Politics & Government

Lyons: Tax Hikes 'Stimulus Package for Southern New Hampshire'

The tax hikes took effect Wednesday, and Andover's Republican state representative is voicing his outrage.

You probably noticed that gas is a little more expensive since Tuesday. And if you smoke, you notice a spike in the cost of cigarettes.

That's because effective Wednesday, the Massachusetts gas tax has increased by 3 cents a gallon and the cigarette tax has increased a dollar a pack. The law also expands a service tax to computer and software services, a major industry in Massachusetts.

State Rep. Frank Moran and State Sen. Barry Finegold -- both Democrats who represent Andover in the legislature -- voted in favor of the overriding the veto, effectively voting for the tax increases.

"I voted for the budget as a whole," Moran said. :When I ran for office I said I would fight for more local aid. "With the budget we have unrestricted local aid, chapter 70 went up, and that was a huge boost for the state of Massachusetts."

Andover's other state representative, Republican Jim Lyons, is not letting the issue subside.

"There's no end to the money the Democrats think they need," Lyons said. "There is $1.4 billion in new revenues between the amount of money left over in the 2012 budget and the consensus revenue in 2014 budget."

"The Democrats voted to increase the gas tax every year into infinity and beyond. It's indexed, so every year it will go up," Lyons added.

Moran said that the good parts of the bill outweigh the bad.

"I thought it was a win-win for the state of Massachusetts," Moran said. "We have a tuition freeze for the University of Massachusetts, to freeze the tuition for one year. We have an increase for housing programs... it's going to allow more than 1,000 housing vouchers for the state."

The gas and cigarette tax increases are expected to impact the Merrimack Valley businesses especially, since consumers can simply drive a few miles to New Hampshire to purchase those items.

"It's what they call a stimulus package for Southern New Hampshire," Lyons said. "It's a shot in the arm for the economy of New Hampshire at expense of the commonwealth, particularly the Merrimack Valley."

Moran doesn't think there will be a damaging impact on the region.

"I don't think it'll be noticeable," Moran said. "But I filed a bill at the State House to eliminate the sales tax within 10 miles of the New Hampshire border."

That bill, which has yet to be debated, would include general merchandise, not gas.

State Sen. Barry Finegold did not respond to a request for comment.


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