Eisenthal’s got a good rundown of today’s budget news: Good, but not really really good:
As TER discussed last month, avoiding either mid-year reductions or use of the Commonwealth’s Stabilization (“rainy day”) fund, would require an assumption of 5 percent growth in revenues. Even if full year revenues match the 4.6 percent year to year growth, the Commonwealth faces difficult choices – this year and next year. Using the Stabilization Fund would mean that much less flexibility for next year – particularly if revenue growth is less robust than it is now.
So that continues the narrative that Governor Patrick will have a difficult, uh, balancing act with the budget he submits, which will be one of his first acts as Governor. Don’t expect any miracles.
Silver lining? If we want improvements in the services we have, they’ll have to be achieved through genuine innovation and change, as opposed to merely getting more of the same by throwing money at the problems — ‘cuz it ain’t there, at least not yet.
The budget is now Y-T-D $84 million ‘over benchmark’, and as a result Romney restored $41 million of the 9C cuts he made last month.
Maybe the CEO of the Commonwealth should have spent a little time studying the revenues AND the areas that he cut, before implementing the 9C cuts. On a very practical level, it would have prevented losing a lot of time(ka-ching)and energy on managing his mis-management. Leadership almost always includes making hard and unpopular decisions…but arbitrary and capricious, PLEEEZE. He costs us money.
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The restoration was pure back peddaling after the obvious screw-up with hatching Homeless people at the onset of a New England winter. Not all conservatives are heartless buffons and Mitt knows he can only expose a partial picture of his egomania to continue his quest-at-any cost pursuit of power (aka The Presidency).
If Romney discovered a cure for cancer using graham crackers you guys would criticize him for shilling for Nabisco.
Not likely to happen based on his performance and position with stem cells and the conservative agenda to underfund and manipulate scientific/medical research. Cancer, AIDS, the war in Iraq…..they’re all God’s will in the world of the far right.
When the 9C cuts of 2003 were made there was sacrifice with understanding that the fiscal situation was extremely dire. The Governor exhibited attention to the matter. His abdication of his moral obligation to preside over the Commonwealth is the problem. He costs us money. Willie’s World is a scary place.
The Governor is supposed to submit his first budget (House 1, I think) at the beginning of March.
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Is there any new info that comes out between now and then?
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Assuming normal growth in current progams, any estimate on how much new money there is to spend on new stuff? I think MA Taxpayer Foundation recently estimated $60 million this year, then maybe $200 million the following year.