Mass General Brigham’s commitment to improving community health beyond hospital walls continues as we address food insecurity. Through our partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank, we’re expanding access to nutritious food across the communities we serve.
Union leaders and business groups have been going hammer and tongs at each other over a ballot initiative to reduce the state income tax by a percentage point.
The field of battle shifts on May 4 to the Supreme Judicial Court, which will hear arguments about whether the initiative should be blocked from the ballot. The high court has a busy docket this year, with oral arguments scheduled for Diana DiZoglio’s legal fight over the legislative audit scheduled for that same week.
The two camps on the income tax question – shifting the tax to 4% from 5% – appear to be in agreement that a summary, crafted by Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, has a factual error in it. But they disagree about what should be done about it.
Opponents of the ballot question, which include members of the Boston Teachers Union and SEIU 1199, say the error should help strangle it, as tens of thousands of voters signed a petition with an incorrect summary. Proponents say it’s a minor mistake not worth blocking the question from moving ahead.
The AG’s summary sits at the heart of the case, with opponents saying it “affirmatively refers to capital gains, only to say – wrongly – that they are excluded from the scope of the measure.” The AG’s office, in its own filing, stood by the summary, saying it is indeed fair and concise as legally required, because it “neutrally describes the main features” of the ballot question.
But the Pioneer New England Legal Foundation, affiliated with the Pioneer Institute, a key supporter of the ballot question, acknowledged the error in an amicus brief. “The Attorney General’s error does not make the summary misleading in any material sense,” attorneys for the foundation wrote. “There is no evidence, and no reason to conclude, that people signing [the petition] would not have signed if the summary had correctly described the effect of the petition on capital gains income or, for that matter, had it been entirely silent on capital gains income.”
They also pointed to a court case in the 1980s, when the Massachusetts Teachers Association said the proposal known as Prop 2 ½ , which eventually became law, had an inaccurate statement about tax rates. The SJC let it go to the ballot anyway, saying it wasn’t significantly misleading. (The other side points to a 1940 case with “similar” issues, which resulted in the SJC blocking the question.)
The Pioneer foundation’s lawyers argued that a “spirited” public debate that will intensify as the election approaches, and it will correctly lay out the impact of the ballot question. That should also factor into the SJC’s thinking, the foundation’s lawyers added. They pointed to a recent Tufts University think tank’s assessment of the ballot question as among the “entirely accurate” analyses already in the public sphere.
(That’s also an awkward assertion, since ballot question proponents aligned with the Pioneer Institute, the Mass. Opportunity Alliance, have bashed the Tufts and Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation analyses, blasting out a “fact check” claiming the question won’t cost the state $5 billion as their analyses said.)
An MIT political science professor who has studied “political rumors and misinformation,” Adam Berinsky, weighed in with his own amicus brief siding with ballot question opponents and calling the AG’s summary “at best, misleading and confusing.”
Bill Galvin, the state’s elections chief, has asked the court to make its decision by July 1, citing the printing deadline for the voters guide his office sends out across Massachusetts ahead of the election.
Congrats to all who got yesterday’s trivia item correct: Bill Weld beat House Minority Leader Steve Pierce in the primary after Pierce beat him at the GOP convention. Weld went on to beat Democratic nominee John Silber in November. Have your own trivia from the 1990s? Send the tidbits along: [email protected].
