Question 1 on the November 8 Ballot Would Help Improve Schools, Repair Roads and Bridges, and Make Our Tax System Fairer
Nov 1, 2022
Question 1 on the November 8 Ballot Would Help Improve Schools, Repair Roads and Bridges, and Make Our Tax System Fairer
BOSTON – Supporters of Question 1, the Fair Share Amendment, today announced the launch
of a new TV ad featuring ten campaign supporters speaking about why they support Question
1, part of an eight-figure TV ad campaign that is running through Election Day.
The Fair Share Amendment, the proposed state tax on incomes above $1 million, would raise
billions of dollars that are constitutionally dedicated to transportation and public education. It
is Question 1 on the November statewide ballot.
“We’ve been blown away by the grassroots support for Question 1 from tens of thousands of
parents, educators, workers, small business owners, retirees, and other neighbors who want to
improve our schools, fix our roads and bridges, and make our tax system fairer,” said Fair Share
for Massachusetts Field Director Lillian Lanier. “So we gave ten of them the chance to be in
this ad, and share with voters across the state why they’re supporting Question 1.”
Over the last few months, Yes on 1 campaign supporters have knocked on the doors of more
than 350,000 voters, and called more than 850,000 voters, to talk about the benefits of
Question 1.
“At the doors and on the phones, our volunteers explain how the 99 percent of us who make
less than $1 million a year won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll all benefit from better schools and
colleges, and safer transportation infrastructure,” Lanier continued. “With one week until
Election Day, we’re going to keep talking to as many voters as we can about this once-in-a-
generation opportunity for Massachusetts to make things better.”
Titled ‘Village,’ the new ad features parents from Quincy, Plymouth, and Chelsea, teachers from
New Bedford and Hyde Park, an operating engineer from Canton, a healthcare worker from
Jamaica Plain, an electrician from Duxbury, a Boston brewery owner, and a retiree from
Reading, all speaking about their support for Question 1.
“Question 1 makes things fairer,” says Jamaica Plain healthcare worker Mary Brown.
“And only the super-rich pay for it,” says Canton operating engineer Jimmy Marenghi.
“It raises $2 billion a year,” says New Bedford public school teacher Cynthia Roy.
“That money is constitutionally guaranteed to go to public education, roads, and bridges,” says
Duxbury electrician Dave Mastrangelo.
“Question 1 holds politicians accountable, so they can’t spend the money anywhere else,” says
Hyde Park public school teacher Alison Doherty.
“It’s true: the richest one percent pay a lower share in taxes than the rest of us,” says Quincy
parent Liz Speakman. “I’m voting Yes on Question 1 so all of our families can thrive.”
The new ad can be found here. Previous ‘Yes on 1’ TV ads can be found here, here, here, here,
here, here, and here.
The Question 1 supporters featured in this ad are available to speak to media about their
support for the campaign. Please contact Andrew Farnitano at 925-917-1354 or
andrew@crawfordstrategies.com to set up an interview.
Background on Question 1: the Fair Share Amendment
The Fair Share Amendment – Question 1 on the November ballot – will allow Massachusetts to
improve our transportation and public education systems by making the very rich pay their fair
share. Question 1 would create a 4 percent tax on the portion of a person’s annual income
above $1 million and constitutionally dedicate the funds to be spent on transportation and
public education. Only people who earn more than $1 million annually will be impacted; 99% of
us won’t pay a penny more. And we’ll all benefit from better schools, roads, bridges, and public
transportation.
Thousands of educators, workers, small business owners, parents, faith leaders, municipal
officials, drivers and transit riders, and more than 500 organizations across the state are
working together to pass Question 1. Our campaign has been endorsed by 87 labor unions; 72
community organizing groups; 18 faith-based groups; more than 100 businesses; 64 city
councils, select boards, and school committees; 89 local Democratic town and ward
committees; and 115 other social service and not-for-profit organizations focused on housing,
education, transportation, public health, and the environment. Learn more and get involved at
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The Fair Share for Massachusetts campaign is led by Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition of
community organizations, faith-based groups, and labor unions committed to building an
economy that invests in families, gives everyone the opportunity to succeed, and creates
broadly shared prosperity. Since our coalition came together in 2013, we have nearly doubled
wages for hundreds of thousands of working people by winning two increases in the state’s
minimum wage, won best-in-the-nation earned sick time and paid family and medical leave
benefits for workers and their families, and started to build an economy that works for all of us,
not just those at the top.