On November 2, voters in Massachusetts will go to the polls and decide on three ballot initiatives, the first being to repeal the state sales tax on alcohol. This measure would go into effect on January 1, 2011, and has been met with strong support from the Committee to Repeal the Alcohol Sales Tax and the Massachusetts Package Stores Association, who claim that the sales tax can be costly in the job market, costing nearly 3,000 jobs because the sales of alcohol would plunge. Many feel as though New Hampshire is getting the majority of the alcohol sale profits as there is no sales tax.
Opponents of removing the tax on alcohol feel as though it would take away revenue desperately needed in the state, and also the funding source for addiction recovery and family support programs. Newspaper editorials, such as one in the New Bedford Standard-Times argues that repealing the tax is an uninformed thing to do. And state representative Alice Wolf says that there shouldn’t be a tax on necessities such as food and clothing, but “not an item like alcohol, which we would just as soon make a little less accessible – especially to teens.”
On the Web:
- Ballotpedia: Massachusetts No Sales Tax for Alcohol Initiative
- Text of the proposed law
- “No on One in Massachusetts”
- Massachusetts Package Store Association
News-2-Know is a blog created by B.J. Roche’s Journalism 301 class. Every weekday, an author will write about a topic that is newsworthy and provide links on additional resources. To read the rest of the entries, click here.
