Some readers may know that I am a former resident of the Bay State, commonly known as The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Sometimes I consider myself more of a refugee than just someone who decided to move away after living there all my life.
Living in New Hampshire these days, I still watch a lot of TV out of Boston and while I was watching the Fox 25 Morning News this morning I was surprised to hear that Massachusetts cannot afford to allow for a sales tax holiday weekend this year.
This is something that they have been doing for a little while down in Mass. The great powers that be within the Massachusetts State House decide to give the people one weekend a year when they do not have to pay the state’s sales tax on items purchased for less than a certain amount of money. Don’t want to miss out on tax income from the sales of those Rolls Royces and Yachts, don’t you know!
Needless to say, Massachusetts retailers and consumers just love these tax-free holiday weekends, and are pushing for one this year. New Hampshire retailers probably aren’t as enthusiastic about them since the folks that come up to make major purchases without a sales tax tacked on probably just make their major purchases in their home state that weekend.
Anyway, what really struck me about this story was the reaction of the Massachusetts House Speaker, Sal DiMasi, when faced with pressure from retailers to allow for another tax-free holiday weekend this year. The legislative session is nearing its end, so Massachusetts retailers are getting a little worried that they won’t get their tax-free weekend this time.
Speaker DiMasi’s response? The tax holiday this year is "very unlikely" because the state can’t afford to give up millions of dollars in tax revenue during these difficult economic times.
The state can’t afford it? A state that has to be one of the most wasteful and mismanaged in the whole country, and they can’t afford it? How about cutting back on some wasteful and useless project somewhere? I guarantee you won’t have to look too far in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to find one.
And what about Joe Consumer? Wouldn’t it be nice to give him a little break with a tax holiday this summer? Sure, all the folks that live close enough to the state line can just come up here to New Hampshire and enjoy tax-free shopping, but what about the folks down towards the southern part of the state and on Cape Cod? Don’t they deserve a break in these difficult times?
Maybe Speaker DiMasi should spend less time using taxpayer money on mis-managed, over-budget projects like the "Big Dig," with it’s leaky tunnels and optional collapsing roof, and give the consumer a break with a single sales tax-free holiday. That sure doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.
By the way, there’s a fairly fresh story in the Boston Globe about the "Big Dig." Check it out for a good example of how a big public project is administered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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