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Weekly Roundup
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February 25th, 2010
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Greetings! It's budget season again! Do you know what your legislators' priorities are for your community? Do they know what your priorities are? As Massachusetts policymakers consider their constituent's priorities when drafting their budget proposals, they are also forced to consider the state's fiscal situation. Absent sufficient additional revenues, our ongoing structural deficit means more budget cuts, and many worthy programs competing against each other - some just to be level funded. Even towns worried about local aide will be pushing for relief for their budgets (as seen in the photo of Senator Karen Spilka speaking to the Medway Board of Selectmen on Monday night). All state representatives will be meeting one-on-one with the Chairman of Ways and Means over the next couple of weeks to tell him what their budget priorities are for the upcoming fiscal year. That is why it is critical that you schedule a meeting with your legislative delegation as soon as possible to let them know what you value in our state - and how we should support those priorities. If we all come to the table with suggestions on how to face the budget deficit - with revenue options such as closing some of our current tax loopholes, utilizing our Rainy Day Fund, and raising new and progressive taxes - then our credibility in asking for programmatic funding or rolling back budget cuts is vastly improved. Visit our website to learn more about how you and your organization can be more effective in setting a meeting with your legislators and requesting more revenues that keep our public structures strong. Sincerely, Yawu Miller Project Director, ONE Massachusetts
yawu@realclout.org | 617-275-2918<
Here's a look at what else has been happening around Massachusetts:
Civic Engagement | Revenue | Government Reform
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 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
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Goal: By 2013, the voice and input of the state's multi-racial, multi-ethnic communities will create a counterweight to the currently dominant voice and will be tangibly reflected in the public decision making process.
Updates:
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 Teens Rally for Summer Jobs. Chanting "We want jobs," several hundred teenagers from Roxbury, Dorchester, and beyond marched through Boston Common and rallied at the State House last Thursday to protest deep cuts in two state programs that subsidize summer jobs for thousands of low-income youth. Nancy Snyder, Patrick's point woman on summer jobs, said that federal stimulus money, which subsidized 7,000 jobs last summer, will support only 2,000 jobs this summer. To soften to blow, Patrick may use some summer jobs money from next year' budget for jobs this summer, Snyder said. Patrick is also urging Congress to allocate money for summer employment in a pending jobs bill, she said. [Boston Globe] - Letters to the Editor Campaign. We want to encourage our readers and members to write to their local media about what they value in their communities and about their support for more revenue in the state. Please visit our
site for tips to getting your letter
published as well as talking points or check some sample letters you could
use to customize your message.
For more information on the campaign, and
how you or your organization can get more involved - including free trainings
and coaching, contact ONE Massachusetts Project Director, Yawu Miller.
Upcoming:
- TOMORROW - Application Deadline: Unsung Heroine's Award. The MA Commission on the Status of Women is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Unsung Heroines Award, which honors 100 'unsung' women across the Commonwealth for the extraordinary
work they do across their communities. [Nomination Form - .DOC]
- Feb 16 - Mar 5 - Budget Hearings. Eight public hearings are planned on fiscal 2011 budget bill Gov. Deval Patrick filed last week. The schedule includes hearings during which testimony will be accepted from members of the general public all across the state. To participate, learn more about dates and times for hearings near you:
- Feb. 26 in Worcester,
- March 1 in Sturbridge,
- March 2 in Fall River and the final hearing,
- March 5 at the State House.
Update. The launch of annual budget hearings Tuesday will not kick off with traditional testimony from the chief architect of the governor's $28.2 billion spending bill. Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez will instead testify March 5, Ways and Means aides disclosed Monday afternoon. [SHNS]
- March 31st - Women's Issues Hearing. The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women is holding a public hearing for the Lowell area. For more info, email mcsw@state.ma.us or call 617-626-6520.
March 31st, 6:00-7:30pm
Pollard Memorial Library - 401 Merrimack St., Lowell, MA 01852 [Map]
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| REVENUE |
Goal: By 2013, a fair, adequate, and stable tax system will be implemented. It will raise sufficient revenue so that state and local governments can fund the array of services needed.
Updates:
 Revenue Update: Lottery. State Treasurer Tim Cahill told lawmakers Tuesday that the state lottery will exceed its profit estimates by $55 million, bringing in $869 million that will be distributed as aids to cities and towns. Calling it "the most efficient lottery in the country," Cahill said he expects more than $4.41 billion in total lottery sales. [SHNS]
- Sales Tax: Rollback? All four gubernatorial candidates endorsed cutting the state's 6.25 percent sales tax rate, positioning Gov. Deval Patrick as the only member of the field on record backing last year's 25-percent increase. Patrick, who preferred a gas tax hike and other targeted increases to the sales tax bump, ultimately signed the budget the Legislature sent him. Administration officials said Patrick would support restoring the 5 percent rate once revenues recover elsewhere. [SHNS]
 Tax Revenues in Other States. Tax revenues in states across the country have fallen for four straight quarters, and state houses face more than $100 billion in budget gaps over the next two-and-a-half years, National Governors Association chair Jim Douglas said Saturday. A survey of 45 states showed $87 billion in fiscal 2010 budget gaps have been closed so far, with roughly $19 billion still open. [SHNS]
- Tax Credits: Historic Rehabilitations. Citing job creation benefits, Secretary of State William Galvin urged lawmakers to extend beyond 2011 a $50 million tax credit to rehabilitate historic properties in Massachusetts. The program, set to expire in December 2011, offers developers a credit worth up to 20 percent of their costs, and combined with federal tax credits, can spur developments that would otherwise not be undertaken, he said. [SHNS]
 Federal Stimulus: MA Boost. The federal government gave Massachusetts an unanticipated $132.7 million boost yesterday, which will help significantly in closing any budget gaps during the remaining four months of the fiscal year and could put the state on better financial footing heading into next year. [Boston Globe]
- Local Aid. State Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said that unrestricted local aid and Chapter 70 funding for schools would likely have to be cut by at least $150 million, or 3 percent, in the state's fiscal 2011 budget. [Lowell Sun]
On another note State Reps. Harriett Stanley and Barbara L'Italien have told Mayor James Fiorentini to expect state aid to Haverhill to be cut by millions of dollars more than previously estimated.
"We spent an hour telling (Fiorentini) that local aid is definitely going to be cut by as much as 10 to 15 percent," said Stanley, D-West Newbury. "At the end of the meeting, he tells us to do what we can to make sure their are no local aid cuts. It's like he wasn't even listening to us. I told him we can't print it (money)." [Eagle Tribune] |
GOVERNMENT REFORM
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Goal: By 2013, a transparent, accessible and accountable state and local policy-making process will be in place.
ONE Massachusetts is continuing to work with partner organizations, including Common Cause Massachusetts and MassPIRG, towards a more transparent, accessible, and accountable state government.
If your organization or community is working toward these goals, please let us know! We would love to assist your efforts, and to share news of your efforts to our entire network!
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