On Tax Day, backers of income tax ballot question launch video, websites

Mass General Brigham’s partnership with the YMCA of Greater Boston and the City of Boston is expanding access to fresh, healthy food for families. The Greater Boston Collaborative Food Access Hub serves an average of 20,000 residents monthly, distributing more than 1.7 million pounds of food. It recovers food that would have otherwise gone to waste, supporting both community health and environmental sustainability.

As Massachusetts residents face a deadline to file their IRS returns, the campaign pushing a state income tax cut is launching a digital ad campaign and three websites to promote its proposed ballot question.

The campaign committee, which calls itself Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts, is funded by several business-friendly groups, including the Mass. High Tech Council, the Pioneer Institute and the CEO-heavy Mass. Competitive Partnership.

Their ballot question, eyeing to shave a percentage point off the 5% state income tax, could blow a $5 billion hole through the $60-plus billion state budget, opponents – and even some proponents – say.

“Providing targeted tax relief, alongside responsible budgeting, can help ease pressure on households while positioning Massachusetts for stronger economic growth,” said Chris Keohan, a spokesman for the effort and a ballot question campaign veteran.

The campaign’s video – digital-only so far – shows moving trucks leaving Massachusetts and the State House’s golden dome popping off as a geyser of cash shoots out. The ad also touts an average of $1,300 returned to Massachusetts families if the question passes. The video, which used AI, was produced by Palette, based in Alexandria, Virginia.

In addition to the video, the campaign also launched on Wednesday three new websites. One is a “Tax Savings Calculator,” allowing people to punch in their income and see an estimate of their savings if the ballot question passes. (The website also includes a donation button for the campaign.)

The other two websites are built to prompt residents to message their lawmakers and the governor, DemandTheCut.com, and specifically union members, LaborSaysYes.com. Proponents say their polling shows union rank-and-file back the ballot question.

Union leaders are heading up an opposition campaign, and successfully pressuring member companies of the Mass. High Tech Council to leave the organization. Harris Gruman, a top official at SEIU, is behind the committee opposing the measure.

If unions aren’t entirely united in opposition to the ballot question, and a companion initiative that would generate more frequent tax refunds, Beacon Hill is. “They undercut important investments in things like education and things like economic development that actually help grow businesses and grow an economy and increase tax revenues,” Gov. Maura Healey reiterated to reporters after an unrelated event Tuesday when asked whether she was open to negotiating with proponents.

At an event in February, Senate President Karen Spilka said the ballot question’s sponsors are millionaires. “Millionaires will get $10,000 back from that ballot initiative, folks making minimum wage will get $300 back," she said.

With at least one of the new websites, people will be able to check for themselves. 

My trip to the tax accountant this week didn’t go well: My household received money back from the state, but we owed the feds. So much for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. What’s your prediction for this income tax ballot question? Will voters approve it, reject it, or will negotiators reach a deal to avoid a ballot fight? Send along your takes: gin@massterlist.

20 years ago, MA mandated residents to buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Unaffordable healthcare inflation followed along with new mandates, rising premiums, fewer choices & increased provider payments without real transparency or efficiency standards. Taxpayer costs soared; working family income growth suffered. Small businesses & their workforces have consistently faced annual double digit premium increases. Healthcare cost reforms are long overdue.

.…The House and Senate hold formal sessions. The House plans to pass a sprawling transportation bill (H5375) with money for road and bridge repairs, while the Senate takes up an environmental bond bill (S 3050) that is a redraft of a Maura Healey proposal. The bill includes a ban on single-use plastic carryout bags, disposable utensils and other food service products….

10:00 | Gov. Maura Healey joins Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the families of those who lost loved ones at the 2013 Boston Marathon to lay wreaths at the memorial sites on Boylston Street. | Boylston Street, Boston

10:45 | U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, and U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark and others host a press conference ahead of the first procedural House vote on extending Temporary Protected Status for Haiti until April 2029. | Senate Swamp, U.S. Capitol Complex, Washington, D.C.

11:30 | Gov. Maura Healey hosts the First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, Carlos Cuerpo, to discuss economic ties between Massachusetts and Spain. | Governor’s Ceremonial Office, State House, Boston

11:30 | Attorney General Andrea Campbell addresses the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations as it holds its annual lobby day. | Great Hall, State House, Boston

12:00 | The MassDOT Board of Directors meets. An update on World Cup prep is on the agenda | 10 Park Plaza, Boston | More Info

1:00 | Gov. Maura Healey swears in Representative-Elect Andrew Tarr, who won the recent special election for the seat held by the late Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante. | House Chamber, State House, Boston

5:30 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu offers remarks at Harpoon Brewery’s “You Can’t Beat Boston” Bash. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll attends. The effort, according to organizers, is a “voluntary, collaborative, employer-driven initiative developed by leaders from the region’s iconic institutions,” who joined city and state officials to “promote the ‘new Boston’ to both attract and retain talent.” | Harpoon Brewery and Beer Hall, 306 Northern Ave, Boston

