WALTHAM — Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy is escalating his attack on Beacon Hill after a top Democratic lawmaker dismissed taxpayer relief as “irresponsible,” calling the remark emblematic of a political class addicted to spending other people’s money.

Kennealy took direct aim at House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, who criticized two taxpayer-focused ballot questions that would lower taxes and return excess revenue to residents. Kennealy said the comments reveal how far out of touch Beacon Hill leadership has become with working families struggling to afford life in Massachusetts.

“The only thing ‘irresponsible’ here is Beacon Hill’s addiction to overspending,” Kennealy said. “Calling direct tax relief for working families irresponsible — after Democrats blew through their own budget by more than $6 billion — is breathtakingly out of touch.”

The ballot questions at the center of the dispute would deliver direct, measurable relief to taxpayers. One proposal would reduce the state income tax rate from 5% to 4%, a change supporters say would provide meaningful savings for middle- and working-class households across the Commonwealth. The other would expand automatic tax refunds when state revenues exceed projections, ensuring surplus money is returned to taxpayers instead of being absorbed into state spending.

Kennealy argued that labeling those proposals “irresponsible” flips reality on its head at a time when residents are being squeezed by rising housing costs, inflation, and some of the highest taxes in the region.

“It would almost be comical if the consequences weren’t so serious,” Kennealy said. “Governor Maura Healey and the Democratic supermajority have shown time and again that they cannot be trusted as responsible stewards of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars.”

According to Kennealy, years of runaway budgets and expanding government programs have failed to make Massachusetts more affordable, while families continue to leave for lower-tax states. He said the responsible path forward is not higher taxes or fewer refunds, but firm limits on government spending and real accountability on Beacon Hill.

“Massachusetts doesn’t have a revenue problem — it has a failed leadership problem,” Kennealy said. “When government proves it can’t manage money responsibly, the answer isn’t higher taxes or fewer refunds. The answer is accountability. Letting taxpayers keep more of their own money isn’t reckless — it’s common sense.”