On Tuesday, voters in Massachusetts had a choice to eliminate the 6.25% alcohol tax (question 1) that was put into place last year and to lower the 6.25% sales tax to 3% (question 3). The voters of Massachusetts decided to eliminate the alcohol tax by a 52% to 48% margin and decided to keep the sales tax where it is by a landslide 57% to 43%. What this tells me is that you don’t get between Massachusettsians and their alcohol (haha just kidding). What this actually tells me is that voters probably got this one right. By eliminating the tax on alcohol the voters got rid of what was an unfair double tax, because alcohol already excise taxed by the distributors. Also, by eliminating the tax the voters got rid of about 100-150 million dollars of revenue which primarily goes to alcohol and drug rehab programs. Although these programs help many people they are not vital to the Commonwealth. Also by eliminating this tax it shows that the MA voters were sensible because by eliminating this tax it will promote much needed business at border liquor and convenience stores. MA voters also got question 3 right by voting it down. If it was voted to lower the sales tax to 3% than the state would lose out on roughly 2.5 billion dollars. Although this would send a strong message to Beacon Hill it would force huge cuts in education funding and town aid. Ultimately, it would be bad for the state. Overall, the voters of Massachusetts seemed to have been sensible when voting on these two questions. (Would have been nice if they could’ve been sensible when picking the governor).
a. What do the results of questions 1 and 3 tell you about Massachusetts voters?
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