Why Massachusetts
is Still Lagging: It’s the Taxes, Stupid
Last
week, Gov. Romney unveiled a plan to try to draw research contracts
to Massachusetts. Perhaps
for the first time, his administration acknowledged that Massachusetts
is going nowhere when it comes to job creation.
''Massachusetts'
growth lags the nation," said Cathy E. Minehan, president of
the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, who hosted the initiative meeting,
dubbed “Business Connect”.
If
one wants to know why Massachusetts is running backwards with respect
to new jobs and the number of people who want to live here, one does
not have to look any farther than the latest report from the Tax Foundation,
which was released Monday.
On
the per capita tax burden, Massachusetts ranked as the fourth highest
in the nation. Worse still, in
the unemployment insurance tax index, the Commonwealth slotted 49th
out of fifty. That has
to affect an employer’s decision whether to keep jobs here or move
out of state.
Barbara
Anderson from Citizens for Limited Taxation says: “It’s always been
erratic. You’ve always dealt with a Legislature that doesn’t have
a clue about how business works,” Anderson said. “People with a business
mindset think that Massachusetts is nuts, and that word spreads throughout
the country.”
Gov.
Mitt Romney has blasted our unemployment insurance as an impediment
to companies relocating to Massachusetts.
He’s joined with business groups in calling for lower rates. Moreover, the Commonwealth has a penchant for
heaping more burdens on businesses from its judiciary branch. The gay marriage decision in 2004 was such
an act. Employers suddenly
had to pick up the tab of health insurance for “spouses” of same-sex
couples even though the Federal government and no other state officially
recognizes the union.
To
accentuate the problem, the legislature is working on a comprehensive
healthcare bill that may exact a new punitive tax on companies that
don’t offer health insurance. This
will become the largest unfunded mandate on businesses in any state. If it goes through, the only big winners are going to be realtors
handling commercial property in neighboring states, as they cater
to all the Massachusetts business that will be relocating.
