Thank you for your Aug. 21 email in response to my Aug. 12 correspondence to your office calling on you to immediately support the full repeal of one of the most harmful pieces of jobs legislation you have ever supported during your tenure in the Legislature.
A growing number of voters believe, as I do, if no full repeal — no pathway to (uncontested) re-election.
Very similar to state Sen. Karen Spilka’s communities to our east, I would remind you that we come from the high-tech center of the commonwealth, and that the Middlesex Worcester District, in particular, contains some of the most highly skilled, highly trained work forces in the entire state. Short of a meteor speeding towards earth, what further evidence do you need to see that this new Massachusetts tech tax is a disaster?
Are you listening to your constituents?
On this issue, does there comes a point when the Bold Progressive Legislator becomes the Stubborn, Defiant Hyper-Partisan? Only you in your letter could go on record supporting FOUR new state taxes on the hard-working men and women of our state senatorial district. This fragile recovery cannot afford those kind of runaway tax-hikes.
When fiscal 2014 state revenues exceed projections by more than $600 million, your solution to a more robust MetroWest, Merrimack and Nashoba Valley Regional economy is NOT higher taxes on income, capital gains, fuel and computer services.
Thankfully, as you noted in your email to me, “There was not a majority of support for this (Eldridge) proposal from my colleagues.” What your actions show is that you are more interested in scoring political points with your progressive liberal base than passing legislation that truly helps our innovation economies.
Below is Sen. Tarr’s comments on the Tech Tax you voted for. To suggest you were not duly warned about the harmful effects of this legislation on our part of the state — I refer you to my meteor speeding toward Earth comment above.
So Jamie, thank you in advance for your attention on this matter, and this week, I invite you again to publicly denounce this tax on our entrepreneurs and job creators.
DEAN CAVARETTA
2012 (R) Candidate for State Senate
Middlesex Worcester District
P.S. Below is a recent press statement noting that you and the majority party were duly warned about the tech tax, but went ahead and voted YES anyway, even though according to your recent letter to me, dated Aug. 21, you were “focused … on advocating for a (tax) proposal that did not expand the sales tax…”
Okay, if that is in fact true, then why the YES vote when one considers you reside in the tech capital of our commonwealth?
Senator Tarr’s statement on computer software services tax
BOSTON — Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, released the following statement today, following published reports that the new computer software services tax introduced as part of the transportation finance bill could be subject to further legislative review this fall:
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that taxing the state’s innovation economy is a bad idea. As far back as January, when the governor proposed his version of the fiscal year 2014 state budget, Republican legislators have been warning that the new tax would seriously undermine the state’s competitiveness.
The new tax on computer software services was a bad idea when it was first proposed, and it’s a bad idea now. We have opposed it consistently from day one, offering multiple amendments to eliminate or replace it, arguing at length during the transportation finance debate about its dire consequences, and we will be unyielding in our efforts to repeal it. Putting a new tax on the innovation economy is no way to recover from a recession.”
