The proposed law would eliminate the state income tax by January 2010.

Summary
This proposed law would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for all categories of taxable income for the tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010. The personal income tax applies to income received or gain realized by individuals and married couples, by estates of deceased persons, by certain trustees and other fiduciaries, by persons who are partners in and receive income from partnerships, by corporate trusts, and by persons who receive income as shareholders of “S corporations” as defined under federal tax law. The proposed law would not affect the tax due on income or gain realized in a tax year beginning before January 1, 2009. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

WHAT YOUR VOTE WILL DO

A YES VOTE would reduce the state personal income tax rate to 2.65% for the tax year beginning on January 1, 2009, and would eliminate the tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010.

A NO VOTE would make no change in state income tax laws.

Source: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele08/ballot_questions_08/quest_1.htm

Arguments:

In Favor

We went around and asked people what percentage of their taxes they believed government wasted.  They said 41%:

“On average, Massachusetts voters estimate that the state government wastes 41 cents out of every dollar in state taxes that they pay. Even voters who think the state is headed in the right direction feel that more than one-third of their tax dollars are being wasted.” (Source)

From what I can gather, that’s really what proponents did.  I’m not kidding.  This is the survey question: ““How many CENTS out of every dollar you pay in state taxes would you say is WASTED by the state government?”

That’s it.  That’s the survey that’s headlining this campaign.

“Follow up question for you.  How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?”

In 2012, I’m going to propose Question 7 — a bill to get rid of paper plates in Massachusetts.  We waste more paper with those damn paper plates sticking together.  This is going to be the groundwork for my campaign: a survey question that asks people “How many paper plates would you say Massachusetts residents waste every year?”

Me: “Sir, how many paper plates would you say Massachusetts residents waste every year?”

Sucker: “Oh, I’d say — 23.7% of paper plates are wasted.  They stick together.”

Me: “Thank you.  Please vote ‘Yes’ on Question 7 in November.”

Sucker: “Will do.”

I think I’ll hire these guys to do the survey, they did the one this year:
Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates.

According to their website: “The firm has earned an unparalleled reputation among the leading survey research and campaign strategists in the nation. In this age of accelerating change and instantaneous communication, the proactive management of perceptions has never been more important. ”

“[…] the proactive management of perceptions […]” — that’s exactly what I’m looking for!