“Tank Taxes for Olympics.” That’s the new slogan of a newly combined effort to stop taxpayer dollars from going toward the 2024 Summer Games, should they come to Boston. United Independent Party Leader Evan Falchuk and his group Citizens for a Say have combined with the group Yes On 1, who passed the repeal of automatic gas tax hikes last year. They’re using their combined grassroots organizations to pass a ballot question.
“Polling shows that there would be strong support for protecting taxpayers from the cost of the Olympics,” Falchuk says.
On the steps of the Statehouse, Falchuk and supporters say they’re focusing on gathering at least 65 thousand signatures statewide to get on the November 2016 ballot. He says there’s no evidence Boston 2024 is presenting its own ballot referendum.
“They have not released to the public any language that they might offer,” says Falchuk. “It is true that they have said they don’t want taxpayer money to be used. So we would expect that they might be supporting what it is that we’re saying and not working against it but time will tell.”
Boston 2024 bid organizers have said they will not host the games without the support of the majority of voters statewide.
The push for a statewide referendum to prevent Massachusetts taxpayers from paying for the 2024 Summer Olympics is getting stronger—And the movement now has support from the legislature. Republican State Representative Geoff Diehl says its time for lawmakers to speak up about the Olympics.
“Legislators are going to have to get more involved in this debate because it clearly affects every one of their districts. Not just in Boston but all the way out to Pittsfield. I mean, everybody is going to be at risk for potentially the overruns on this thing.”
Diehl says the Olympics debate is too heavily centered around Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and the Boston 2024 bid organizers.
