The House Budget Debate Print E-mail

Beacon Hill Byline

by Mary Rogeness

 The House Budget Debate April 20, 2007
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That is the famous opening sentence from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. It can describe many happenings in our lives. It could refer to the state budget proposed last month by Governor Patrick. And it could portray the House of Representatives budget that is this week’s debate topic in Boston.

The two budgets spend the same amount of money, though the House is still open to changes. Members are free to submit amendments to improve on the ideas of our ways and means committee. It is a privilege of membership that we take very seriously, as demonstrated by the 1,470 amendments that were filed in the clerk’s office last week.

We will work our way through those amendments during the whole week. And we are likely to dispose of all amendments with minimal debate. The procedure adopted a few years ago dictates that amendments dealing with a single topic or government agency be aggregated. Interested members then hash out their various proposals outside of the house chamber; a consolidated amendment is presented to the House; and most advocates emerge with some satisfaction.

The Longmeadow News deadline comes before the debate finishes, so I can’t tell you which programs gain favor during sessions. Instead I will focus on some differences between House 1, Gov. Patrick’s budget, and House 4000, the document released by the House ways and means committee.
           
            School funding is an important difference. Gov. Patrick’s allocations of state money made it the best of times for East Longmeadow, but the worst of times for Longmeadow. The House budget pulled back funding from the former and increased the money to our town, reinstating a formula adopted in last year’s budget to improve equitable distribution of state assistance.

            Public safety is another topic that has differing treatment. If you live in a high crime area, you applauded the governor’s proposal to train and pay salaries for 250 new police officers. However, it did not offer future funding of those new officers. Additionally, it funded that program by taking community policing grants from every police department. The community police dollars fund important services throughout the state. The House restores funding for Longmeadow and other local departments.

            Gov. Patrick relied on substantial new taxes on business to balance his budget, which the House rejected. We also turned down his local option taxes, though they may be debated later by the legislature.

            Earmarks! Budget earmarks have come under nationwide scrutiny lately because of their questionable use for pork barrel spending in Washington. However, they provide a way for lawmakers to direct state dollars to the appropriate programs. For example, it was an earmark that paid for repairs to the Community House. Governors do not like earmarks, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. As published, the House budget contained minimal such items. But half or more of the amendments simply dictate how the money already in the budget should be spent. And the final budget is likely to include many of those earmarks.

This week will finish step two of the budget marathon. I hope it will include the earmark or special program that is important to you. The next step is the senate budget, due to be released next month. That leaves plenty of time for a conference committee, and we should then be on track for a smooth transition to the new fiscal year on July 1.
 
What's in a Word? Print E-mail

Beacon Hill Byline

by Mary Rogeness

What’s in a Word? April 2, 2007

What’s in a Word?

This week the Byline takes on an ambitious task: trying to explain recent public pronouncements about the state of our Massachusetts budget in a way that is both comprehensible and readable. What is a deficit as opposed to a shortfall or gap. It may be beyond my power to make it interesting as well, but I will try.

            Before embarking on that task, I will share some good for everyone who pays income taxes. As a result of increased state revenue from last January to December, taxpayers gain an increased personal exemption for 2006 state income tax. Your exemption increases by $275, $425 or $550, depending on your filing status. This marks the third straight year that revenue growth outpaced inflation enough to trigger the increase.

            Now to explain the state budget. Here’s a simple comparison to your household budget. If you have $50,000 as income and spend $50,000, of course your budget is balanced. If you spend $55,000, taking $5,000 from a savings account, the budget is still balanced because you still meet your expenses. In state budget terms, however, it is not structurally balanced.

            This year’s state budget was not structurally balanced because it depended on $400 million from the rainy day fund. The fiscal year does not end until June, however, so unanticipated revenues may fill that gap, closing the books in the black.      Boston decision-makers agree on that assumption.

The budget that is in the news now is for FY (fiscal year) 2008, the budget that must be adopted by July 1.

According to news reports, Gov. Patrick commented in early January that his budget has a structural deficit in excess of $1 billion. Those reports were puzzling to me because he had just augmented the only budget currently in place by $384 million, creating by his action the only risk to its structural balance.

It is now clear that Gov. Patrick refers to the new budget he will create when he talks budgets. And he anticipates a billion dollar shortfall that will create a billion dollar gap. If current programs are continued, he projects a billion dollar deficit that will require half of the state’s rainy day fund to produce a budget that is not structurally balanced.

How did Massachusetts reach this point? The Department of Revenue has verified significant revenue growth by approving the increased exemption.  The gloomy picture comes from revenue forecasts for the year ahead. The consensus revenue estimate, released last week, projects a 3.2% or $740 million increase in FY2008. Many budget items increase automatically, and the governor naturally has new items he wants to fund. Those expenditures combine to exceed the available resources.

The governor has already indicated that 1,000 new police officers cannot be funded and that any new aid to cities and towns will be minimal. In addition he has asked cabinet members to cut 5% to 10% from their budget requests. He will present his budget later this month, and we will then find out what he trims and which initiatives he pursues.

Then the budget comes to the House of Representatives.   House leaders project a smaller gap of $800 million, but they want to address even more unmet needs. In the past few weeks I have met with advocates and officials who have real needs for new state support. I doubt if any representative is hearing from activists who wants less state money.

Stay tuned for “As the Budget Turns.
 
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