What are your thoughts on taxes, Proposition 2 1/2, and revenue sharing between the state and towns?

This is perhaps the single greatest difference between me and Paul Kujawski.  I believe that the single best way to create jobs is to allow people to keep more of their money and to stimulate the economy.  Paul views taxpayers as ATM cards for out of control State spending.

In regards to Proposition 2 1/2, it is one of the few protections we have as taxpayers against run away government spending.  Paul Kujawski, on the other hand, is working to dismantle it.

I feel very strongly that more money should be made available to your local town leaders and less should be kept at the Statehouse.  Your friends and neighbors that you elected to your Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and School Committee have a much greater understanding of the needs of your community than 160 legislators sitting in Boston.

 

I want to put more money in the hands of the people that know your community, and less money in the hands of people who have to vie for money with all of the other communities across the Commonwealth.  Paul and his Beacon Hill insider friends feel that they know what’s best for you.  But do they?

 

OK then, do you have a plan for revenue sharing?

Yes.  When elected I will introduce what I call the Revenue Equity Act for Localities (or REAL). 

 

There are two main components to REAL:

1)       Control Spending Growth at the State Level

2)       Share Revenue Growth Between the State and Localities

 

Simply put, there are two different sets of rules that we play by here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Cities and towns rightfully have their revenue growth (and correspondingly, their spending growth) capped at 2½ % per year by Proposition 2½.

 

At the State level, revenue growth is uncapped and tied to the strength of the economy, which is a good thing.  State revenues have been increasing by over $1Billion per year for half a decade now.

 

However, state spending increases are tied only to what your legislators feel they can spend while protecting their own jobs.  They will always spend every dollar they can get away with spending.

 

My plan is REAL simple:

 

1)       Freeze State spending at current levels

2)       Allow a 2½ % increase in State spending year over year, so the State is forced to play by the same set of rules as cities and towns

3)       Split all state revenue growth that exceeds 2½ % evenly between the State and the localities in the form of increased local aid.  For example, if State revenues grow 4½ % year over year, State spending could increase 2½ % under my plan, and the 2% additional revenue would be distributed as 1% additional money to the localities and 1% staying at the State for allocation as they see fit.

 

Representative Kujawski voted against a similar revenue sharing plan earlier this year. (H. 4595 Amendment, 3/12/08)

 

What are your thoughts on education?

The education of your children is one of the most important and personal decisions parents will make in their lifetimes.  Each parent should have as many viable options as possible, including public school, school choice, charter schools, private schools, vocational / technical schools, homeschooling, etc.

 

My own children are in the public school system.

 

What are your thoughts about the school choice program?

Through the school choice program, parents are provided with options for the education of their children.  If they feel their own town is not meeting their specific needs, they have the option of sending their children to surrounding towns for education when those towns have decided to participate in the program.

 

From a revenue perspective, towns that receive more students than they send out benefit financially.  Towns that send out more students than they receive are penalized financially.  My town of Uxbridge has been among the hardest hit financially by the school choice program, yet I fully support the program.

 

Can you share your thoughts about the right to vote?

The right to vote, and to have those votes honored, is a core to our democracy that I will fight to protect.  I will never block the right of voters to weigh in on the legislative process, even if I disagree with the issue at hand.

 

As elected officials, state and local leaders have easy access to print and other media to make their viewpoints heard on any particular issue.  My personal opinion is that the fairest way to address petition and ballot initiatives that I disagree with is to set the ballot then lobby against the issue, rather than killing it with a procedural move.

 

Will you honor the citizens’ directives when a ballot initiative passes?

Yes.  100% of the time.

 

Do you support the rollback of the state income tax to 5.0% as voted on nearly a decade ago?

Of course.  However, Paul Kujawski has voted against it repeatedly.

 

What are you thoughts on the lottery money?

See here for more information, but the diversion of lottery proceeds from the towns to the state was a fundamental breakdown in trust between the legislature and the towns of this Commonwealth.  Paul Kujawski voted to directly take more than $4.8Million from his district for use at the Statehouse.

 

What are your thoughts on taxing not-for-profits?

The Federal Government has specific guidelines for determining not-for-profit status, and grants specific benefits to not-for-profits.  Taxing them means less of their operating budgets go to providing services.

 

Paul Kujawski has introduced legislation to begin taxing the endowment funds of not-for-profits.  I disagree with this blatant money-grab.

 

Initially, Paul is targeting colleges and universities with endowment funds greater than $1Billion.  Paul asks and answers the rhetorical question “When is a not-for-profit no longer a not-for-profit? When its endowment fund is larger than the state budget.”

 

My answer is “A not-for-profit is a not-for-profit as long as the Federal Government grants it that status.”

 

If Paul is able to garner support in taxing not-for-profit universities based on their ability to successfully raise and manage money, what organizations are next to be targeted?  The American Cancer Society? The Muscular Dystrophy Association? The Catholic Church? The Disabled American Vets?  Where does the money-grab stop?

 

Colleges and universities pay millions of dollars to host communities in PILOT agreements (payments in lieu of taxes), provide thousands of jobs, and most importantly educate our next generation of leaders.  If a single scholarship is eliminated because of a tax burden being added to a school’s endowment fund, that is one scholarship too many!

 

What are your positions on life and family values?

I am pro life, pro adoption, and pro traditional family values.  I also believe in a parental bill of rights vis-à-vis what their children are being taught if they elect to keep their children in the public school system.

 

What is your position on 2nd Amendment Rights?

I am a GOAL member.

I am pro 2nd Amendment Rights and am concerned that the current makeup of the Legislature will continue to erode the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution. On the issue of 2nd Amendment rights, the pro-2nd Amendment voters of this district lose nothing by casting their vote for me.

 

What do you think about the local option tax?

In 2006, then-candidate Deval Patrick campaigned on reducing local property taxes even though the Governor does not have the power to reduce local property taxes.  The only meaningful way for the Governor and legislature to do so is to provide sufficient local aid to cities and towns so that the responsible local officials can manage their towns without raising taxes.  Instead of increased local aid, however, we've instead been given an option to implement yet another tax - a local option tax - on lodging and restaurants.

Only in Massachusetts can a new tax be portrayed as a form of tax relief.  I and my fellow selectmen in Uxbridge have rejected this additional tax.  The towns of the 8th Worcester District are border towns, and yet another tax on the hospitality industry can only help drive business across the border into Rhode Island.

What do you think about the sales tax increase?
I would vote to roll it back immediately as it is failed taxation policy.  The 25% increase in the sales tax rate that was implemented has generated only an additional 3% of revenue, as people look for other places to shop, be it on-line or across state lines in NH.