Massachusetts Question 4, Income Tax Reduction Initiative (2000)
| Massachusetts Question 4 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Taxes and Wages and pay |
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| Status |
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| Type Indirect initiated state statute |
Origin |
Massachusetts Question 4 was on the ballot as an indirect initiated state statute in Massachusetts on November 7, 2000. It was approved.
A “yes” vote supported establishing a plan to lower the income tax on wages and salaries to 5% by tax year 2003. |
A “no” vote opposed establishing a plan to lower the income tax on wages and salaries to 5% by tax year 2003. |
Election results
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Massachusetts Question 4 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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1,541,771 | 59.37% | ||
| No | 1,055,181 | 40.63% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 4 was as follows:
| “ | Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 3, 2000? | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
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This proposed law would repeal the law setting the state personal income tax rate on Part B taxable income (such as wages and salaries), which was 5.95% as of September 1,1999 and would set the rate at 5.6% for tax year 2001, 5.3% for tax year 2002, and 5% for tax year 2003 and after. If the Legislature set a lower rate for any of those years, that lower rate would apply. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would remain in effect. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
An indirect initiated state statute is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends state statute. There are nine (9) states that allow citizens to initiate indirect state statutes.
While a direct initiative is placed on the ballot once supporters file the required number of valid signatures, an indirect initiative is first presented to the state legislature. Legislators have a certain number of days, depending on the state, to adopt the initiative into law. Should legislators take no action or reject the initiative, the initiative is put on the ballot for voters to decide.
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required for an indirect initiated state statute is equal to 3% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. Massachusetts also has a distribution requirement that requires no more than 25% of the certified signatures on any petition can come from a single county.
The state Legislature has until the first Wednesday of May in the election year to pass the statute. If the legislature does not pass the proposed statute, proponents must collect a second round of signatures equal to 0.5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. The Legislature also has the power to place an alternative measure alongside the proposed statute via a simple majority vote of the state legislature.
A simple majority vote is required for voter approval. However, the number of affirmative votes cast for the measure must be greater than 30% of the votes cast in the election.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Massachusetts Boston (capital) |
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