Massachusetts committee hears five hours of testimony on income tax cut ballot measures

BOSTON -- March 30, 2026, Massachusetts lawmakers heard five hours of divided testimony Monday on two ballot initiatives that would cut the state personal income tax from 5 percent to 4 percent and tighten the state's revenue cap. The Special Joint Committee on Initiative Petitions, chaired by Senate Chair Cindy Friedman and House Co-Chair Alice Peisch, received expert testimony from Doug Howgate of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, who projected a fully implemented revenue loss of just under $5.4 billion annually by fiscal year 2030, with an $800 million impact in the first partial year alone. Proponents including Jim Sturgis of Pioneer Institute and economist Rebecca Paxson argued a dynamic model puts the real net cost at $2 billion to $2.2 billion and projects 43,000 to 48,000 new private-sector jobs. Opponents, led by MIT Economics Department head Jonathan Gruber and Eastern Bank Executive Chairman Bob Rivers, called both measures fiscally reckless, with Gruber warning the 62F revenue cap reform alone would have left the state "10 percent smaller" following the 2009 recession. Representative Frank Moran of Lawrence noted the income tax cut would deliver about $381, roughly $7 a week, to a typical family in one of the state's poorest cities.