• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Contact Us

Agency Checklists

Massachusetts Insurance News & Job Opportunities

You are here: Home / Legislative & Economic News / Income Surtax in Constitution “Bypasses Compromise,” Speaker Says

Income Surtax in Constitution “Bypasses Compromise,” Speaker Says

March 26, 2021 by State House News Service

House Speaker Ron Mariano has voted against a proposed tax on the wealthy earning over $1 million a year and more recently for the proposed Constitutional amendment, but with supporters hoping for a second and final vote in the Legislature this spring the speaker made clear Thursday he’s been no fan of the process.

Mariano: “I Recognize the Value” In Driver’s License Proposal
House Speaker Ron Mariano. Photo source: Twitter.

“It really bypasses the whole spirit of the Legislature. It bypasses compromise. It bypasses the ability to work for a better product on the issue, and it’s very frustrating for us,” Mariano said during a question-and-answer session with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber CEO Jim Rooney asked Mariano to talk about the trend of advocates using ballot questions to “create legislation” and “without getting into sort of what it’s for, the use of the Constitutional Convention to actually sort of put what we think of as legislative policy into our Constitution that is now hard to reverse once it’s in there.”

While Mariano and Rooney danced around the specific question of the millionaire’s tax, which would add a 4 percent surtax on all income earned over $1 million, Mariano made clear he knew what Rooney was hinting at.

“I’d love to be able to sit down, and I know what we’re talking about here, and have a discussion of tax policy. But instead we have this or nothing and it’s a difficult choice for legislators,” Mariano said.

Before he was speaker, Mariano initially voted against putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot to add a surtax on millionaires, but supported the measure when it came up for a vote in 2020. The Legislature must vote one more time either this year or next year in order for the question to advance to the 2022 ballot, and supporters have been hoping it would surface this spring.

“As you said, if it passes and it’s baked into the Constitution it’s very very difficult to change it,” Mariano said. “It’s a process that’s used by people who are frustrated because their positions may be too extreme to get enough support to get a bill through the House, so they resort to, I call it an end run around the Legislature.”

Last year, the joint session of the House and Senate voted 147-48 in favor of putting the wealth surtax on the ballot, including a 112-43 vote in the House.

A tax expert suggested Wednesday that lawmakers could scrap the idea of a constitutional amendment to impose a surtax on household income over $1 million and instead repeal the constitution’s requirement for a flat tax and impose the graduated income tax rate through traditional legislation.

The current version of the millionaire’s tax was filed by Rep. Jim O’Day in House after a push by a coalition of civic, labor and religious groups known as the Raise Up Coalition to amendment the Constitution was ruled ineligible for the ballot as a citizen-generated petition.

Primary Sidebar

MA Division of Insurance Advertisement

New Episode

MA Insurance Lawyers

SPONSORED

Interviews

From Nuptials, Tickets, and Taxes to Trusted Advisor: One Agency’s Unique Path to P&C Success

A Conversation with Evan Silverio, President & CEO of Silverio Insurance Group

Deland, Gibson Celebrates 125 Years: A Conversation with CEO Chip Gibson

The Fourth-Generation Family-Owned Agency is Based in Wellesley

Talking with Richard Welch: Growth and Innovation at Hospitality Mutual | Agency Checklists

Talking with Richard Welch: Growth and Innovation at Hospitality Mutual

Mr. Welch is CEO of Massachusetts-based Hospitality Insurance Group

A Conversation with Daniel C. Bridge – The 2023 Insurance Professional of the Year

Daniel Bridge is Board Chair, President, and CEO of Vermont Mutual Insurance Group

Making The Leap From Corporate to Entrepreneur: Nadeen Vella On Building NaVella Insurance From Scratch

Making The Leap From Corporate to Entrepreneur: Nadeen Vella On Building NaVella Insurance From Scratch

Our latest Agency Interview is with Nadeen Vella, the founder and owner of a virtual scratch independent agency.

A North Shore Success Story: The $40 Million And Growing Duffy Family of Insurance Agencies

Our latest Agency Interview with Duffy Insurance’s Marc Duffy

More Posts from this Category

InsurOp-Eds

Passing of the Torch: Becoming Arbella’s Next CEO

Passing of the Torch: Becoming Arbella’s Next CEO

By Paul Brady

Uninsurable Risk? Maybe Parametric Insurance Is The Answer

By Owen Gallagher

InsurOpEd: Starting A New Chapter in My Life

By Tara Philbin

InsurOp-Ed: Shrinkflation and Insurance

InsurOp-Ed: Shrinkflation and Insurance

By Bill Wilson

More InsurOp-Eds

Career News

Reports Say Acrisure To Layoff 400 Employees in 2026

N&D Welcomes Nick Shaw as Massachusetts Regional Marketing Manager

MountainOne Insurance Promotes Lianne Kudlate to Senior Personal Lines Account Manager

Brown & Brown Integrates Risk Strategies Talent to its Team

View More Career News

In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Roy Corso: 1943-2025

In Memoriam: Kevin Hugh Kelley, 1950-2025

In Memoriam: Kevin Hugh Kelley, 1950-2025

In Memoriam: Stephen Lee Brown, 1937-2025

In Memoriam: Stephen Lee Brown, 1937-2025

Company News

Fundación MAPFRE Celebrates 50 Years of Impact at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Agency Checklists, Mass. Insurance News

MAPFRE, MassDOT Offer Tips To Share During Pedestrian Safety Month

Union Mutual Raises Over $147,000 for the Kelly Brush Foundation

SIAA Hosts IA Evolve, a Virtual Innovation Event to Empower Independent Insurance Agents

SIAA Hosts IA Evolve, a Virtual Innovation Event to Empower Independent Insurance Agents

Footer

Agency Checklists

Contact us

We offer a variety of ways to get help promote your company or product.

Announcements
Email Sponsorships
Partnerships
Custom Collaborations

*Affiliate Disclosure

Please note that any of Agency Checklists’ articles might contain one or more affiliate links. This means that any subsequent purchase resulting from these links may result in a commission for us, but at no additional cost to you. For example, as an Amazon Associate, Agency Checklists earns a commission from all qualifying purchases. By working with affiliates we can continue to keep Agency Checklists subscription free. Thank you for your support.

Explore Our Archives

Copyright © 2025 · Agency Checklists · All rights reserved.

 

Loading Comments...