Deval Signs Budget
by Aaron Margolis, July 14th, 2008 at 12:55pm
Governor Deval Patrick signed a $28.1 billion budget yesterday, not before vetoing $122.5 million and asking for “expanded authority to make additional cuts if the economy worsens.”
The cuts come at a time when the state is looking at soaring energy prices and higher than expects costs associated with the state’s landmark 2006 health care law.
Patrick said the vetoes — and the authority that would allow him to make midyear cuts across state government instead of just in the executive branch — will help insulate the state if the economy takes a dramatic slide.
“I believe we’ve got to prepare now for economic trouble ahead,” Patrick told reporters.
Many of the cuts came to so-called “earmarks” or individual pet projects inserted into the budget by lawmakers — from $100,000 for an invasive weed control project on the Charles River in Waltham to $1,150,000 for the Boston, Cambridge and Everett Fire Department Hazardous Material Response Teams.
While I’m glad he cut these ridiculous earmarks, the “expanded authority” worries me, and his lack of confidence in the economy doesn’t help either. Let’s hope this “expanded authority” doesn’t turn into a tax increase.
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