At 7:30 pm, we will welcome our panelists to debate the merits of the proposed Massachusetts Income Tax for Education and Transportation Amendment to the State Constitution which will be presented to voters in a referendum this fall. Former State Representative Jay Kaufman will speak in favor of the amendment and Eileen McAnneny, President of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, will speak in opposition. The petition for the amendment was first introduced in January, 2019 by 45 petitioners, including our own Senators Mike Barrett and Cindy Friedman.  It was favorably reported out of the Revenue Committee by both House and Senate in April, 2019.  In June 2021, the legislature’s Constitutional Convention voted 159 to 41 to place the amendment on the November 2022 ballot. 

The amendment would add the following language to Article XLIV of the Massachusetts Constitution:

To provide the resources for quality public education and affordable public colleges and universities, and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges and public transportation, all revenues received in accordance with this paragraph shall be expended, subject to appropriation, only for these purposes. In addition to the taxes on income otherwise authorized under this Article, there shall be an additional tax of 4 percent on that portion of annual taxable income in excess of $1,000,000 (one million dollars) reported on any return related to those taxes. To ensure that this additional tax continues to apply only to the commonwealth’s highest income taxpayers, this $1,000,000.00 income level shall be adjusted annually to reflect any increases in the cost of living by the same method used for federal income tax brackets. This paragraph shall apply to all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023.

The debate will be moderated by Lynn Brodsky, Steering Committee Member, League of Women Voters of Winchester.  There will be time for questions from the audience. 

Jay Kaufman represented the Fifteenth Middlesex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving for twenty-four years from 1995 to 2019. He chaired both the Committee on Public Service and the Committee on Revenue and was part of the House leadership team. His OPEN HOUSE monthly public policy forum was recognized with the prestigious Beacon Award as the nation’s best televised government relations series. 

Mr. Kaufman is the founding president of the Beacon Leadership Collaborative. He helped launch the Initiative for Diversity in Civic Leadership, served on the National Conference of State Legislature’s leadership development faculty, and served as founding director of Northeastern University’s Center for Leadership and Public Life. 

Eileen McAnneny joined the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation as President in 2015. An attorney, Ms. McAnneny has more than 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sectors. She held executive level positions at the Massachusetts Society of CPAs, Fidelity, and as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Associate General Counsel of Associated Industries of Massachusetts. She is a Commissioner of the Group Insurance Commission and serves on the Board of Directors of the Cooperative Central Bank.

Ms. McAnneny worked in the public sector as a staff attorney for the Joint Committee on Revenue of the Massachusetts legislature, playing a key role in numerous significant tax policy changes, including reforms to the corporate tax code and an overhaul of the Appellate Tax Board.