#4

Congratulations all around…Massachusetts is ranked fourth in stimulus spending.

Massachusetts is ranked fourth in the nation when it comes to spending federal stimulus money.

State officials overseeing the stimulus program in Massachusetts said the state has been awarded $3.3 billion in federal funds and has already spent about $1.5 billion on transportation, clean energy, health and human services and education.

The money has also been used to stave off even deeper budget cuts, although state lawmakers, including Senate President Therese Murray, have warned that next year’s budget deliberations could be even tougher as stimulus funding dries up.

Also Thursday, Gov. Deval Patrick announced 75 communities will receive $40 million in federal community development grants — including $9 million in stimulus funds.

So what did we get for that money? So far, we have seen roads resurfaced that didn’t need it. We’ve seen road signs that were perfectly fine get replaced. And the sales tax went up.

Awesome! Hip hip hurray for being #4!

The Common Wealth of Taxachusetts

And off we go down the path of tax hikes and toll hikes and falling short of making the necessary reforms to keep those hikes from happening.

Bay State consumers, already hard-pressed by a slumping economy, will be slapped with a 25 percent sales tax hike and nearly $1 billion in total tax increases Aug. 1, Gov. Deval Patrick said yesterday after signing a massive transportation reform bill.

Patrick had vowed to veto the sales tax boost if lawmakers didn’t enact transportation, pension and ethics reforms – but all three measures passed.

“I could not support a sales tax increase and ask people to pay for the status quo,” Patrick said in a statement. “Because of (the reforms), I will approve the new revenues we need to bring our budget into balance, offset the need for even more difficult cuts and expand opportunity throughout the commonwealth.”

The transportation measure also means an unpopular toll hike – scheduled take effect July 1 – will likely be averted. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board is meeting Monday.

I am not convinced, not in the slightest, that all possible options were considered to avoid increasing taxes. When times are tight for the rest of us, we have to cut our spending. Why can’t the state? I know too many people that have to endure pay cuts in addition to their own spending cuts and times are still rough. I know too many people that have become unemployed in the last year who will also bear the brunt of tax increases at the worst possible time. If they think the state has it rough, as around, they don’t have it so bad.

If someone can explain to me why perfectly good roads are getting repaved and perfectly good highway signs are getting replaced while taxes are being raised, then perhaps you have a shot of convincing me that the hikes are necessary. But I doubt it.

We’re all tired of the incessant rain that has been falling on the Commonwealth for weeks–but there is always hope in knowing that there is sunshine in our future…at least with regards to the weather forecast. As far as the forecast for the economy of the Commonwealth–I see that dreary days well into our future.

Remind me again, why do I bother to stay in Massachusetts?

Latest Budget Includes Taxes, Not Reforms

The budget unveiled by our elected officials on Beacon Hill still lacks in the reform department.

Beacon Hill lawmakers last night unveiled a $27.4 billion budget that hikes taxes nearly $1 billion while slashing aid to cities and towns.

The spending blueprint raises the sales and meals taxes from 5 percent to 6.25 percent, and ends the sales tax exemption on booze bought in package stores, soaking taxpayers for an estimated $860 million.

Cities and towns would also be able to raise hotel and meals taxes, expected to cost taxpayers another $95 million.

Democrats who control the budget-writing committees noted that they cut $700 million in spending.

“This reflects the reality we’re in,” said Rep. Charles Murphy (D-Burlington).

But House Republican Leader Rep. Brad Jones said the budget would whack struggling families.

“The fact of the matter is, I think this budget will have a heavy dose of taxes, obviously some serious cuts and very little reform,” Jones said.

The spending cuts and tax hikes come as the state faces a $3 billion dropoff in tax revenue.

Some of the budgets provisions include:

• Cut Quinn Bill education funding for current police officers to $10 million, while eliminating them entirely for new officers
• Force state workers to pay as much as 25 percent of their health-care premiums – a hike of at least 5 percent
• Steer $275 million to transportation funding to stave off Pike toll hikes and MBTA fare increases.

How about we force state workers to pay as much as 50%, as many of us in the private sector do. Sorry, but an increase of 5% to their share of their health care pales in comparison to the real world and we are going through.

$275 million to stave off hikes in the Pike tolls and MBTA fares? Will they guarantee that the tolls and fares can’t go up? Sorry, but I’d bet good money that even with $275 million to “stave off” those increase, they will come in short order.

Whatever the budget proposes, I am sure more could be done–much more–they just won’t. Until Beacon Hill takes the idea of reform seriously, we will be forced to endure tax increases on top of cuts to services. That is inexcusable.