AARP Massachusetts is calling for a statewide ban on cryptocurrency ATMs. These machines are a preferred tool for scammers. They operate without meaningful consumer protections. Millions have been stolen from residents across the Commonwealth. Lawmakers should act now and pass the SCAM Act (SB3048) to eliminate devices that fuel fraud. Join AARP in fighting crypto kiosk fraud and protecting older Americans’ life savings: aarp.org/ma
HAPPENING TODAY
11:00 | The conference committee for an approximately $1.8 billion supplement budget bill appropriating surplus surtax dollars (H 5280 / S 3054) meets for the first time. House conferees are: Reps. Aaron Michlewitz, Kip Diggs and Ken Sweezey and Senate conferees are: Sens. Michael Rodrigues, Jo Comerford and Patrick O'Connor. | Room 212, State House Boston
11:30 | Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe hosts a press conference to announce the city's "Field of Play" summer tourism initiative, which his office said will be a series of free public FIFA World Cup watch parties. Programming will also include partnerships with local bars, restaurants and small businesses hosting their own tournament celebrations. | Rumney Marsh Academy Turf Field, 140 American Legion Highway, Revere
12:00 | NCAA President Charlie Baker, the former Massachusetts governor, is the featured guest at the Boston College Chief Executives Club's luncheon. Baker will talk about issues around the NCAA during a fireside chat with Boston Red Sox President and CEO Sam Kennedy. Program starts at 1 p.m | .Boston Harbor Hotel, Wharf Room, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston
1:00 | Sens. William Brownsberger and Pat Jehlen; Rep. David Rogers; the mayors of Somerville, Everett and Woburn; Boston Climate Chief Brian Swett; and Cambridge Climate Chief Julie Wormser participate in a legislative briefing with the Mystic River Watershed Association. | Room 428, State House, Boston
6:10 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll throws out the ceremonial first pitch at the Massachusetts 250-themed Red Sox game against the New York Yankees. | Fenway Park, 4 Jersey St., Boston
MASSterList Job Board |
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Public Health Director — NEW!, Town of Nantucket |
Assistant Director of Planning and Economic Development — NEW!, Town of Amherst |
Senior Accountant, Massachusetts Housing Partnership |
Assistant Director of Parks and Open Space, City of Newton |
Vice President of Client Services, Lifebridge North Shore |
Jobs continue below the fold — post a job
AROUND TOWN:
MASSterList is now old enough to vote. Partly inspired by tipsheets in Washington, D.C., the email newsletter formally launched on April 22, 2008, pitched to State House News Service subscribers as a “compendium of headlines from across Massachusetts.” Thank you for welcoming us into your inboxes, whether you signed up 18 years ago or this week.
The Horse Race, MassINC Polling Group’s podcast, this morning took its last ride, at least for now. The podcast launched in 2017, with pollster Steve Koczela and Lauren Dezenski, then a reporter for Politico Massachusetts, as the hosts. CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith has co-hosted with Koczela since 2018. “We've crunched the numbers: 400 episodes published, 3 million trivia points doled, 75 titles and accolades awarded, and one ‘giddyup’ from Jenn,” the last episode’s intro says. The last episode is available here.
On May 4, Massachusetts REALTORS® unite as one powerful voice at the annual Margaret C. Carlson REALTOR® Day on Beacon Hill. This year, REALTORS® are fighting to increase housing access by advancing zoning reform, housing production, fair housing education, funding for crumbling concrete foundations, and pre-service board & commission training—and opposing real estate transfer taxes and rent control.
FROM BEACON HILL
CLIMATE CROSSROADS: Attorney General Andrea Campbell is asking state regulators to hit companies with penalties if they don’t amp up efforts to step away from fossil fuels. – CommonWealth Beacon
GOING THE DISTANCE: Mike Kennealy, one of the three GOP candidates for governor, sought to put some distance between himself and his former boss, Gov. Charlie Baker, as he competes for the Republican nomination. – WBUR
SMOKED OUT: Tobacco company Philip Morris lost a bid in front of the Supreme Judicial Court for a new trial, as justices upheld a $56 million award to the family of a woman who died from lung cancer. – CommonWealth Beacon
NEWS NEXT DOOR
IMMIGRATION RAID COMPLAINT: Employees of a car wash company in Allston have filed a federal complaint against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying they “suffered egregious harm as a result of an aggressive, militarized, and indiscriminate raid” last November. – GBH News
MILLIONAIRE MASCOT: The town of Lenox weighs whether to get rid of the high school nickname and mascot, which features a top and tails. – Wall Street Journal
OVERRIDE, TAKE TWO: South Hadley officials are considering another, smaller Prop 2 ½ override in June after voters said “no” to two attempts last week. – Daily Hampshire Gazette
BOSTON TRANSPORTATION: Transit advocates and city councilors had a City Hall showdown with Wu administration officials over transportation projects. Nick Gove, interim chief of streets, said there isn’t a pause on projects, but a shift towards prioritizing state of good repair in concert with safety improvements. – Boston Herald
COLLEGE COSTS: The “sticker price” at some Massachusetts colleges and universities has hit $100,000 a year, with Amherst College topping the list at $102,512 for the 2026-2027 academic year. – Boston Business Journal
CHICOPEE RECEIPTS: City officials in Chicopee are pressing local lawmakers to vote against a bill that would end debt-based driving restrictions, arguing it would hurt the local economy because they make money off related receipts. – MassLive
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!
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JOB BOARD
Do you have an open job you'd like to feature here? Click here to place a job board order, or email Dylan Rossiter at [email protected].
Deputy City Clerk and Elections Manager, City of Newton
Senior Financial Investigator, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Investigator, Division of State Police Oversight, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Senior Litigation Paralegal – Strategic Litigation, Conservation Law Foundation
Systems Advocacy Fellow, Jane Doe Inc
Joan and Irwin Jacobs Program Officer for American Institutions, Society, and the Public Good, American Academy of Arts & Sciences
