| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

06-24-2006

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 5 months ago

June 24, 2006

ROMNEY VETOES WASTEFUL SPENDING, CITES NEED TO MAINTAIN FISCAL DISCIPLINE

Also takes action to reduce judicial pay raise from 15 percent to 4.1 percent

 

Governor Mitt Romney warned today that the Legislature is heading down a “dangerous path” by dipping into the rainy day fund to pay for millions of dollars in new spending. Romney made the comments as he issued vetoes on a pair of spending bills sent to him by the Legislature.

 

“I cannot in good conscience agree to spending money from the rainy day fund in a year of record high revenues. The spending in these bills would put Massachusetts on the same road to ruin we’ve been down before,” Romney said.

 

“Most of the cuts I have made are for projects that would be nice to have, but which we cannot justify paying for out of rainy day funds. A smaller number of these projects are just pure pork,” he added.

 

Millions of dollars were earmarked by legislators for pet projects in their districts, drawing down the state’s $1.7 billion Stabilization Fund by $256 million. Romney’s vetoes to both bills – a supplemental budget and an economic stimulus package - totaled $225 million.

 

The vetoes took aim at many different earmarks, including $150,000 for the University of Massachusetts to study the winter moth, $250,000 for the Hopkinton Athletic Association, $100,000 for a gazebo on Sunset Lake in Braintree and $4 million to research the efficiency of the internal combustion engine.

 

“Four years ago, we had a serous budget crisis in this state, and a lot of hard work went into putting Massachusetts back on solid footing. For this, the Legislature deserves credit. But if we don’t maintain fiscal discipline today, big problems are sure to follow tomorrow,” Romney said.

 

Romney is also reducing the 15 percent raise given to judges, judicial clerks and sheriffs to make those increases consistent with the 4.1 percent raises given to other constitutional officers. He is also vetoing the provisions and funding that would make the raises retroactive and allow some clerks and sheriffs to receive higher than 15 percent raises.

 

“A 15 percent retroactive pay raise for judges is excessive. I am proposing a more modest increase that is fair to both the judges and to the taxpayers,” said Romney.

 

The supplemental budget included $301 million in appropriations, plus a transfer of $346 million for hospitals. The Governor vetoed $56.5 million in appropriations and reduced the transfer to hospitals by $95 million to $251 million because it would have violated federal budget neutrality, a cap above which the state cannot spend without jeopardizing federal reimbursement for services.

 

Among the largest items signed into law by the Governor were $55 million for road and bridge improvements through the Commonwealth’s Chapter 90 program, as well as $100 million for expansion and improvement projects at the University of Massachusetts and the state and community colleges.

 

The economic stimulus bill that passed the Legislature contained $162.3 million in appropriations, $99 million in transfers and $200 million in bond authorizations. The Governor vetoed $24.1 million in appropriations and $50 million in budgetary transfers.

 

The Governor signed into law the $200 million in bonding, half of which will go into a fund under the control of the Executive Office of Economic Development (EED) to help pay for infrastructure costs to help businesses grow and expand. The Governor also signed $1.5 million for the creation of an in-state sales force to market Massachusetts to companies around the country.

 

He also signed into law $55 million in cash and bond funds to undertake infrastructure improvements in the revitalized Longwood and Kenmore Square sections of Boston, home to many hospitals, new retail shopping and the Boston Red Sox.

 

Romney also eliminated an enhancement of the historic rehabilitation income tax credit which is paid to developers and which would have increased the grant program from $15 million to $50 million. If the Governor had let that provision stand, it would have cost the state $44 million initially and then $35 million annually thereafter.

 

 

 

###

 

Read Supplemental Budget Bill Actions

Read Economic Stimulus Bill Actions

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.