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House Budget Proposal 'Devastating'By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
08:09PM / Wednesday, April 15, 2009
iBerkshires Newsroom
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The House released a spending plan today that paints a "devastating" picture of the state's financial situation — and will likely whet the public's appetite to digest hated tax hikes.
The House's preliminary fiscal 2010 budget is more than a half-million below that of Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed spending plan and $700 million less than last year's budget and includes $1.8 billion in cuts. While Chapter 70 education funding is being held level, it cuts local aid to cities and towns by 25 percent and eliminates a rash of grants and programs.
"This is the most devastating budget I've seen in 23 years," said Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams. "There are 55 line items that were cut out completely."
The veteran lawmaker said he's been on the receiving end of calls from municipal leaders in his district who say "they absolutely cannot live with the budget we're proposing."
House leaders say the budget is a dose of reality that reflects a precipitous drop-off in revenue that is expected to continue into the next fiscal year.
"We were forced to take reductions in virtually all areas of state government," said Rep. Charles Murphy, D-Burlington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "This will undoubtedly result in major disruptions for citizens in all areas of the commonwealth."
But, he said, the state is taking in far less revenue while state services are climbing: "This is an unsustainable equation."
"It's very draconian and very painful," said Rep. Denis E. Guyer, D-Dalton, a member of the Ways and Means Committee. As a former Dalton selectman, he said he understood the plight of local officials. But with a deficit that could balloon to $5 billion, "you're going to have to do something to get you out of the hole . ... This is the reality. I don't think this is a game that's being played."
Among the line items slashed are community policing grants, at-risk youth programs, the Agricultural Innovation Center, funding for the Quinn bill that provides education aid to police officers, small-business grants, the governor's Commonwealth Corps and other municipal and educational programs.
The $27.4 billion House budget doesn't dip into the state's stabilization fund and doesn't have any new broad-based taxes, although it does include hikes in motor-vehicle and nursing home fees.
Lottery aid and additional assistance funding, targeted for urban centers, will be combined in a general government fund. State workers will have to pony up more for their insurance premium split, up from 15 to 20 percent to 30 percent.
The governor's call for taxes on alcohol, candy, soft drinks, motel/hotels, etc., wouldn't cover enough of the deficit, said Bosley, and would disproportionately affect the state's poorest citizens. Raising the income tax rate to 5.9 percent could raise up to $1.5 billion, but another $2.1 billion would still have to be found just to level-fund it.
Some lawmakers still see gambling as a way out — Senate President Therese Murray gave a slot-machine "ka-ching" earlier Wednesday afternoon when it was announced gambling was back on the table. New House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo backs expanded gambling.
Bosley, a stalwart gambling opponent, put it down to "irrational exuberance." Casinos across the country have been hit hard with some facing bankruptcy, he said, and estimated revenues would be eaten up additional costs. Too, gambling opponents could put off the issue for years.
Instead, Bosley wants to see more investment in economic development to create jobs. "The [federal] stimulus money gives us an opportunity to plan long term, it's not going to happen overnight but as economy gets better we need to be ready."
Guyer said all options will be on the table when debate on the budget begins next week.
"My constituents say raise the sales tax," he said. "They understand that there's a revenue problem." |
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