Frustrated tech industry leaders pushing to repeal a potentially job-killing tech tax say they're stepping up efforts to rally support after a closed-door meeting with the governor and legislators yesterday produced no answers on whether they plan to repeal and replace the controversial new levy.
"This is the No. 1 topic in the State House, and it will only intensify because the grassroots effort is only building," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, who was among those urging Gov. Deval Patrick, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray to ax the new tax on software services, whose broad wording analysts fear will sap the state's competitive edge.
"The calls, the emails, the media attention — none of that will end," Widmer vowed. "We will become a black mark in this nation if this stays in effect."
After inviting a handful of business leaders to air their concerns, Patrick later ducked the media, ordering his staff to cancel a press conference and instead releasing a one-paragraph statement in which he called the discussion "constructive and robust."
"While we did not arrive at a solution, we all committed to seeking one together over the next few weeks," Patrick said. But, attendees noted, the meeting did not include a discussion of what alternatives legislators could have if the tax is repealed, and the $161 million it is expected to generate vanishes.
"I think that the governor and the Legislature has been clear that that is their concern," said Andy Singleton, CEO of Assembla, a Needham software services firm, who attended the meeting.
Widmer and businesses did gain a victory yesterday, however, after Attorney General Martha Coakley's office certified their ballot initiative to repeal the tax, leaving activists to collect nearly 69,000 signatures by December — a goal Widmer said he's "very confident" they'll reach.
"The appetite is the Legislature does not want this to appear on the November 2014 statewide ballot," said Chris Anderson of the Massachusetts High Technology Council.
Andrew Mazzarella Faria of the newly formed Spark Coalition said activists plan to set up another phone-based protest Sept. 9 similar to the one Tuesday that sent at least 180 calls into legislators' offices.
"My general take is we got their attention," he said. "They're noncommittal because they think they can still fix it. But they're getting educated. ... This (tax) is not repairable."
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