First, here is the link to the Budget as released by the Budget Conference Committee, today:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/ht04…
The only vote allowed is yea or nay – no amendments.
YOU get to vote for YOUR least favorite cut in my poll. [There are no bright spots, no gains, no area impacting the vulnerable which was not cut, as far as I can tell.]
Again, the issue for me is the way revenue is raised, and the structural deficit.
Given the limitations upon the revenue that this Conference Committee had to work with, and the failure to restructure revenue by the legislature as a whole, this Conference Committee Budget is an honest attempt to spread the cuts across the board – but no less painful and no less dangerous to the truely needy despite the efforts made.
is to critical human-services, education, and public-services budgets across the state–in the form of aid to cities and towns.
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p>(You have that option, I just want to flesh it out a bit.)
The problem really is structural.
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p>The costs for health care have not gone down; roads and bridges have been shamefully ignored and allowed to crumble and we are playing catch up.
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p>Even if revenue was level, there would be trouble because [drum roll] costs go up, not down, for almost everything.
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p>Not to mention, the 30-60 day delay in actually collecting unemployment when you do get laid off [and were living paycheck to paycheck] has an impact, too.
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p>In at least one juvenile court where I practice, the abuse and neglect cases are up 40% – but with layoffs in all the agencies & nonprofits that provide services, and shut downs in programs, there is less and less available to address the concerns that led to the filing of these cases.
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p>So, the structural problem of depending on cyclic revenue that drops off, and not having the fortitude to restructure leads to increased need for services that are less and less available. NOT a good situation.