BOSTON – It wasn't a question of "if" but rather "how" lawmakers on Beacon Hill would advance the "millionaire's tax" proposal, a measure that calls for altering the state Constitution's flat tax to smack a surcharge on the commonwealth's highest earners.
Needing just a combined 50 votes from the Senate and House of Representatives to move forward, the proposed ballot question breezed through the Legislature's Constitutional Convention Wednesday, passing by 135 yeas to 57 nays. The Senate voted for the measure 33-7 while it won 102-50 among House members.
STATE HOUSE — A day after House and Senate Republicans waged an unsuccessful fight against advancing a proposed surtax on households with incomes above $1 million in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker declined to slam the door shut on the possibility of him supporting the tax two years from now when, presumably, he will be on the ballot running for re-election.
Baker has opposed any suggestion of raising taxes during his first year-plus in office, and repeated on Tuesday that he's "not a big believer" in higher taxes to pay for new state spending.
