PATRICK WILL REVERSE ROMNEY’S “9C” BUDGET CUTS
On December 27, 2006 Governor-elect Deval Patrick declared that he would restore all $383.6 million in emergency spending cuts made last month by Governor Mitt Romney, saying they were harmful to thousands of needy residents and not necessary to balance the state's books.
The budget-cut debate dates to Nov. 10, when Romney invoked emergency powers (his so-called "9C authority") that allow a governor to cut spending without getting legislative approval and slashed $425 million from the current state budget. At the time, Romney said the cuts would avert a spending crisis, which he blamed on the Legislature taking $450 million from the state's $2.1 billion "rainy day" fund. Romney said that fund should be tapped only as a last resort during a fiscal crisis. He said the reductions were necessary because the state's reserves were getting dangerously low. On Dec. 1, citing the state's higher than projected revenues for November, he restored $41.4 million (10% of the cut), mostly for state psychiatric hospitals, saying that tax collections in November had exceeded projections.
On announcing his plan to reverse the cuts, Patrick said revenue collections for December are also higher than projections , allowing him to restore the rest of the money. But Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom questioned the revenue figures that Patrick is using. While Patrick said revenues this fiscal year are $306 million to $326 million above projections, Fehrnstrom said the number is closer to $100 million. The fiscal year began July 1.
Some programs to be FULLY RESTORED:
- Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT)- cut $2,000,000
- Homeless Assistance for Individuals- cut $410,332
- Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children Program- cut $767,403
- Home and Healthy for Good (Housing First) Pilot Program - cut $600,000
- Teen Living Programs- cut of $79,408
- Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program-Cut $3,200,000
- DMR- Cut $9.8 million
- Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program- Cut $3,200,000
- Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) Grant Payments- Cut $7,800,000
- MassHealth Outreach and Enrollment grants- Funding eliminated. These grants were to be used to educate immigrants about their rights and responsibilities under the new health reform law.
- The Governor also cut funding for community health services, domestic violence services, and the newly created Citizenship for New Americans program.
- Adapted from: “Patrick vows to restore cuts of $383.6m; Move prompts a range of praise and criticism”, By Michael Levenson and Andrea Estes, The Boston Globe, December 28, 2006; “ Partial Victory: More Budget Cuts Restored, But The Need for Advocacy Continues “, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, e-mail, December 4, 2006; “Budget cuts won't hurt the retarded, state says”, By Robert Preer, The Boston Globe, December 17, 2006; and “ MIRA Bulletin December 12, 2006”, e-mail.
12/06