Likely voters do not want lawmakers to carry through with the proposal to tamper with a rebate law which just last year sent about $3 billion back to taxpayers, according to new polling.
Chapter 62F of the General Law, passed by the will of the voters via a ballot question offered in 1986, was unexpectedly triggered last summer for just the second time since its passage, surprising state lawmakers and effectively ending a push for tax cuts which very nearly made it to then-Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.
The law requires the state to pay taxpayers back when it takes too much in taxes and wages aren’t keeping up, as was apparently the case in 1987 and 2022. This year, House lawmakers have approved a plan to change the law’s rebate calculations, currently tied to a taxpayer’s income and tax burden, so that every resident receives an equal payment should the law again require rebates.
According to a poll of 750 likely voters prepared on behalf of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the majority of voters do not want the law they passed nearly 30 years ago to change.
“The Chapter 62F law is widely popular, with Democratic, Republican, and Independent Unenrolled voters all showing a strong preference for keeping the law as it is currently written,” Paul Craney, a spokesman for MassFiscal, said with the poll’s release.
The law itself is broadly popular, according to the poll, with four out of five voters saying they support it as is or with some changes. More than half of voters, 56%, oppose any change to the law, according to the poll, though a full 25% were unsure whether the proposed changes were a good idea or not.
The House’s plan to change the rebate law was not included in the Senate version of the budget released this week, nor was it included in Gov. Maura Healey’s draft budget and tax cut plan released at the end of winter.
It is unclear if the Senate will take up the idea in their tax cut plan, but polling shows they shouldn’t.
“This is the third poll to show this, which indicates deep, lasting support. Even when given the specifics of the Speaker’s plan, less than one in five supported changing the law. The push to water down the tax rebate law seems to be an insider’s push because the people of the state don’t show any inclinations towards making changes,” Craney said.
Chip Ford, formerly the executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, the group behind the 1986 law, told the Herald he isn’t surprised to see lawmakers attempting to tinker with residents’ rebates.
“The ‘takers’ never accept ballot question outcomes as the final word of Massachusetts taxpayers and voters,” he said. “And, unless it benefits them, they never will I expect.”
