Massachusetts passed a 4% millionaire's tax last year. Now every public school student is going to get free lunch

We need different terms for people who HAVE a million dollars and people who MAKE a million per year. Lots of people will read this millionaire's tax and think it will apply to them when they are nearing retirement since they finally have a million dollars after saving all their life.

It's easier to sell a tax hike if you know exactly where it's going :)

The descriptor "free" misleads - this is exactly the type of thing taxes were always meant to pay for.

Free school meals should be a given since our taxes should go to what our elected officials have so thoughtfully decided where to apply them. What no one rarely brings up let alone tries to solve is the disgusting and unsafe food that the local, state and fed officials decide to make available. There's too much politics in cafeteria food. They should focus there budget in getting healthy food not the cheapest, uncles cousins or corporate friend contract.

It's not a free lunch. It's just your taxes going to something you actually benefit from.

That's great news! No kid should ever be hungry at school, especially when they really are legally forced to be there!

State House News Service, an independently owned news wire, reported that $1 billion of the state's record $56.2 billion fiscal budget for 2024 came from the state's new 4% tax on millionaires. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed the budget on Wednesday, making Massachusetts the eighth state to adopt a free school lunch plan since federal free school lunches which started during the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

But but that's socialism

As a student who grew up attending Massachusetts public schools, this is fantastic news. Just wish that could have been me!

I used to bring a lot of boxed lunch in most days instead because school lunches were an unnecessary expense, but sometimes I'd buy school lunch if it was one I liked.

I don't know if this applies everywhere, but my school district at least had a needs-based free lunch (and breakfast) program for those from low income families, but honestly all students deserve to eat a healthy and nutritious meal during school, which I am sure also takes quite a bit of stress off of parents.

Cool, but you know who isn’t getting a free lunch now? Those millionaires who worked so hard for that money. What have those kids done to earn theirs?

/s, to be clear. I wish these cool places to live (e.g, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan) weren’t so fucking cold. Why can’t there be a nice liberal southern state?

Thanks for the article, learning aboutnthe positives.

On another note...

In February, President Joe Biden urged lawmakers to pass his billionaires' tax proposal, which would impose a minimum 20% tax on households with a net worth of more than $100 million.

It is a start, but may be too late in the game for the blue administration for 2024.

I have also heard of other positive things being pushed, in my bubble of politics.

Might be due to all the military conflicts around the world and union strikes, that are also starting to ramp up in the US.

Great post on the positive news. Thanks again!

Let's fucking goooo!!!! I love my home state ❤️. I wish they did this sooner.

A European here. Aside from going in the right direction, I have a question: Don't the rich already pay most of their earnings as taxes? So the problem is not that they are not getting taxed, but rather that they avoid paying them through loopholes? Or is that a billionaire problem?

Slightly off topic. A lot of public schools already get free meals thanks to federal education dollars. The school lunches are free in my area because of this, even though the (red) state won’t act.

The state has attempted to kill off those dollars in the past.

[https://www.investmentnews.com/welcome-to-the-millionaires-tax-240997](An overview for those that don't know anything about this.)

Edit: fixed the link An overview for those that don't know anything about this.

a 4% surtax on individual earnings above $1 million. This new provision, which comes into effect from Jan. 1, 2023, will be layered over the preexisting 5% state income tax rate.

It's like the us is always 20 years behind the rest of the world when it comes to things that actually matter.

Indiana did free meals, then announced kids had to get approved nicknames like Florida...

Common sense rules in these blue areas.

Colorado did something similar last year as well.

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1134832752/colorado-free-school-lunch-results-measure-midterms

Good. Now slap a 0 to the end of that 4, and then double it.

And my kid will still refuse to eat it.... We had free lunches here during the pandemic.

4% of WHAT is taxed?

Not to discourage continued bleeding of the rich, but I wonder if this is the right way to go about it. Theoretically, we should already have a lot of laws on the books that slam millionaires for their advantageous position. But, their budget also allows for accountants that shift and hide that money, sometimes on a questionable basis of legality.

Could one prong on this assault be to increase the IRS' operating budget, so that they're able to track down and stop more of these tax haven shenanigans?

I was curious about the budgeting implications because enacting a increase to revenue doesn't necessarily mean increased spending would be covered. For any one to lazy to go off site, but also interested:

"$1 billion of the state's record $56.2 billion fiscal budget for 2024 came from the state's new 4% tax on millionaires."

"State lawmakers agreed to put $523 million of revenue from the new tax toward education and put $477 million aside for transportation."

Didn't find the cost there but on one of their sources:

"A portion of that money will go toward the $172 million needed to provide free school meals, the State House News Service reported."

but muh freedumb

This is fantastic news!

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The SCOTUS will overturn this within 2 years.

Will simply drive more rich people out of the state.

Have to love when people say anything is "free"

They don't need more tax they just need to stop squandering it. My town has turned into idiots first sim city playthrough.

The food still looks pretty garbage compare to Japan!