MassGOP Launches ‘Gonzalez Tax Clock’ After Promise That $60 Billion Tax Plan Is Forthcoming

BOSTON, Massachusetts, Sept. 13 -- The Massachusetts Republican Party issued the following news:

Jay Gonzalez has been promising $60 billion in new government spending without giving voters a single detail on which taxes he would raise to finance his plan for nearly two years, but yesterday, Gonzalez flipped and promised specifics on his tax hike plan. This comes after months of claiming he couldn't possibly know which taxes to raise until he "takes office." So in an effort to remind voters just how long Gonzalez has been promising to raise taxes without saying which ones, the MassGOP today launched the "Gonzalez Tax Clock" chronicling just how long Jay has been deceiving voters.

The "Gonzalez Tax Clock," hosted at HowWillJayPay.com ticks forward from the moment Gonzalez promised voters he'd reveal his secret tax plan. The clock also counts forward from the end of January 2017, when Gonzalez launched his campaign with the first promises of his $60 billion agenda.

"First Jay Gonzalez says he can't possibly know which taxes to raise and that voters will just have to vote him in and find out," said MassGOP Chairman Kirsten Hughes. "Now he is claiming he can come up with a plan to budget his $60 billion in new spending to finance his promised government takeover of every Massachusetts' citizens' health coverage. It's clear Gonzalez will say anything anyone wants to hear to advance his interests."

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE GONZALEZ TAX CLOCK: HowWillJayPay.com

Background:

Gonzalez Has Recklessly Proposed As Much As $60 Billion In New Spending

Single Payer Health Care: $35 Billion (Promise | Cost*)

Universal Pre-K: $1.48 Billion (Promise | Cost)

North-South Rail Link: $12 - 21 Billion (Promise | Cost)

East-West Rail: $554 - $660 Million (Promise | Cost)

South Coast Rail (Electrified): $3.4 Billion (Promise | Cost)

Extended Blue Line: $737 Million - $1 Billion (Promise | Cost)

Gonzalez Has Repeatedly Refused To Answer Questions About How He'll Pay For His Spending

Gonzalez In An Interview With WGBH's Jim Braude: BRAUDE: "Assuming you are the candidate, you are going to say to the voters, 'I am going to raise your taxes progressively but I am not going to tell you how I am going to raise them and how much until I am elected and I go to the Revenue Commissioner and he or she will let me know?'

GONZALEZ: "So I am telling voters that I hear them when they tell me that they are done with our transportation system that doesn't work for them.

BRAUDE: "Yeah but what's the answer to my question?

GONZALEZ: "I am going to propose a way, to ask those who are doing well-

BRAUDE: "But not before election day?

GONZALEZ: "You can't have a detailed proposal for how to do this where you understand what the consequences of it are in terms of revenue and impacts on which people are impacted without the Department of Revenue doing that. So what I'm saying that they will know based on my campaign, I will come up with a proposal to raise additional revenue from those who are doing well in the state who by the way, pay the lowest percent of their income tax here in Massachusetts.

BRAUDE: "But not the specific plan until you're Governor?"

GONZALEZ: "Yep." (Jay Gonzalez Wants A Progressive Alternative To Millionaires Tax, But Can't Specify Details Until He's Elected," WGBH, 7/11/18)

Gonzalez In An Interview With Herald Radio: "I don't have a specific detailed proposal at this point and it's going to take working with the Department of Revenue as governor very quickly to come up with a thoughtful proposal." (Source)

Gonzalez At The WGBH Debate: "But asked specifically how he would do that, Gonzalez said only that he would ask the Department of Revenue to give him options, and he would look at unspecified corporate tax breaks." (Shira Schoenberg, "Policy differences emerge between gubernatorial candidates Bob Massie, Jay Gonzalez on rent control, congestion pricing," Springfield Republican, 8/16/18)

Democrat Bob Massie On Gonzalez's Lack Of Plans: "This Is a Huge Cloud Of Vagueness" (Democratic Gubernatorial Debate, WGBH, 8/16/18)

*Single Payer Healthcare: Based on formula produced by Beacon Hill Institute ("Proposals for Universal Health Care in Massachusetts: Do They Exceed the Recommended Dosage?" Beacon Hill Institute, 11/2/2000)

Total Health Care Expenditures in Massachusetts (2014): $71.27B ("Health Care Expenditures by State of Residence (in millions)," Kaiser Family Foundation)

Portion Of Total Expenditures From Private Insurance And Out Of Pocket Costs: $43.263B (60.7% of $71.27B) ("Total Health Services - Percent of persons with an expense, mean expense per person with an expense, and distribution of expenses, by source of payment, United States, 2010," Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

LESS: Assumed Cost Savings: $7.275B (adjusting BHI cost savings for CPI inflation)

Total Single Payer Cost: $35.96B