Council in the News
Massachusetts High Technology Council media coverage.
Healey, Not Baker, Gets To Sign Tax Relief Law
The nearly two-year affair that spanned a pair of governorships came to a close Wednesday with Healey’s approval of the bill (H 4104), an event that policymakers turned into a cacophonous victory lap in the State House Library. The bill won praise from many business groups, while the Massachusetts High Technology Council gave it a mixed review, arguing that it will “only marginally change how Massachusetts compares with other states.”
Influential Collective Seeks To Derail MCAS Question
The Massachusetts High Technology Council was joined by over a dozen organizations and individuals, including three past chairs of the State Board of Education, in filing a memo with the Attorney General’s Office challenging the proposed ballot question to eliminate the use of the MCAS exam as a graduation requirement.
Crosswinds Swirling In Tax Relief Talks
Lawmakers eyeing prompt compromise on House and Senate tax relief bills that differ in several major ways will be buffeted by competing crosswinds that seem to disagree on what, exactly, is the best way to make Massachusetts more competitive.
A Year Later, Tax Relief Bills Again Up For Negotiation
Lewis at one point named a quartet of business-backed groups — the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Mass. High Technology Council, the Pioneer Institute and “even our friends at the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation” — that he said are deploying a “false narrative” about taxes pushing people out of state.
Face-to-face: Senate President Karen Spilka addresses some of tax relief plan’s biggest critics
Elizabeth Mahoney of the Massachusetts High Technology Council wants to ask Spilka what her plans are to improve competitiveness for state businesses. “We’re concerned,” Mahoney said.
Elizabeth Mahoney of the Massachusetts High Technology Council wants to ask Spilka what her plans are to improve competitiveness for state businesses. “We’re concerned,” Mahoney said.
But not everyone’s convinced the capital gains cut would be a boon to Bay State businesses. An analysis by the Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center found the highest-income 1 percent of households would receive an estimated 77 percent of short-term capital gains cuts – an average of over $7,000 apiece and serve to widen racial wealth gaps.
Business leaders urge Senate to expand tax-relief plan.
Business leaders are urging lawmakers to include the tax relief in the plan, arguing that the current proposal doesn’t do enough to improve the state’s affordability.
“The data shows that high-income earners are significantly contributing to the loss of wealth from the state and the Senate’s proposal does not go far enough to mitigate this outmigration,” said Elizabeth Mahoney, vice president of policy and government affairs at the Massachusetts High Technology Council.
Mahoney urged senate leaders to adopt proposed amendments to the tax relief bill that “urgently address the areas where Massachusetts is a national outlier” such as the short term capital gains rate and estate tax exemption limit.
Boston is a good place to start a tech company. Keeping it here is another story.
And questions about the state’s competitive standing — and loss of residents to other states — have absolutely dominated the business discourse since voters approved the controversial “millionaires tax” ballot proposal in November.
The new tax — a 4 percentage point surcharge on individual incomes of more than $1 million, with the revenue earmarked for transportation and education — was a big blow to the state’s competitiveness, said Christopher R. Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council.
“We have to reverse the trend in the business climate,” he said. “We need to treat business creators differently.”
Lawmakers have tried to change tax rebate law before but failed
“It’s appropriate that Mass High Tech is defending the voters’ tax cap law (Chapter 62F) as it was the partnership of Citizens for Limited Taxation led by Barbara Anderson and the Massachusetts High Technology Council under the leadership of Howard Foley that succeeded with the creation and adoption of the law,” he said.
Don’t tinker with surplus tax-rebate law
The Massachusetts High Tech Council has warned lawmakers not to alter the tax rebate law, stating such action would violate the Massachusetts constitution.
Biz groups caution against tax law update
Business groups say proposed changes to a voter-approved tax rebate law being considered by the state Legislature would be unconstitutional, signaling a possible legal fight over efforts to equally distribute excess taxes.
In a letter to Gov. Maura Healey and legislative leaders, the Massachusetts High Technology Council warned that a legal analysis suggests the proposed change to Chapter 62F to allow equal tax rebates when the law is triggered would be a “clear violation” of the constitution.
