IMC-CAN Team Weekly Action June 24, 2026
Corporations and billionaires want nice things for themselves but not for the rest of us!
A corporate-backed ballot initiative is headed for Massachusetts voters this fall, and it threatens to drain billions from our schools, hospitals, public transportation, local aid, and emergency services. Backed by wealthy investors and CEOs, the proposal would rewrite Chapter 62F to trigger tax refunds far more often and in much larger amounts—creating a permanent squeeze on state revenues and making devastating budget cuts more likely, especially after economic downturns. Experts warn that the measure could undermine critical investments that strengthen Massachusetts, from free school meals and community college to infrastructure and public health. A few extra dollars in individual refund checks are not worth the billions that could be stripped from our schools, hospitals, transportation systems, and local communities.
The Legislature has the power to stop this dangerous proposal before it reaches the ballot by repealing Chapter 62F altogether.
Take action now and tell your legislators: don’t let special interests rig the rules for the wealthy while everyone else pays the price.
Read the background information below.
Use this LINK to send a letter to your state legislators, telling them to stop the dangerous ballot initiative due to be on the ballot this fall by repealing 62F. Repealing 62F would prevent any strict “revenue cap” on Massachusetts that would slash funding for critical services across the state.
What is Chapter 62?
A ballot initiative is headed for voters this coming fall that will harm the state budget. Backed by a conservative coalition of business groups called the Mass Opportunity Alliance, this proposal would change the state’s Chapter 62F annual tax revenue cap.
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 62F, or “62F”, is often called the tax revenue cap law or taxpayer refund law. Although rarely used, the 62F formula is not without its problems. Historically, the mandated tax refunds disproportionately benefited more affluent taxpayers. In 2023, the state legislature made it more progressive by requiring that refunds be distributed equally among taxpayers rather than in proportion to the taxes paid.
What is wrong with the Ballot Initiative?
The new Chapter 62F proposal would revise how Massachusetts calculates the tax revenue cap, which was established by a 1986 ballot initiative. Since enactment, the maximum tax revenue has been capped at the previous year’s limit plus the three-year average wage growth. Exceeding the cap triggers an automatic, across-the-board refund, which has only happened twice. The new cap would be based on a new formula that would, in practice, lower the annual revenue limit and trigger more frequent refunds.
According to a report from the Tufts University Center for State Policy Analysis, this proposal would make annual refunds 3x-5x more likely and 5x-15x larger. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said that if the revenue-cap proposal had been in place over the past 10 years, refunds totaling $7.9 billion would have been drained from the state’s revenues.
The proposed Ballot Initiative, being promoted by corporate CEOs and wealthy investors, would strain the state’s “rainy day fund” and drain funding for teachers, police officers, firefighters, hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. Labor advocates warn that this Initiative would destabilize the Massachusetts economy and labor market.
According to Phineas Baxandall, Director of Research and Policy Analysis at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: “The ballot initiative would make the already flawed mechanism of the 62F law far more constraining over time. By ratcheting down the growth of Computed Maximum State Tax Revenues whenever actual revenue growth is slow or reduced the next year by a 62F refund, the policy would tend to continually reduce the cap on state revenues available for budgetary purposes. The result will be more unpredictable budget cuts and the abandonment of planned public investments. On top of that, because the triggered diversions of revenue into 62F payments will tend to follow a recession, the new rules will impair the state’s ability to make investments at just the time when they are most needed to jumpstart the economy.”
This Ballot Initiative is designed to benefit the 1% in our state, but it could be enacted, especially if its corporate sponsors outspend community groups in the campaign and push a misleading narrative. The corporate backers for the initiative have such deep pockets that community groups like Raise Up Massachusetts and others are unlikely to have the resources to combat the corporate spin that threatens future state revenues and services.
What can the State Legislature do to address the issue?
If the State Legislature repeals Chapter 62, as many community groups are calling for, the Ballot Initiative would become moot.
H.3087, “An Act repealing chapter 62F”, was sponsored by State Rep. Michelle M. DuBois. The bill’s stated purpose is straightforward: repeal Chapter 62F of the Massachusetts General Laws. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Revenue and later sent for study in April, 2026. During the 2023-2024 Legislative Session, a similar repeal bill (S.1797) was filed by State Senators James Eldridge and Mike Connolly. While no bill is currently under active consideration, the rules of the State Legislature do not restrict legislators from taking action on this proposal during this Legislative Session.
Under the Massachusetts initiative-petition process, a ballot question generally becomes unnecessary if the Legislature enacts the same or substantially similar policy before the election. The Legislature can repeal Chapter 62F entirely before the election. If Chapter 62F were repealed, the statutory framework that the ballot initiative seeks to tighten would no longer exist. The Legislature could replace it with a different fiscal policy or no revenue-cap mechanism at all.
Repeal would prevent a future constitutional-style constraint on state budgeting and preserve the Legislature’s ability to use revenue growth for schools, transportation, health care, local aid, and other public investments.
Read More
With tax cut off the ballot, the battle shifts to making excess revenue refunds more frequent, Boston Globe, 6/22/26
Testimony in Opposition to the Two Anti-tax Ballot Initiatives: Cutting the Personal Income Tax & Amending Chapter 62F, Mass Budget and Policy Center, 3/30/26
New report says tax refund ballot question could create costly problems for Beacon Hill, MASSterlist, 3/26/26
Have a good idea for the CAN? You can suggest action items! Each week, the IMC-CAN Team receives suggested actions from a wide range of activists through its CAN Team Action Submission Form.
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