State House News Service’s invaluable weekly roundup reports today that the House Ways & Means Committee’s budget looks unusually similar to Romney’s, and that neither contains much good news. Education and local aid are both well below what advocates say are needed to sustain current levels of service, and there’s no relief in sight: "neither Romney’s budget nor the House plan is truly balanced or sustainable – costs exceed revenues, and the bottom lines are made to match via accounting or one-time savings accounts withdrawals. And the problem won’t go away – [Mass. Taxpayers Foundation] projected health care costs, education, capital maintenance and pension expenses will more than eat up whatever revenues might be used for program restoration in future years."
This should give our newly-declared gubernatorial candidate something meaty to chew on. He, along with the rest of the hopefuls, needs to get specific quickly about how to solve what is starting to look like a chronic budget crisis here in Massachusetts.
And along those lines, Mr. Patrick, may we respectfully suggest that your website, impressive though it is, is missing something very important: a "where I stand on the issues" page. Inquiring minds want to know.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that omission.