Fair Share Amendment moves forward
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Cambridge teacher Betsy Preval, right, testified in support of the Fair
Share Amendment along with Rodney Mohammed, a Brockton parent,
center, and Clare Higgins, executive director of Community Action of
the Franklin, Hampshire and North Quabbin Regions.
By Scott McLennan
A proposed constitutional amendment that would raise revenue for greater investment
in public education and transportation
has received the endorsement of a key
legislative panel.
The Joint Committee on Revenue,
which held a hearing Jan. 19 on the
Fair Share Amendment, reported the
measure out of committee favorably
on Jan. 29. The amendment will now
be presented to the House and Senate,
meeting jointly in a constitutional
convention.
The amendment, which would
generate more than $1.5 billion a
year, calls for an additional tax of four
percentage points on annual income
over $1 million.
At the State House hearing, a
steady stream of advocates voiced
support for the proposal.
Economists and business leaders
argued that more support for public
education and transportation would
help the state’s economy grow and
provide more opportunities for
everyone in the Commonwealth.
Educators and parents told
legislators about the results of
shrinking budgets, describing
inadequate classroom resources
and insufficient early education
opportunities.
Public higher education faculty
and staff — and other higher education
supporters — testified that students are
taking on greater amounts of debt to
cover higher tuition and fees.
Meanwhile, they said, public
college and university campuses
are privatizing services, deferring
maintenance and allocating more
admission slots to out-of-state
students simply because they pay
more to attend.
“It doesn’t take courage to
support this measure — it only takes
common sense,” said Tom Goodkind,
president of the Professional Staff
Union at UMass Boston.
MTA President Barbara Madeloni
also testified in favor of passage of the
amendment.
“In recent years, we have seen
the divide between rich and poor
grow to historic levels. Let’s be clear
what this divide means: It means the
long-held dream of college education
is eroding for many. It means working
parents must hold multiple jobs just
to make ends meet. And it means that
schools, especially urban schools,
are consistently underfunded,” she
said. “We think it is fair to ask those
who have reaped the biggest rewards
from our economy to pay a fair share
toward reversing these barriers for
Massachusetts families.”
Because the initiative would
amend the state Constitution, it
must pass through the Legislature’s
constitutional convention process,
which means the question could not
appear on the ballot before 2018.
The measure needs the approval of
50 or more legislators this session and
at a constitutional convention during
the 2017-18 session.
The Raise Up Massachusetts
coalition, which includes the MTA,
gathered more than 157,000 signatures
on petitions supporting the ballot
measure.
For more information and
updates, visit www.massteacher.org/
revenue or www.raiseupma.org.
At the State House
hearing, a steady stream
of advocates voiced
support for the proposal.
Economists and business
leaders argued that more
support for public education
and transportation would
help the state’s economy
grow and provide more
opportunities for everyone in
the Commonwealth. Educators
and parents told legislators
about the results of shrinking
budgets, describing inadequate
classroom resources and
insufficient early education
opportunities.
Photo by Scott McLennan