A Faith-Centered Response Invests in the Common Good 

Background

In 2022, interfaith partners joined educators, unions, and community organizations around the state to pass the unprecedented “Fair Share Amendment” which added a 4% tax on individual income over $1 million per year. We pursued this campaign as a way to enact our faith, because in our many traditions, extreme wealth inequality is a systemic flaw requiring a reset (such as “Jubilee” in Leviticus 25).

Since then, Fair Share has generated more than $9 billion in funding for transportation and public education investments like universal free school meals, local road and bridge repairs, tuition-free community college, MBTA infrastructure, local school aid, and fare-free bus service. 

Now, the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance (MOA) - funded by anonymous investors - has gotten a reckless initiative on the ballot that is designed to counter these benefits by imposing a strict “revenue cap” on the taxes Massachusetts is allowed to collect. These tax rebates would benefit the wealthiest in MA, who don’t rely on public services like the rest of us. Average working families, meanwhile, would face budget cuts to essential programs and services like public schools, transportation, and MassHealth.

If Question 5 passes, it would likely:

• Force devastating cuts to public services - $2 billion a year on average;

• Result in layoffs of thousands of teachers, firefighters, and health system staff;

• Lead to the closure of public schools, nursing homes, and hospitals;

• Severely limit MA’s ability to recover from recessions;

• Undermine the purpose of the “Fair Share” tax by giving it away instead of funding education and transportation.

Most of us — low-income and middle-class people who send our kids to public schools, depend on public libraries and fire departments, and rely on public services like MassHealth, SNAP, and public transportation — would suffer much more from budget cuts than we would benefit from occasional rebates. Wealthy taxpayers who don’t need public services, on the other hand, would collectively pocket hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks without feeling the pain of budget cuts.

A NO VOTE ON QUESTION 5 will prevent cuts to education, healthcare, and local public services that make Massachusetts families and communities strong. Can we count on your pledge to vote NO this November?

Visit no5ma.com to learn more about Question 5.