Pubdate: Wed, 08 Nov 2000
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
Contact:  P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378
Feedback: http://extranet.globe.com/LettersEditor/default.asp
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Author: Tina Cassidy, Globe Staff
Bookmark: For the Massachusetts initiative items:
http://www.mapinc.org/props/ma/

VOTERS APPROVE CELLUCCI'S TAX CUT

Massachusetts voters yesterday granted themselves the largest single
tax cut in state history, despite an aggressive, high-visibility
campaign to defeat it.

Question 4, the centerpiece of Governor Paul Cellucci's political
agenda, will reduce the income tax rate from 5.85 percent to 5 percent
by 2003. The measure will cost $1.2 billion, and save a family of four
with a household income of $75,000 about $450 a year.

''A great victory for the future of Massachusetts,'' said Cellucci,
shortly after 9 p.m., as he appeared on a Woburn hotel stage, buoyant
and beaming.

''I never met a tax cut I didn't like and this is a great thing for
the people of Massachusetts,'' the governor later added. ''I've been
in this business 30 years. I am a Republican in a Democratic state. My
modus operandi is to focus on doing the right thing. That's what I
did.''

Two hotly contested initiatives, one calling for universal health
coverage and the other providing tax credits for tolls, appeared
headed for defeat.

Douglas Barth, founder of the Free the Pike Coalition, said the
initiative petition was their best hope for commuter savings and
continuing the fight may be a lost cause.

''Is there some flavor of it that would be favorable to the 2002
ballot? I'm not thinking that way tonight, but speaking personally,
61/2 years is enough for me on a single issue.''

The initiative would have cost the state $650 million a year, and the
governor and legislative leaders opposed it. Foes called the measure
complicated, an encouragement to drive, and fundamentally unfair to
non-driving taxpayers. They also said that the cut would take money
from the state's general fund that's desperately needed for road and
bridge repairs.

Meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly supported an initiative to bar
incarcerated felons from voting, which was pushed by Cellucci and
Republican lawmakers, and fiercely opposed by civil liberties advocates.

But after pleas from track workers that they would lose their jobs,
voters appeared unwilling to ban greyhound racing at the state's two
tracks, a measure that would have shuttered a $400 million industry
that employs approximately 2,000.

Question 5, which would have made Massachusetts the first state to
mandate universal medical coverage, appeared to have been rejected, as
its backers conceded defeat late last night.

''We're pleased that the voters of Massauchsetts have chosen to vote
no on Question 5,'' said Richard C. Lord, president and CEO of the
Associated Industries of Massachusetts. ''There are problems in the
health care system to address but blowing up the system as Question 5
would have done is not the answer.''

Opponents argued the question was a ''wrecking ball'' that would have
led to unprecedented health costs and more uninsured residents than
ever, and poured more than $1 million into a television advertising
blitz during the final week of the campaign.

Voters appearead to be leaning against Question 8, which called for
permitting more drug offenders to go into treatment rather than
prison. The measure was pushed by out of state money, including
billionaire George Soros, a proponent of decriminalizing marijuana
use. Police worked hard to defeat the measure.

Other ballot questions approved: Question 1, which requires the
Legislature to draw new districts for lawmakers within two years of
the federal Census, and and Question 7, a tax deduction for charitable
contributions, which has already been passed by the
Legislature.

But the cost of Question 4 made it one of the most important
initiatives on the ballot.

The tax cut was vigorously opposed by labor unions, especially
teachers and human service workers, who said the money should be used
to reduce class sizes, expand services to the needy, and pay down the
state's debt.

The Campaign for Massachusetts' Future, which organized the opposition
to Question 4, dispatched about 7,000 sign-waving opponents to polling
stations statewide and spent nearly $3 million to defeat the tax cuts,
said spokesman Jim St. George.

But it was still not enough.

''The governor has the easiest job in politics, offering a tax cut at
a time when the economy is moving along so well,'' St. George said.
''We still plan to hold the governor accountable. He says we will be
able to continue to expand our investments in schools and health care,
and that's a promise we intend to make sure he keeps.''

When Question 4 results flashed on a giant TV screen at the Crowne
Plaza in Woburn, supporters cheered and clapped.

''Thank you Lord! The promise that was made 11 years ago has finally
been kept. The Legislature didn't keep the promise so now the poeple
did it for them,'' said Loretta Hayden of Stoughton, a Campaign worker
for Citizens for Limited Taxation.

In 1989, the Legislature increase the tax rate from 5 percent to 6.25
percent, saying the raise was a temporary measure to get through the
recession.

The passage of Question 4 will lower Massachusetts' overall tax
burden, dropping the state from fifth highest to tenth, according to
1999 US Census Bureau statistics.

However, Massachusetts would still have the highest rate of the five
states with flat income tax structures; although 30 states with
graduated rates would be be higher, according to the Federation of Tax
Administrators.

By supporting Question 4, reducing the income tax rate to 5 percent,
Massachusetts residents essentially endorsed the centerpiece of
Cellucci's political agenda - and sent fear through the ranks of a
Legislature worried about the initiative's cost.

The wide ranging ballot questions, sunny skies, and high interest in
the presidential contest drew big crowds out to vote. Polling places
in Boston remained open after the official 8 p.m. closing.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake