I was in sports heaven Thursday night as I sat down at my computer to write this week’s column for the Saturday Westfield News. The Olympics were on one channel and the New England Patriots preseason game against the New Orleans Saints was on the other. The Pats won, 7-6. Football: a sure sign that this hot, humid summer will soon be coming to an end. Thank God!
Speaking of sports, let me offer my congratulations to the Westfield Babe Ruth Baseball 13-Year-Old All-Stars who won their regional championships and will be going to the World Series in Washington State August 15-22. This will be the first time a Westfield team has been to the World Series in nearly 20 years. Our best wishes and good luck go with the players, parents, coaches, and team manager, Mike Smith.
This weekend is the annual sales tax holiday for shoppers in the Commonwealth.
My fellow supporters of the sales tax holiday and I believe it gives retail shops a boost during an ordinarily slow time. We believe the economic activity created has a multiplier effect that offsets any losses in regular sales taxes to the state. Those include income taxes from additional staff hired to work the sales tax free weekend, additional meals taxes and gasoline taxes from people shopping, driving, and dining out this weekend. It also happens at a time when parents are thinking about doing their back to school shopping for their children.
I saw on the news that the Governor of New Hampshire held a press conference touting his state’s permanent sales tax free status, saying, “There’s never a sales tax in New Hampshire.” He stated that they believe people should be able to shop tax free when they want and not when state government says they can. It was a well-deserved shot at us in the Massachusetts state government.
This creates a real problem for Massachusetts retailers along the northern tier of our state bordering New Hampshire. For a swath of more than 15 miles, stores are closing up and going out of business, laying off their employees, because they can’t compete with the stores on the other side of the border that their customers drive the extra distance to patronize.
Proponents of rolling back the Mass sales tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent, like me, believe that our hard-working citizens are taxed enough and could use a break. We believe a lower rate would make our vendors more competitive and put them on a slightly more level playing field with New Hampshire stores. We believe it would create an incentive to stay and shop in Massachusetts stores rather than cross the border to make purchases in sales tax free New Hampshire.
The sales tax holiday applies to retail sales, excluding any single item priced higher than $2,500. The sales tax holiday does not apply to telecommunications or tobacco products or gas, motor vehicles, motorboats or meals.
I was all set to go out this weekend to buy a new cell phone to replace the Droid that my baby son got a hold of and drooled all over. Then I reread the law and remembered it does not pertain to cell phones or mobile phone plans. I was ticked.
During the state budget debate this year I got up on the floor of the House to speak in support of an amendment that would have fixed a quirk in the Massachusetts laws that hurts Baystate cell phone purchasers. If you go to the phone store and they are selling a $500 cell phone on sale for $250 and you buy it for $250 the Commonwealth still charges you for sales tax based on the $500 price. I think that’s wrong. It’s plainly a money-grab on the part of the state. But the amendment failed to pass when Democrats instead voted to further amend it and study the issue. Of course, no study was ever done.
If it makes you mad that things like this happen on Beacon Hill all the time you need to register to vote. August 17 is the last day to register to vote in the state’s September 6 primary elections. The primary is the first time voters will go the polls since the Legislature redrew the state’s congressional districts last year. You can get a voter registration form from my office, the City Clerk’s office at City Hall, or online at the Secretary of State’s office.
Massachusetts residents can receive free legal advice on Wednesday by participating in the Ask A Lawyer call-in program presented jointly by the Massachusetts Bar Association and WBZ Call for Action. Ask A Lawyer was a regular program from 1978 until 2005. The MBA and WBZ Call for Action have revived the program to meet the growing legal needs of the Commonwealth’s citizens.
Volunteer lawyers from the MBA will field phone calls from 7 – 9 p.m. on Wednesday from Bay State residents who have legal concerns or problems. The legal advice is provided at no charge as a public service. The Ask A Lawyer phone number is (617) 787-7070. If a caller gets a busy signal, they are asked to hang up and try again. Normal telephone charges will apply. Please note, the phones will only be staffed by MBA attorneys from 7 – 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
Wednesday is also my son Quinn’s 1 year birthday. He has been such a blessing for me and Janice. We can’t believe how quickly the time has gone by. Happy Birthday Quinn!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield News.
Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Maura Cassin may be reached at their Westfield District Office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, (413) 568-1366.Representative Don Humason may be reached at his Boston office, State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803.
Email address: [email protected]
Website: www.DonHumason.org
