If you live in Massachusetts, odds are you pay a lot more in state and local taxes than the average American does.
Massachusetts residents ranked sixth in state and local taxes paid in fiscal year 2018, according to data released by the Tax Foundation last week. The average Bay Stater paid $7,006 in state and local taxes. That also ranked second among New England states. Only Connecticut ranked ahead ($8,494) — and second in the country overall.
For more than 13 months, Massachusetts government has altered our ways of life in response to the coronavirus pandemic — and it's well past time to drop the outdoor mask mandate in Massachusetts.
There have been increased calls to make this change over the past week now that every American ages 16 and up is eligible for the vaccine and has been since Monday. New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu lifted his state's mask mandate last week, left-wing news outlets like Slate and The Atlantic have stories talking about why we don't need masks outdoors anymore; the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is calling for it to end, as is the state's former acting Governor Jane Swift, a socially liberal Republican.