Some options for Massachusetts lawmakers seeking ‘fairer’ 62F tax rebate law amid legal threats
Several bills filed this session would repeal 62F entirely (H2744, S1797). Another would establish a commission to study 62F (HD4119). Both options would not violate the state constitution, Elizabeth Mahoney, vice president of policy and government affairs for the Massachusetts High Technology Council told MASSterList.
The House could also opt to change the formula that caps the allowable state tax growth to make it more or less likely that 62F would be triggered.
The High Tech Council — the same business group behind a successful lawsuit that derailed a 2018 attempt to pass the millionaire tax voters just approved last year — would oppose any change made “without public debate,” Mahoney said.
Massachusetts High Tech Council slams tax rebate rewrite
The influential Massachusetts High Tech Council is warning lawmakers that altering the tax rebate law is unconstitutional and should not be adopted.
The House has already headed down that road, but a memo authored at the request of the council says it’s a legal dead end.
The House’s over $56 billion spending plan for fiscal 2024 includes a provision that would change Chapter 62F of the General Laws, a previously unremarkable portion of the state’s tax codes which last year unexpectedly sent nearly $3 billion in excess tax takings back to residents.
Passed in 1986 through a ballot measure, changing the law via the Legislature would circumvent the expressed will of voters, according to the High Tech Council.
Biz groups caution against tax law update
In a letter to Gov. Maura Healey and legislative leaders, the Massachusetts High Technology Council warned that a legal analysis suggests the proposed change to Chapter 62F to allow equal tax rebates when the law is triggered would be a “clear violation” of the constitution.
House’s 62F Overhaul “Unconstitutional,” Council Alleges
The Massachusetts High Technology Council, which has threatened or taken legal action in several other tax policy matters, wrote to legislative leaders and Gov. Maura Healey to argue that carving up excess tax revenues into equal rebates would “violate the state’s Constitution by effectively taxing income at different rates for different taxpayers.”
The Massachusetts High Technology Council Warns Against Unconstitutional Amendment to State Tax Revenue Growth Limit ?
Today, the Massachusetts High Technology Council supported the push by lawmakers to address the early chapter of overdue tax relief for residents and employers but warned House and Senate leadership and the Healey administration of the unconstitutionality of a House proposal amending the voter-approved state tax revenue growth limit (Chapter 62F).
High Tech Council calls House move unconstitutional
The Massachusetts High Technology Council, which has threatened or taken legal action in several other tax policy matters, wrote to legislative leaders and Gov. Maura Healey to argue that carving up excess tax revenues into equal rebates would “violate the state’s Constitution by effectively taxing income at different rates for different taxpayers.”
Mass. House passes $1.1 billion tax package it says will help families, businesses, and even the dead
Facing little friction, the Massachusetts House on Thursday passed a bill overhauling the state’s tax code, a wide-ranging package that would boost tax breaks for renters, families, and others, and slash how much the state taxes profits on short-term investments. The bill — worth nearly $1.1 billion once it takes full effect — cleared the Democrat-dominated House, 150-3, after about two hours of debate and with just three Democrats voting against it.
The Massachusetts High Technology Council’s Statement on the House’s Tax Reform Proposal
In the midst of accelerated outmigration of taxpayers, the Massachusetts High Technology Council supports the proposals offered by the Speaker and House leadership for advancing a tax reform package that recognizes the competitive challenges posed by Massachusetts’ position as a national outlier on high taxes.
Healey made her pitch on taxes last month. Now it’s Speaker Mariano’s turn.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano on Thursday committed to bringing forward a tax reform package this spring, after expressing doubts in recent months that the state could afford one. After Governor Maura Healey last month filed a tax reform bill that could cost up to $1 billion a year, all eyes have been on Mariano to see what kind of reforms the House of Representatives would pursue, if any.
Healey’s plans to cut business tax faces pushback
Healey administration officials argue that a simplified capital gains structure, which “aligns” the short-term capital gains tax with long-term capital gains levy at 5%, would make Massachusetts less of an outlier on corporate taxation. Under current law, capital gains on assets held for less than a year are taxed at 12% while other forms of individual income or texted the 5% rate. Only two other states tax short term capital gains at a higher rate. But Healey’s plan is facing pushback from both sides of the issue with progressive groups blasting the tax breaks and business groups calling from more tax relief.
Beacon Hill Roll Call, Nov. 27-March 3
Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on a roll call from the week of Feb. 27-March 3. There were no roll calls in the Senate last week.