Hearing message from voters, lawmakers spurn talk of a tax hike
Beacon Hill leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief when voters rejected a ballot question Tuesday to abolish the state income tax, but that doesn't mean they went to work yesterday promoting plans to raise taxes.
The governor and several top lawmakers said the overwhelming defeat of the proposed tax repeal - 70 percent to 30 percent - signaled to them that state residents don't want total tax elimination. But they said they also recognize, from comments during debate over the measure, that the public expects government to operate more efficiently and not impose higher taxes.
"I am more than relieved. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of voters," Governor Deval Patrick said at a news conference yesterday, thanking the state's residents for agreeing that "it was unwise to drive state government off a cliff."
In recent months, Question 1 was an elephant in the room at the State House, discouraging talk of increasing taxes or fees for fear of fueling antitax sentiment, political observers said. Meanwhile, Patrick and lawmakers have spent the last few weeks trying to close an estimated $1.4 billion deficit in the current fiscal year - through a mix of cuts, financial transfers, and other measures - and will soon dig into the fiscal 2010 budget as well.
Several said they heard repeatedly on the campaign trail from voters who were frustrated but nonetheless could not bring themselves to abolish the income tax, which generates about $12.5 billion a year and funds roughly 40 percent of the budget.
"The results of Question 1 sent a loud and clear message to us that, number one, there is economic anxiety and frustration out there," said Senator Steven C. Panagiotakos, chairman of the Senate's Ways and Means Committee. "I see it as a mandate to live within our means."
Barbara Anderson, a veteran antitax advocate, scoffed at the notion that lawmakers would refrain from raising taxes or read a message of thrift from the results.
"The only message is that we, the voters, will put up with anything," said Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, which led the movement to pass Proposition 2 1/2 in 1980, to limit property taxes.
Anderson's group supported Question 1 this year but did not lead the movement, which was spearheaded by Carla Howell, a former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate. Citizens for Limited Taxation pushed successfully for a 2000 ballot question to gradually reduce the income tax from 5.85 percent to 5 percent, but legislators in 2002 halted that rollback at its current 5.3 percent, in the midst of a fiscal crisis.
"If they're telling anybody they learned some kind of lessons from a 70-30 vote, they're lying," Anderson said, pointing out that there were few challengers and no losses by legislative incumbents Tuesday.
The House speaker and Senate president were unavailable for interviews about Question 1 and taxes.
"Raising taxes or fees would be a last resort and not something the Senate president is in favor of doing, especially in this economy," said David Falcone, spokesman for Senate President Therese Murray.
David Guarino, spokesman for Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, said in a statement: "Nothing has changed - there is no appetite for tax increases, period. Taxpayers are strained enough in these trying times. The speaker does not have any interest in adding to their burden."
Republicans were skeptical of such statements. Senator Richard R. Tisei, the minority leader, said Question 1 did stifle talk of new taxes.
"But I'm sure now that the question failed people will reexamine" a tax increase, Tisei said. He thinks lawmakers need to rein in spending and provide property tax relief, not find new ways to tax the public.
The question's failure had some immediate effects yesterday. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had delayed the sale of bonds last month to pay for structural improvements, after financial advisers cautioned that uncertainty about the ballot question could cause the agency to find itself paying higher interest rates to attract investors.
Yesterday, the bond sale went forward. "We're selling them as we speak," said Jonathan Davis, deputy general manager and chief financial officer of the MBTA.
When Bernard Cohen, the state secretary of transportation, postponed a Turnpike Authority board meeting scheduled for last week, some speculated it was to delay talk of a toll increase until after the election. Cohen, who chairs the board, was unavailable yesterday; his spokesman said the postponement was unrelated to the income tax issue and the meeting's agenda has not yet been set.
Lawmakers from Boston's western suburbs have resisted a turnpike toll increase and instead called for tolls to be imposed on the Central Artery to stabilize state transportation budgets and pay off the Big Dig. Some are pushing for an increase in the state's gas tax - unchanged since 1990 at 23.5 cents per gallon.
Representative David Linsky, a Natick Democrat, supports a gas-tax increase of a few cents a gallon, along with cost-saving moves, such as more automated toll collection.
"I have great faith in Massachusetts voters that they would accept that," he said, citing Tuesday's vote.
But state officials yesterday talked mostly about having survived a scare.
Noah Bierman and Matt Viser of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Eric Moskowitz can be reached at moskowitz@globe.com. 