "off the table what is the MBTA management suposed  to recommend but service cuts and fare increases?

I guess we can all argue about who pays the increase (seniors? students? trains?, buses?) and what services are cut. How about those suburban lines? Or the mid morning routes in the inner citiy?  Oh dear. What to do. What to do.  Here's what Secretary Davey told the Herald.

Suburban bus service and nighttime commuter rail could be on the chopping block as Department of Transportation officials scrounge for solutions to a $161 million budget hole projected for next year, Transportation Secretary Richard Davey said Monday.

In interview outside Park Street Station, as morning commuters crisscrossed the Boston Common, Davey said he anticipates proposals for fare hikes and service cuts to be offered next month, with a likely public hearing process set for January.

“The T will probably be looking to float some proposals in December,” he said.

“I think a fare increase – it’s a good policy to have one from time to time. The T’s costs have gone up, for health care, for power, energy ... other commodities costs. I think a fare increase is timely from time to time,” he continued.

This is a wonderful video from Demos Public Works with clips from 5 states making the case for government. Heres the site for Demos where you can find a lot more good stuff. ,

and here's the url for the video. 

I was really surprised to see the Leadership in the Senate try to define casino revenues as taxes. Good grief, what is the world coming to?

As Channel 22 in Springfield reported

Sen. Knapik of Westfield also tried to convince lawmakers to adopt his amendment that would direct taxable gaming revenues to relieve taxpayers.
“You know we’re going to create a long term, sustained, brand new revenue stream for the citizens of Massachusetts, we ought not be spending all of it,” said Knapik. “Some of it certainly is going into the rainy day fund, but maybe we can lower the income tax.”

Knapik’s amendment was eventually rejected.

Casinos in Massachusetts - may be a foregone conclusion if leadership in the State House has its way.  But is this the way to achieve fiscal stability for the Commonwealth as some would have us believe?  Is this strategy working to achieve budget surpluses (or balanced  budgets vs. budget deficits ) in New Jersey or Nevada?  Even Connecticut isn't showing great financial rewards from gambling.  What will happen to total revenue when there's more competition in New England?  Then there's the additional cost of the health and safety issues of gambling...

Gambling revenue  ...erodes a fundamental idea of democracy: that we’re all in this together. Instead of all people contributing equitably to the common good, a casino economy fractures the social compact. And it asks the most from those who can afford it least.   [Full Op-Ed:  The Boston Globe]

Here's a twist on the tax discussion...raise the taxes on those least able to pay (more) and who are currently paying the highest percentage of income in taxes.  This political platform may get a candidate more corporate contributions, but as we know, corporations aren't people and they don't vote.  Think about it...who earns the money that's not being contributed/taxed at the similar percentage of income basis to pay for the programs and services that we all depend and rely upon on a daily basis?

The moral argument would have been obvious before this polarized year. Nearly 90 percent of the families that paid no income tax make less than $40,000, most much less...At a time when high-income households are paying their lowest share of federal taxes in decades, when corporations frequently avoid paying any tax, it is clear who should bear a larger burden and who should not . [Full Editorial: The New York Times]

In the last three months, ONE Massachusetts and other organizations across the state organized meetings with legislators urging them to support an An Act to Invest in Our Communities, a revenue reform bill that would raise $1.3 billion and help stop the deep cuts outline in the FY ’12 budget.

Great article from the Boston Globe. 

Now more than ever is time for us to come together as a community to protect our public structures in the state. 

As Mayor John Barrett of North Adams said in the article: 

“When times are tough, we need leadership. Any fool can cut budgets.”

Lets take an active role as members of this community to have our voices heard in the Legislature.  We can not afford to cut services and programs that make us a competitite state compared to others.  A balanced budget should always look at both revenues and expenditures.  Lets support more revenues for our state as part of an adequate and balanced tax package.