Transportation proposal includes key element of MTA legislative agenda
Transportation proposal includes key element of MTA legislative agenda
“Having corporations pay their fair share has been a crucial part of our campaign to make Massachusetts more progressive when it comes to raising revenue for vital public services such as transportation and education.”
MTA President Merrie Najimy
A proposal released Feb. 26 by leaders of the House of Representatives to boost spending on the state’s transportation needs includes a new, tiered corporate minimum tax — a key provision advocated for by the MTA in its legislative agenda.
The entire spending package would raise approximately $600 million annually for improving roads, bridges and public transit.
“Having corporations pay their fair share has been a crucial part of our campaign to make Massachusetts more progressive when it comes to raising revenue for vital public services such as transportation and education,” said MTA President Merrie Najimy.
Currently, the corporate minimum tax is $456 per year. In 2016, more than 400 companies with sales greater than $1 billion paid that low tax. The revenue plan unveiled this week by progressive legislators creates a nine-tier corporate minimum tax structure, keeping the $456 tax for companies with less than $1 million in annual sales and scaling it up to $150,000 for companies with $1 billion or more in sales.
“Mom-and-pop companies should not be subject to the same tax rates as conglomerates,” said MTA Vice President Max Page.
The MTA applauded Representative Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge) for initiating the change to the corporate minimum tax, which has gone untouched for about 30 years. The MTA and its partners in the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition will likewise support Senator Jo Comerford (D- Northampton) and others building support in the Senate for similar progressive revenue-raising measures in transportation legislation.
This transportation bill has been described as a necessary bridge to the Fair Share Amendment, which is expected to be put before voters on the 2022 state election ballot. The amendment would place a surtax on annual personal income over $1 million and generate an estimated $2 billion each year for public education and transportation.