The Massachusetts legislature, meeting in Constitutional Convention (ConCon) this week gave procedural approval to placing a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2022. The proposal would amend the state constitution by allowing for classes of taxpayers to be taxed at different levels – more specifically, imposing an additional 4% surcharge on incomes exceeding $1 million. The law currently dictates that only a flat tax, where all citizens of Massachusetts are taxed at the same rates, may be imposed. The issue was slated for the 2018 ballot when the state supreme court ruled that the initiative petition as drafted usurped the legislature’s sole authority to appropriate funds and thereby violated the state constitution. Pursuing the same change through the legislative process insulates the proposal from those provisions. The proposal must be approved by 2 consecutive ConCons with at least 50% of the delegates voting affirmative to be cleared for the ballot. The ConCon will meet again in June when another procedural vote is expected.