Barbara Anderson, 'Relentless' Taxpayer Advocate, Loses Battle with Leukemia

MARBLEHEAD, MA - A populist Massachusetts political icon and fighter for taxpayers in the state has passed away after a lengthy battle with leukemia, according to a post on the Citizens for Limited Taxation website.

Barbara Anderson, 73, passed away on April 8. She had spent the last four decades fighting for taxpayers via the CLT organization, where she was the executive director up until last year, often tangling with state Democrats and labor leaders in both public and private forums about the need to help working class folks not with more government spending but with the ability to keep their own money.

“A tax cut is a pay raise,” was often her rallying cry.

Some of those battles included the repeal of the state income tax surtax, the defeat of the graduated state income tax, the repeal of a “temporary” state income tax increase, and preservation of Proposition 2 1/2, a state law she helped initiate that requires cities and towns to seek voter approval for property tax increases and debt exclusions for constructing public buildings and other temporary, municipal debt. Anderson was also active in the fight to save historic Fenway Park and garnered respect on both sides of the aisle for her humor and honesty.

During the 1980s and 1990s, she was a fixture on talk radio and was a frequent source for journalists, including the national press corps during then-Gov. Mike Dukakis’ presidential run in 1988. Anderson was also a columnist for The Salem News and Lawrence Eagle-Tribune.

Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr broke the news of Anderson’s passing on Twitter this morning.

“Barbara was the best,” he wrote. “She, Jerry Williams & I were ‘governors’ on WRKO circa 1989-92. We made it hot for the hacks! She was our conscience.”

Union activist turned journalist, former Cambridge City Councilor Jim Braude, who would often debate the issue of taxes with Anderson – sometimes traveling to events together in the same car – called her “a political force of nature: never seen before, never to be seen again.”

Media critic and journalism professor Dan Kennedy called her “a principled conservative and every reporter's best friend. She made time for journalism students as well.”

Anderson leaves behind her partner of two decades, Chip Ford, who is also active at CLT, a son, Lance, and a daughter-in-law Mary, of Nevada, as well as two grandchildren.

According to CLT, there are no services planned at post time, per her request.