Tisei Leading The Charge To Nix Hack Holidays

If ever there was a time to get rid of these ridiculous holidays, it’s now. Thankfully, there is one party on Beacon Hill willing to get it done.

A Senate push to repeal two controversial Suffolk County holidays – which went down to defeat in a close vote last month – could get new life thanks to a top Republican who has vowed to refile the bill, the Herald has learned.

A budget amendment to eliminate Bunker Hill Day and Evacuation Day drew widespread support from Senate Republicans and liberal Democrats alike – including Hub state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz – but the measure ultimately fell short by a 21-17 vote.

“We got more support than ever this year,” Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei said yesterday. “We’re picking up a lot of momentum and, given the fact that this has so much support, I’ll be filing it as a piece of legislation.”

That’ll give lawmakers such as Sen. Michael Knapik another chance to skewer the much-maligned holidays, which the Westfield Republican says cost the state more than $5 million at a time of likely steep tax hikes and deep budget cuts.

“It’s hard to justify these days off any more,” Knapik said. “I’m heartened by the 17 votes. Hopefully they’ll bring some sanity to everyone else.”

All schools and other nonemergency government agencies are closed in Suffolk County on Bunker Hill Day on June 17 and Evacuation Day on March 17. State employees also are allowed to take the days off or use them as floating holidays.

Outside of Suffolk County, these holidays are a joke. Let’s face it, government agencies don’t need two more days a year to be earning holiday pay when most of these people are serving positions that have little to no purpose.

Senators took the first vote on a Republican budget amendment aimed at axing the holidays two weeks ago, sparking a roughly 15-minute debate laced with sarcasm and old-fashioned Boston tribalism.

“If they want to debate the merits of the Suffolk County holidays I’m happy to defend them,” said Sen. Jack Hart (D-Dorchester). “It’s not a frivolous tradition. We hold it to be important, and I wonder if we get rid of it does that open the Pandora’s box to perhaps over time get rid of other holidays.”

Senator Jack Hart, you are a fool. Yeah, can you imagine nixing holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving? Of course not. It is absolutely a frivolous tradition. In a day and age where I’d be willing to be most children attending public school can’t tell you the real meaning of “religious” holidays like Easter or Christmas (besides the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus), an even smaller percentage are likely to be able to tell you what Bunker Hill Day or Evacuation Day are. How many of the hacks who take those days off know what those days are all about?

You know that in the private sector, employees are being treated to less paid holidays now than they were even just last year–it’s a sign of the times. When the rest of us are being forced to make sacrifices, we expect the government to do the same–especially considering it’s our money they are flushing down the toilet so a bunch of do-nothing hacks can go enjoy a spring or summer day while the rest of us work to pay for their days off.

Oh Happy Day

Democrats at each other’s throats? Yes!!!

The widening rift and bitter words between Governor Deval Patrick and his Democratic colleagues in the Legislature is creating dismay among some party members, who worry about their political fortunes as the state faces a budget crunch of epic proportions and a countdown to reelections in 2010.

The inability of top Democrats to work in concert, generating as much ill will between the branches as when Republicans held the corner office, shows how liberals, conservatives, insiders, and outsiders at the State House have succumbed to factional disputes and political posturing as they respond to intense pressure to cut budgets and raise taxes.

“It’s clearly getting in the way of important work. It does exactly what none of us want, which is the further erosion of public confidence,” said Representative Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat and House chairman of the Committee on Revenue. “The analogy that rings true still is that we haven’t quite sorted out this dance. You would think that after 2 1/2 years we would have started to figure that out.”

The only joy in the current political environment is emanating from the state’s Republican Party, which is already recruiting candidates for next year’s election as it portrays Democrats as incompetent to lead in a time of crisis.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Nick Connors, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party. “The Democrats are creating opportunities for us all around the state. It shows a definite need for two parties and a different vision for where we can take the state.”

The discord among Democrats, in some ways, is counterintuitive. The party has control of both the House and Senate – by the largest majority in the state’s history – and also took the corner office in 2006 for the first time in 16 years.

But with no Republicans to battle, Democrats have turned upon themselves in repeated bouts of intraparty bickering. Strains that may be less visible during flush times are also highlighted as top leaders debate raising taxes, cutting local aid, and overhauling laws around ethics, pension, and transportation.

UPDATE: More from the Norwich Bulletin, NECN and WBZ.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Herald, Brockton Enterprise, Wendy Murphy and Joan Vennochi.

THIRD UPDATE: From the Herald.