Letters to the editor

House procrastinates

The sports betting legislation (” Sluggish pace,” Herald 12/26) is another example of the procrastination by State House members as neighboring states Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and soon to be Connecticut attract Massachusetts residents to wager and also spend additional dollars on other purchases.

Our legislators, who are constantly looking for more tax revenue to fund their pet projects and grants, are laggards on the sports betting issue, similar to the state coming late to the party on a state lottery and casinos.

Sen. Eric Lesser, who chairs the committee on Economic Development, continues to stonewall the issue with the excuse that further studies are needed. Of course his priority since leaving the Obama administration has been high-speed rail in the state, which with excessive costs will be a tough sell to taxpayers. In the meantime, lost tax revenue will be flowing out of state as well as the growth for online gambling opportunities. Sen. Lesser needs no further studies. The reality is very obvious that he needs to get behind sports betting sooner than later.

— Fran Bogdanowicz, Longmeadow

Minimum wage

Raising the minimum wage will result in poorer customer service and longer wait times for customers of a huge number of quick-service businesses, reduced profit margins for small business owners and fewer employment opportunities for unskilled workers. Higher wages don’t hurt millionaire CEOs. They hurt restaurants, franchise owners and small businesses with a tight payroll to meet.

If the Commonwealth truly wanted to help low-income workers, it would expand the statewide earned income tax credit and keep the minimum wage at $12. As it is, the maximum state EITC for a single filer with no dependents earning no more than $15,270 is only $156 (30% of the federal credit). If the credit were raised to 60% of the federal credit, a worker putting in 25 hours a week at a minimum wage job would earn a combined credit of $830 a year.

Studies show that refundable earned income tax credits incentivize employment, reduce poverty, contribute to the local economy and even contribute to increased hiring. Tax credits also reduce tax non-compliance. Mandating a higher minimum wage when there are clearly better alternatives will do nothing but stifle small businesses and frustrate consumers.​

— Sean F. Flaherty, Charlestown

Wagons ho!

When the wagon trains left from Independence, Missouri, headed for California and Oregon, the people on them had one thing in common, they all wanted a better, more free life in greener pastures. That was the spirit of America that made us special. I would like to see President Trump on a wagon train. Mitch McConnell and the Democrats too. Dusty roads headed west to the unknown. The struggle to survive. The hardships that made us what we are today. Banding together.

A couple thousand miles in a wagon ought to smarten them all up. This impasse in Washington, D.C., can end. Working together will help. If they can finish the trip and tough it out, I’ll vote for them. Wagons ho!

— Thomas W. King, Shaftsbury, Vt.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2F6MoxR