We are very excited to announce that the
Schott Foundation for Public Education has

selected ONE Massachusetts as their

grantee of the year! We will receive the award during the 2009 Opportunity to Learn Education Summit in Washington DC this coming Friday November 6. And while we are very excited about this recognition we are more ready than ever to continue working towards having an adequate and balanced state budget that helps us support the public structures we all care and rely on.

[Skip Ahead: Civic Engagement | Revenue | Government Reform]

• November 3, 2009. Local Elections around the State. Over 50 municipalities across the state will hold elections tomorrow Tuesday November 3. We need to be sure that our voices are heard through the electoral process. Encourage your friends and family members to go their respective polling locations and exercise their right to elect our representatives at the local level. Our future as a community and as a democracy depends on our ability to come together and have a voice on how decisions are made on our behalf.
  
  If you are not sure about your polling location visit the wheredoivotema.org website for more information.

• Patrick slashes budget, says he protected large areas. Gov. Deval Patrick announced a plan Thursday to cut $352 million in state spending four months into the fiscal year, relying on $35 million reaped through layoffs, $82 million in unspecified "departmental revenues," and $62 million in federal stimulus aid to close most of a $600 million budget shortfall. The package also pulls $60 million in surplus funds from the fiscal year that ended July 1, begins a phase-out of a police education incentives program, and offers a tax amnesty program estimated to generate $20 million. Patrick shielded education funds, state aid to cities and towns, MassHealth and Commonwealth Care. The administration said it protected programs for the mentally ill, homeless, and correctional facilities, but all suffered deep cuts. [SHNS]
  
  To learn more about the proposed cuts visit the FY2010 Budget Summary and the MassBudget Brief: The Governor's Plan to Close the FY 2010 Budget Gap.
  
  
• Gov. Deval Patrick won't cut films' tax credit. Greg Bialecki, Gov. Deval Patrick's secretary of housing and economic development, said the film tax credit is one of many tax exemptions, deductions and incentives that the administration is now eyeing for possible changes as the state grapples with a $600 million budget deficit. Bialecki said the governor thought it was only fair that the state looks at tightening tax laws while also moving toward major cuts in state spending. He indicated eliminating the film tax credit is off the table, though it may face some adjustments.[Boston Herald]
  
  
• Feds blast Deval Patrick on cuts to disabled. A top federal official rapped Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday for a belt-tightening move that could worsen a Social Security backlog, leaving tens of thousands of disabled citizens desperately waiting for benefits. "We've got a rapidly increasing number of (disability) applicants. It tends to go up in bad economic times," said Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue. "This is just not helping people. It just makes no sense. This is ultimately an indefensible policy." [Boston Herald]
  
  
• Murphy: State won't need rainy day fund draw for fiscal 2009. The state will not need to make a roughly $200 million withdrawal from the state's rainy day account to balance its fiscal 2009 budget, House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Murphy announced. Murphy said the withdrawal was envisioned a few months ago but is not necessary because of $170 million in fiscal 2009 budgetary reversions and the use of $40 million allocated for subsidized health insurance coverage under Commonwealth Care but not needed for that program. [SHNS]
  
  
• Lawmakers combing through tax code. A subcommittee charged with examining hundreds of tax breaks, deductions and credits authorized over decades is combing through those policies, characterized by government officials as "tax expenditures." The panel met Wednesday morning at the State House. Experts invited to speak by the subcommittee questioned the value of a sales tax exemption on services, which officials estimate saves consumers more than $6 billion a year on everything from haircuts to accounting work. "I think it's crazy," said Karl Case, a Wellesley College economics professor. "What's the difference between a good and service today? I never quite understood why it's there." [SHNS]

• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Federal Stimulus in Massachusetts (October 2009 update). The Mass Budget and Policy Center published a recent report that examines the effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on Massachusetts and its residents. The updated report provides an overview of each of the major components of the federal stimulus, as well as detailed estimates of the amount of ARRA funds spent so far, along with the total amount coming to Massachusetts.

• Hearing on pension commission report set for Nov. 9. The Committee on Public Service will hold a hearing on Monday, Nov. 9, on a series of proposals outlined by a special commission studying the state pension system. The 10 a.m. hearing will take place in Gardner Auditorium. After enacting legislation aimed at curbing high-profile abuses in the state pension system, Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders have said a second round of pension reforms would be on the agenda as early as this fall.[SHNS]