And if by some miracle, the citizens of the Commonwealth were to approve this ballot act (over the loud objections of every "public interest" group ("But what about the Children?", and state employee's unions ("But what about my relatives?"), you have to know that the Legislature will find some way to kill or disregard it. So, Happy Holidays--but still keep both hands on your wallet.
Heck, I live in Connecticut, so I am forbidden by law to keep my hands on my wallet. I know that this will face many challenges, but initiatives have been very successful out west for years now, and maybe the broad based appeal of this will make it hard to challenge.
I just thought of yet another reason this will not see much support. Though they talk a good game, most politicians owe their careers to spending other peoples' money. They just could not risk losing such a delicious high quality, easy, pre-installed money machine like the income tax.
Moving to Cow Hampshire must've turned you into a pessimist. We passed an income tax rollback last year and probably would've passed a revokation (sp?) of the excise tax last as well had the proposal not been tied to the Pike toll question.I give this a 55% chance in MA, esp. since Carla Howell's political star is on the rise---heard she might even make a run for governor in aught two.....