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Late Budget No Cause for Worry
The state’s fiscal year begins on July 1. In order to meet that deadline the legislature is supposed to have approved and sent a budget to the governor by mid-June. Nearing the end of August, we still do not have a state budget and the legislature will probably agree to a fifth interim budget sometime this week or early next week. It took five months for a joint committee of the House and Senate to work out their differences in 1999.The fact that the budget deadline has not been met at all in recent years causes little consternation at the State House, however.
On the one hand, some people outside the legislature are not happy that the legislature can’t get its work done on time. Chip Ford of Citizens for Limited Taxation told the Beacon Hill Beat this week, “We pay these people enough for them to be able to produce that one important document every year, but they’re all on vacation.” On the other hand, Ford admits, there are some nice benefits to a budget process that drags on. He commented, “Funding it two weeks at a time, based on last year’s budget numbers saves tax payers money.” Last year’s budget was about $1 billion less than this year’s proposal. In the offices and halls of the legislature, most people are laid back about the budget process. Aides and legislators alike tell us that there is no problem with a late budget and that this year they are getting fewer complaints than in the past. One member of the House Ways and Means Committee told the Beacon Hill Beat that the missed deadline “just delays increases in programs that people are expecting - and none of those increases are guaranteed. Nobody in state government should plan on any increases.” Not everyone is happy with the situation, however. Rep. Paul Loscocco (R-Holliston) told the BHB, “It’s unfortunate when political considerations factor into what should be the regular give and take of a straightforward legislative process. Many of our most vulnerable citizens rely on the legislature to complete in a timely fashion that which should be its first order of business: to put its fiscal affairs in order.” The numbers in the House and Senate versions are not very different. The House budget totals $22.94 billion, while the Senate version comes in at $22.91 billion. The big sticking points are: how to fund the Clean Elections program and how to use tobacco settlement money. Chip Ford wonders why the legislature even bothers to assign a conference committee to deal with the issue of divergent House and Senate versions. Says he: “It just comes down to whatever the Toms decide they want to do.” The Toms are Senate President Thomas Birmingham (D-Chelsea) and House Speaker Thomas Finneran (D-Chelsea). For those who savor the thoughts of a “Do-Nothing Congress,” this is perhaps as good as it gets. No budget increases and no bills coming out of Ways and Means committees is a pretty satisfying situation for a lot of citizens. |
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