Massachusetts already has a law that says, in brief: if the amount of tax money the state takes in grows faster than wage growth, residents should get a refund on some of their taxes. That law has been in effect for 40 years. In that time, taxpayers have received refunds twice.
Question 5 would change when those refunds are triggered. Instead of only considering only wage growth, state officials would look at both wage growth and the previous year's tax revenue. That would effectively reset the baseline for refunds every year, instead of using the 40-year-old figure as the jumping-off point.
That would likely lead to more refunds to Massachusetts taxpayers and limit how much money the state has in its budget to run various programs.
The Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts' Tisch College estimated that taxpayers will receive an average of $200 to $250 a year, taking into account years when people get a refund and years when they don't.
Statewide spending has gone up between 3% and 6% the last few budget cycles. A lot of the increases have been driven by health care spending.
What do supporters say?
Supporters say living in Massachusetts has gotten too expensive.
"Our budget is growing two times faster than wages, two and a half times faster than inflation," Chris Keohan of Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts, a supporter of Question 5, told GBH's Boston Public Radio. "The people that need the money need it in their pocket right now. They're begging for it. It's the number-one issue on every single poll."
What do opponents say?
Opponents say the money is more efficiently spent on programs to help people.
"It's easy to get distracted by small checks," said Phineas Baxandall with Mass. Budget and Policy Cente. "But you know, the state budget is how we bring together the resources that we need to accomplish all the things that we can't do individually, whether it's running schools, building roads [or] helping people who can't afford health care. And this will just periodically not allow the budget to grow with the state economy in a way that it can provide those things."
Who is paying for this?
The group Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts has spent about $550,000 in support of Question 5. The Mass. Opportunity Alliance has contributed $1.9 million to the campaign — but they were also supporting another ballot question the state's Supreme Judicial court tossed before it could make it onto the ballot.
The group Protect Massachusetts Future has spent just under $650,000 opposing the question. Much of its support comes from labor unions: almost $300,000 from the SEIU Mass State Council, $150,000 from the 1199 SEIU Political Action Committee and $126,000 from the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Bottom line:
A "Yes" vote would change the math of how Massachusetts gives tax refunds in years where tax collections grow faster than wages. A "No" vote would keep the law as it is.
More resources:
- Video: Debating Question 5 on Boston Public Radio
- Summary from the Secretary of State's Office
- Attorney General's summary of the law
- Video: A special committee hearing on Question 5
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