Barbara Anderson (anti-tax activist)

Barbara Anderson (1943 – April 8, 2016) was an anti-tax activist.[1] She was eulogized by Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker[2] for her contribution to reducing property, income and excise taxes for state citizens[3] (moving Massachusetts from the sixth-heaviest taxed state to the 36th).[4][5] She was an executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation for 35 years.[6] In November 1980,[7] she led the property tax relief campaign, instituting the ballot initiative empowering voters with a veto on property tax hikes.[8] She was instrumental in the repeal of the state income tax surtax; defeat of the graduated income tax ballot question, and “temporary” state income tax increase rollback.[9] She was a weekly contributor to both The Salem News[10] and The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company.[11] Anderson was known as “The Mother of Proposition 2½.”[12][13][14] She co-hosted a popular WRKO radio program with newspaper columnist Howie Carr and radio personality Jerry Williams.[15]