Boston, MA - The Massachusetts Republican Party strongly opposes the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s refiled Municipal Empowerment Act, more accurately dubbed the Municipal Taxation Act, which would give cities and towns the power to impose additional taxes on meals, hotel stays, and car ownership. If passed, this legislation would allow municipalities to slap an excise tax surcharge of up to 5% on vehicle owners, directly targeting working families who rely on their cars for daily necessities. 

“These tax increases are nothing more than a state level backdoor tax increase to extract even more money from hardworking Massachusetts families and small businesses,” said MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale. “Parents need cars to pick up groceries, drive their kids to school, and get to work. Instead of finding real solutions to our state’s financial issues, top Democrats are deliberately making car ownership more expensive to push people onto a failing public transit system. It’s a blatant cash grab that will make life even harder for residents.” 

The proposed hikes on the meal and hotel taxes will devastate small businesses in municipalities that adopt these tax increases-particularly local restaurants and family-owned hotels that are already struggling with inflation and rising costs. These taxes will make the simple joy of a night out for dinner even more expensive for Massachusetts families and discourage tourism, further hurting businesses that rely on visitors for revenue. 

“Raising the meal tax is an attack on the small restaurants and diners that are the backbone of our local economy,” Carnevale said. “For many families, going out to eat is already becoming a luxury. This proposal will make it even harder for working-class residents to enjoy a night out while small business owners suffer from reduced customer traffic.” 

The added tax on hotel stays will also hurt Massachusetts’ tourism and hospitality industry, “Instead of supporting our small businesses, Democrats are making it more expensive to attract customers. This will force many mom-and-pop establishments to either raise prices or shut their doors for good,” Carnevale added. 

Massachusetts already has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation, yet the Healey-Driscoll Administration continues to mismanage billions of taxpayer dollars-whether it’s reckless spending on the ongoing migrant crisis or wasteful government initiatives. Instead of squeezing residents for more money, the state should reallocate existing funds to support municipalities directly, allowing local governments to make decisions based on their community’s needs. 

“Massachusetts residents are already overtaxed,” Carnevale continued. “Before Democrats ask residents to fork over even more of their hard-earned money, they should take a hard look at their own out-of-control spending.” 

The Massachusetts Republican Party stands in full opposition to the Municipal Taxation Act and calls on the Healey-Driscoll Administration and Democratic supermajority to abandon this misguided proposal. Massachusetts families shouldn’t have to pay the price for Beacon Hill’s financial mismanagement.