state budget

MA State Treasurer Steven Grossman has been working hard to make sure we can see how the state spends the money it receives from us (and other sources).  He's going to unveil this website today, December 5th.  This is a good thing!

...Grossman, Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez and state Comptroller Martin Benison will announce the launch of the official Massachusetts Open Checkbook site.  [The Boston Globe]

Some good things happening up at the State House

 Here is just one item

Another good thing happened when Democrats beat back a move by House Republicans that would have forced Bay State officials to check the immigration status of anyone seeking state health, housing, college education or most other publicly funded benefits. Steve Walsh, the Chair of the Health Financing had this to say on the floor of the House.

From the State House News service: Rep. S. Walsh said,

I would've loved to have had a discussion with my friend on issues that are important to him. I think there are a few key questions. My initial question was about the categories of people who are eligible for these benefits. There are three categories. The first category is those who are present in an emergency, a shooting, a knifing, cardiac arrests. What do you we do as a community or as a society if someone appears at an emergency room in our state with a catastrophic event? I'm not sure residency status is the first thing on our mind. Is it a large problem? Of course is it. But the debate here is not the appropriate answer. The second category is young school-age children that are eligible. It is important that we take care of ourselves when we are sick so we don't spread disease to other folks. It isn't a debate when we talk about all of our young people, such as the 15,000 young people in the city of Lynn. The third category is young, pregnant mothers for pre-partum or post-partum care. Who amongst us would suggest that in our urban or suburban areas that that person shouldn't be eligible for health care? It takes up less than 1 percent of our budget. Is it a problem? Sure, it's a serious problem. But it shouldn't be trivialized. It should be aired and talked about in a larger debate about immigration reform. My colleague quickly jumped to the word illegal immigrant. All the information suggests is that there was not documentation. A leap is being made there...

Judy Meredith and Lew Finfer are pooling their collective organizing, advocacy, and leadership experiences to form the Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Training Academy.  There's a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the next group of organizers and advocates and the current group of aspiring leaders.

State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry said the pair’s new focus on educating future activists comes at a critical time as non-profits struggle through a sluggish economy and new ethics reforms which she said has left many organizations scrambling to adjust...“I think it’s great what they’re doing,” Forry said. “There are a lot of non-profits that feel they don’t have the skills to address legislators. They find themselves paying out for a lobbyist when they could be doing much of the work themselves.”  [Full Article: Dorchester Reporter]

Budget and deficit reduction decisions in Washington, DC have substantive (and potentially harmful) consequences for local cities and towns, not only in the current year but for decades.  It now seems that some in Congress now want to play "chicken" with the transportation department as part of the deficit reduction debate.  We need to stay informed and engaged with this issue...

Federal transportation policy shapes, in a profound way, the way Americans connect to their communities and to the economy. When the feds get it right, cities flourish. And when they get it wrong, the consequences can last for decades.   [Full Op-Ed: The Boston Globe]

In the past three years, Lawrence lost $12 - $15 million in local aid.  The lack of these funds have severe reprecussions. Lawrence lost one-third of their police ranks due to these budget cuts and layoffs , so consequently when emergency services recently were faced with a large and unruly crowd, they were forced to call in reinforcements from the state and another town to assist in handling the situation. Clearly Lawrence residents have been adversely affected by State and Municipal budget cuts.  It seems they don't have what we all strive for - a safe community to live and work. We all need to work to change this...all communities in MA should be safe to live and work, supporting healthy families, and with the opportunity for providing quality education for all our children.

"I feel pretty positive we will be able to restore some of those cuts," [State Rep. David] Torrisi said. "It's not consolation to the people suffering right now, but we're trying our best to deliver the resources."  [Full Article: Eagle-Tribune]

It should not have been a surprise to anyone that the federal stimulus dollars provided to MA were going to be fully spent during the fiscal year 2012 budget cycle, if  not already spent in the previous year.  We were riding a temporary wave of economic recovery euphoria when for a couple of months tax revenues had been higher than last year.  Now that the stock market has declined dramatically, our current tax revenues have also declined.   In fact, MA tax revenue collections are lower than in fiscal 2008.

When faced with a potential $3 billion deficit in fiscal year 2003, the Massachusetts legislature took a balanced approach including approving a revenue package worth $1.1 billion.   Our current Senator Brown doesn't recall this bit of history, but we're hoping he takes this correct Mass model to Washington, DC for a balanced approach to addressing federal deficit.  Now, if only we could replicate this model for the Mass budget for fiscal year 2013.

“Every time we ran into a bump, no matter whether the year was ’01, ’02, ’03, or ’04, it was a combination of stuff,’’ recalls former House Speaker Tom Finneran, a fiscal conservative. “We would draw down the rainy day fund, we would do cuts, and we did revenue.’’  [Full Op-Ed: The Boston Globe]

There's a ripple effect when the credit rating of the federal government is downgraded.  Now some Massachusetts' cities and towns and school districts are on the "watch list" for potential credit rating downgrades.

“We’re obviously very concerned about it,’’ said Brookline’s town administrator, Melvin Kleckner.

Other communities that received a negative outlook are Acton, Bedford, Belmont, Concord, Dover, Hingham, Lexington, Newton, Wayland, Wellesley, and Weston...Concord-Carlisle Regional School District and the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School District also received the designation.  [Full Article: The Boston Globe]

Good news for Massachusetts if our economy only relied on state finances. Unfortunately, the federal financial crisis affects us all. 

Grossman says as a precaution, the state will stop borrowing this month and, if needed, until October, when the new federal budget kicks in. Despite the uncertainty, he says the state’s debt status and revenue are in good enough shape to receive what the U.S. Treasury didn’t — a higher Standard and Poor’s credit rating. [Full Article: WBUR]

Why are state revenues rising this year?  Are these tax collections sustainable and predictable cashflows?

...the fundamentals of state budgets still look gloomy. That’s partially because other levels of government are putting additional pressure on states. Some of that pressure will come from the debt ceiling agreement, which is likely to cut numerous discretionary programs that give states federal money. [Full Article: Stateline]