Taxes

A proposal to raise the personal income tax exemption and simultaneously raise the rate — so as to make the income tax more progressive — has merit, but it is not politically viable at this time.

Most feedback to me has been overwhelmingly supportive of the gas tax — simple, fairer than high tolls, environmentally sound, definitely needed, a broad-based mechanism to fund a broadly-used commonwealth asset.

A conversation is developing about the gas tax and also about how to protect low and middle-income tax payers from additional financial stress.

The major elements of the emerging House approach to the budget are essentially the same as in the Governor’s proposal, except that, instead of casino revenues, the House proposes to levy a cigarette tax.

The Governor’s proposal for closing the gap consists of the following items — roughly speaking 1/3 savings, 1/3 new revenues and 1/3 use of reserves.