Legislative Activity Pledge

The rolling stock tax in Massachusetts continues to impact companies of all sizes and will continue to do so until it is eliminated. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s 2023 Directive 23-1 further underscored the impact this tax will have on the trucking industry in Massachusetts. We must continue working together to eliminate this tax to ensure that the trucking industry and the residents and businesses we serve are not adversely impacted.

To that end, the Massachusetts legislature is considering several initiatives to eliminate the sales and use tax on rolling stock. While the initiative has come close to passage in the previous three legislative sessions, there are good reasons to continue the fight this year. We are getting closer than ever.

In particular, there is a variety of favorable news for our effort, including, but not limited to, the following:

• The Joint Committee on Revenue issued a favorable report on our stand-alone rolling stock initiative in early February.
• Further, through our work during the Massachusetts legislature’s deliberations on personal and broader business tax reform last year, legislators continue to indicate their support for the rolling stock initiative – particularly when discussing sector-specific initiatives that have a broader impact – as part of other potential pieces of legislation.
• With private and public conversations about making Massachusetts more competitive, the rolling stock initiative fits this narrative exceptionally well.
• In addition, with the Commonwealth’s continued focus on green initiatives and the reduction of transportation emissions, the rolling stock initiative has seen more stakeholder groups become interested.
• Several interested organizations have recently raised the rolling stock initiative as a key priority for their organizations. For example, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), one of the leading business organizations within the Commonwealth, recently included the rolling stock initiative as one of its primary policy objectives for 2024.

TAM continues to make tremendous progress in raising our profile and advancing the rolling stock initiative, specifically before government leaders. Our efforts have put us on the edge of changing this law in Massachusetts.

We need to continue this important work for the future of trucking in Massachusetts. With your financial support, we will be able to ensure that doing business in Massachusetts is not a liability to your company. We have come too close to give in now.

We need to raise additional funding to finish the work we have started. Given the impact of rolling stock taxes on every trucking company, a donation from your company is a relatively small ask that will make a big difference if we all join together! Money raised will help fund the effort through the remainder of the session (seven months).

Please know that your pledge will only be used for this purpose. If we cannot raise additional funds, TAM will struggle to move forward on this critical issue in the manner it deserves.

Once again, I want to express my deepest gratitude for your unwavering support. Your generosity has helped us get to this point. I am hopeful you will continue to find it in your best interest to continue to support this effort. If you have any questions or want to learn more about our organization or the campaign, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at (781) 307-6679.

TAM is a small organization. We have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this effort these past years. It’s simply not in our budget to carry this load alone. Accordingly, please donate to this initiative.

On behalf of the Trucking Association of Massachusetts members and the men and women who drive in and through our State daily, thank you for considering this request.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kevin Weeks
TAM Executive Director