FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, there has always been a strained relationship with our tax system, thanks to rules that keep the gap between black/brown and white wealth disproportionally wide. The tax system was even weaponized against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was investigated in both Georgia and Alabama, and repeatedly by the IRS, which […]
Marie-Frances Rivera
Marie-Frances Rivera is the interim president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
Posted inOpinion
Raise taxes for a fair recovery
THERE IS DANGER AHEAD as we move into the next phases of dealing with COVID-19. The public goods we rely on for our health care, to educate our young people, to ensure we have clean air and water, to support people when they need it most, and more — may be in jeopardy. Right now, […]
Posted inOpinion
Ed funding problem most acute in low-income communities
IT’S A PROMISING SIGN that fixing how Massachusetts funds our K-12 schools has moved to the top of the agenda on Beacon Hill. The governor and Legislature acknowledge that the time has come to address the outdated Chapter 70 formula, which has shortchanged students across the Commonwealth, particularly those in middle- and low-income school districts that […]
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts’ upside-down tax system
AT A TIME when people across the state seem to agree that our Commonwealth needs additional resources for public investments, asking those with the highest incomes to contribute a similar share of their incomes in taxes as the rest of us could support major investments to boost prosperity and economic opportunity for all. Every state […]