FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, MA (July 23, 2026) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization with thousands of members across the Commonwealth, questioned why the Massachusetts Senate today advanced a so-called economic development bill that will instead make the state less affordable:

“Only in Massachusetts could a bill touted to foster economic growth and job creation result in making it more difficult for small business owners and residents of the Commonwealth to receive a tax refund,” said Christopher Carlozzi, Massachusetts state director for NFIB. “Rather than focus on policies that will make it more affordable for residents to live or operate a small business in Massachusetts, senators opted to complicate a 40-year-old voter approved tax refund law designed to serve as a check on uncontrolled state spending.”

The state’s 62F law that the senate voted to complicate this evening was approved by Massachusetts voters in 1986 and sought to control state budget growth through revenue collection and spending caps. Refunds were triggered twice since the law’s inception, once in 1987 and again in 2022 when roughly 14% of residents and pass-through small business income tax liabilities were refunded due to revenue growth. There is a pending ballot question for the 2026 election to change how revenue is collected and refunded to taxpayers that will now be affected if this senate language becomes law. 

Carlozzi continued: “How does adding new hurdles to a law that refunds taxpayers more of their hard-earned money make Massachusetts more affordable or competitive? The 62F law was passed 40 years ago as a check on unfettered revenue growth and spending, and now senators would rather ensure taxpayer dollars remain in state coffers to continue spending the Commonwealth into oblivion rather than provide rebates back to taxpaying residents and small businesses that could use the money to cover the cost of rising health insurance premiums, energy bills, taxes, and a myriad of other expenses.”   

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.