6:00 | Senate President Karen Spilka and Rep. David Linsky attend a meeting of the Natick Select Board and give a 2026 legislative update. | Town Hall, 13 East Central St., Natick | Zoom

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Jennifer Lemmerman, the chief policy officer for Project Bread, is heading over to Health Care For All. She’ll be the advocacy group’s new executive director, replacing Amy Rosenthal, who left late last year for a job as health undersecretary in the Healey administration. Lemmerman has also served as an elected alderman in Melrose. “Twenty years after Massachusetts’ historic health care reform, the threats to health care access and affordability couldn’t be greater and, in Jennifer, we have a leader who will ensure our decades of leadership on these issues continues to grow,” Dr. Trishan Panch, head of HCA’s board of directors, said in a statement.

Olivia Ray, who has trained her WWLP camera on State House lawmakers since April 2024, is heading to law school. A Simmons University graduate and former GBH News intern, she will be at Villanova this fall. Her last day in the fourth-floor press gallery is today. It’s unclear whether the Springfield-based WWLP will fill her job.

The American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts met for its annual convention last weekend, where hundreds of delegates reelected Jessica Tang as its president. The union represents 25,000 educators, support staff and libraries who work in public schools, libraries and universities. Tang took the job in 2024, and previously served as president of the Boston Teachers Union.

Supporters of the Johnston Health Policy Forum will celebrate on April 16 at the UMass Club the naming of nonpartisan organization after the late Phil Johnston, a former Democratic lawmaker who served as Gov. Michael Dukakis’s health chief. Johnston died in April 2025 at 80. U.S. Sen.Ed Markey and his former rival Joe Kennedy III are among the speakers. The list also includes Healey administration health chief Kiame Mahaniah, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mass. CEO Sarah Iselin, and UMass President Marty Meehan, among others.

Join legislators and thought leaders for a timely forum on the AI revolution in Massachusetts. Explore the challenges and opportunities of AI policy on Thursday, May 7, at the MCLE (Boston). RSVP!

BILL SCROLLING: Social media companies would be required to place limits on teenagers using their apps every day, under a bill proposed by Gov. Maura Healey. Her proposal, included in a supplemental budget that mostly deals with snow and ice costs, comes after House lawmakers passed a ban on kids under 14 using social media. Healey said her proposal “isn’t a ban,” but it is “complementary” to the House bill. – GBH News

ICE PORTAL: Gov. Maura Healey’s office released four entries from the ICE Misconduct Portal jointly launched with Attorney General Andrea Campbell. The Herald had filed a public records request for the first two weeks’ worth of entries. – Boston Herald

RENT CONTROL OPPONENTS: The mayors of Quincy, Lawrence, Worcester, New Bedford and Revere say they oppose a proposed ballot question that would allow rent control to return to Massachusetts. Dozens of other local officials have also signed onto opposing the measure. – Boston Globe

MARKEY-MOULTON POLL: As the September primary approaches, incumbent Sen. Ed Markey is winning 47% of likely primary voters, according to a new Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll. Challenger Seth Moulton picks up 30% and 20% said they’re undecided. – Boston Globe

WORLD CUP BUS: Boston 26, the local organizers of the FIFA World Cup matches in Massachusetts, says they’ve set up bus service for up to 10,000 fans headed to Gillette Stadium. A roundtrip ticket is $95, more expensive than the MBTA’s commuter rail passes. Meanwhile, FIFA has banned tailgating. – Boston Business Journal and MassLive

OVERRIDES FAIL: Cuts are in store after voters in South Hadley and Westhampton rejected override proposals. South Hadley decided against two tax overrides, $9 million and $11 million, while Westhampton said no to a $500,000 override by 59 votes. – Western Mass. News and MassLive

HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE CLOSURE: Hampshire College’s board said it’ll close its Amherst campus after the fall 2026 semester, citing declining enrollment, a heavy debt load and “stalled progress” on developing land. – GBH News

JOB MARKET: College grads are facing a tough job job market, as economic indicators are all over the place, showing gains and losses over several months. – WBUR

IDENTITY FRAUD CASE: A district court judge dismissed an identity theft charge against a U.S. customs agent who works at Logan Airport and allegedly posed as Plymouth’s town manager while filing a complaint with local police. – Plymouth Independent

GAS PRICE SPIKE: Gas prices are up 50 cents in a month in Massachusetts, as President Trump, who campaigned as a dove, wages war with Iran. – CommonWealth Beacon

POT SHOP SHUTDOWN: The first pot shop to open in Boston, Pure Oasis in Grove Hall, shut down as it faces lawsuits. Workers were told via email that they no longer had jobs as the six-year-old business abruptly closed its doors. – Boston 25 News

With unhappy grumbling, Plymouth planning board okays 40B project

RMV’s “MA250” license plate has quickly grown in popularity

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