The hottest political topic around here lately is whether or not Question 1 is a good idea. Here's the summary of Question 1, taken directly from the Secretary of the Commonwealth's web site:
SUMMARY
As required by law, summaries are written by the State Attorney General, and the statements describing the effect of a "yes" or "no" vote are written jointly by the State Attorney General and the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
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.
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But the question for you is... does any of this matter? We talked to some people around the State House... and found out that even if people vote yes... the legislature could call an emergency session to either override, or delay, its implementation.
So what's you're take? Should what the legislature determines is best for the state override what the voters have chosen? Does this change the way you'd vote? Are you a "yes" voter who will now vote "no" because of the "inevitable"? Or are you a "no" voter who will now vote "yes" to spite the legislature?
