Mass. SJC Blocks Income Tax Question From 2026 Ballot
The justices said the attorney general’s summary was significantly misleading because it understated the measure’s effect on long-term capital gains taxes.
- On Thursday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court blocked a ballot question proposing an income tax cut from appearing on the November ballot, ruling that Attorney General Andrea Campbell's official summary was "significantly misleading and likely to influence voters."
- The initiative sought to lower the state income tax rate to 4% from 5%, but opponents challenged the summary, arguing it failed to disclose the proposal would reduce tax rates on long-term capital gains income.
- A January analysis from the Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center found the measure would cut state revenues by $5 billion, prompting opponents like the Massachusetts Voter Table to celebrate the ruling as preventing service cuts.
- Proponents, operating as Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts, criticized the ruling as disenfranchisement, with spokesperson Chris Keohan noting the SJC had not removed a ballot question due to an Attorney General's summary in nearly a century.
- The decision trims the field of ballot questions remaining for November from 11 to 10, while future tax adjustments now rest with lawmakers or new ballot campaigns as the court weighs legal challenges to other measures.
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20 Articles
MA Court Blocks Vote on Tax Cut, Highlights Divide With Tax
It’s a tale of two tax policies. In New Hampshire, Democrats unanimously voted against legislation banning any future state income tax. Their votes denied the constitutional amendments the supermajorities they needed to get on the ballot. In Massachusetts on Thursday, it was the state’s liberal Supreme Judicial Court that did the dirty work, blocking a ballot question that would have let Bay Staters cut their income tax from 5% to 4%. The ruling…
Mass. high court blocks state income tax question from November ballot
The Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday ruled that the summary of the proposed ballot question, provided by Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office, was “significantly misleading and likely to influence voters” since it says the long-term capital gain tax rate would remain unchanged.
Massachusetts SJC derails income tax cut ballot question
A blockbuster ballot question calling for a major reduction in the state income tax was ruled ineligible by the state's highest court to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, with justices concluding Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office provided a "significantly misleading" summary of the proposal that was likely to influence voters.
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