cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/3160934

Students in Massachusetts will get free lunch and breakfast at school thanks to a new 4% tax put on people who earn more than $1 million.

    • random65837@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Right, because they dont… Flat tax could have been a thing, and people voted against it, because they wanted all the same “loopholes” for themselves when the realized what “fair” tax actually looks like.

    • galloog1@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They are. It’s not a direct cash transfer but instead a portion of the budget that everyone pays into. Additionally, people are required to pay taxes on their income earned within a state while they live there. Moving won’t impact their taxes for that year.

      There is a massive outflow of wealth from Massachusetts. It’s difficult to determine how that translates to income as there’s a lot of industry linked to education in the commonwealth. Anyone who claims with certainty one way or another right now is talking ignorance until the state publishes actual revenues and by source and we can assess the trend over time.

      https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/05/16/wealthy-residents-fleeing-massachusetts-and-have-been-for-years-study-shows/

      • million@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That study sounds pretty suspect from the outside. The Herald appears to be taking out direct quotes that have some very heavy political bias.

        • galloog1@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          We ultimately won’t know until next year’s budget is reported. We only can really view 2021 in detail right now. This change goes into effect this year so we’ll see the change in revenue likely detailed in late 2024. Then we can look at a trend analysis in 2025 to determine if higher income household are moving out. Anyone who makes any claims outside of this is not basing it on real revenue data.

          • firewyre@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            In five more years everyone will be moving here trying to get away from climate disasters in other parts of the country anyway so I’m not particularly worried about it. We were also just rated the best state in the country to live and raise a family too so 🤷‍♂️

            • galloog1@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Given that Boston already has flooding as is due to increased rainfall and the degrading nature of the dams on the Charles, I would prefer we try to mitigate things before we pretend like we will be fine for us.

      • random65837@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        And at some point theyre going to run of of millionaires to blame their mismanagement of funds on.

  • flossdaily@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is an okay start, but it needs to be nationwide to be effective. It’s too easy for the ultra-wealthy to weasel out of one state without any real change in lifestyle.

    We need a national wealth tax to take back all the wealth that had been stolen from the middle class for the last 4 decades.

    Set the tax extremely high, then have the IRS offer a 10% finders fee to anyone who uncovers any scheme by which the wealthy are trying to illegally hide their wealth

    These psychopaths have watched the world starve and struggle while sitting on mountains of money so large that they are practically unfathomable.

  • amigan@lemmy.dynatron.me
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    1 year ago

    This should be a priority everywhere. I can afford to send my daughter with good food, but not everyone can, and just one hangry kid can derail the entire class. And who better to pay for it than people whose financial considerations never include their next meal? Proud of my New England neighbors.