$1.5 billion in estimated revenue: A look at the Massachusetts 'millionaire's tax' first year taxing the rich
$1.5 billion in estimated revenue: A look at the Massachusetts 'millionaire's tax' first year taxing the rich
Advocates promised the new tax would bring in over $1 billion a year in new revenue. And they quickly saw their predictions surpassed: the state Department of Revenue estimates it will generate over $1.5 billion this fiscal year.
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I'm an international student in MA, I remember getting SMS spam telling me to vote against it since it is aimed against retired people and veterans. Don't ask me how
Because there's probably a significant number of affected rich folks who are retirees, vets, or both. Though, the propane you saw insinuates that it's the other way around - that a significant number of retirees and vets would be targeted by the new law. It's a pretty common tactic used against dumb people who can't tell the difference. Good on you for seeing through it.
"Think of the veterans!" is almost as ubiquitous as "think of the children!" in terms of political propaganda, and there are areas of Mass that are basically retirement communities and rich people's summer houses (often at the same time). Convincing grandma and grandpa that the government is coming for their retirement funds is an easy way to get them to vote against their interests, and in some places they make up the majority of voters.
Fun fact, here in eastern Mass we refer to the wealthy summer folk as "snow birds" because they migrate south to Florida during the fall and migrate back north at the end of spring. There's some very red areas of Mass because of these people, as they only care about keeping the taxes on their summer homes low and don't care at all about the communities that their houses are in.