As expected, Beacon Hill policymakers are vehemently pushing back on the notion of rolling back the state income tax to 4% because it would shrink the pot of money they can spend next year. During the hearing before the Joint Committee on Special Initiative Petitions, opponents of tax cuts argued the state would lose billions of dollars in revenue if the income tax rate was rolled back but failed to note that small businesses and consumers saved would reinvest that tax savings back into the state economy by spending their own money.

Recently, Speaker of the House Ron Mariano publicly stated he was “insulted” that an income tax reduction question was even being proposed and called it “nonsense.” Other legislators downplayed the savings to the average taxpayer, essentially implying the state would spend the money better than an individual. However, proponents pushed back by arguing Massachusetts residents and small business would have no challenges spending their $1,300 in tax savings on things like rising healthcare costs, higher energy bills, rent, and a myriad of other items.

In short, lawmakers’ dismissive attitudes towards their financially struggling constituencies is the modern-day equivalent of saying: let them eat cake. It is tone-deaf to think the state of Massachusetts needs money more than the hard-working taxpayers of the Commonwealth, especially when the Massachusetts state budget has doubled in size over the last decade to a now bloated $63 billion.