Noah Berger, the chief counsel and policy director
for former Senate President Thomas Birmingham, is preparing to start as the new executive director of
the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the liberal budget watchdog group
announced Friday.
Berger replaces Jim St. George, who led the group,
formerly called TEAM, for nearly seven years.
Under Birmingham, Berger helped shape the Senate's
agenda, advancing some tax cuts while seeking to increase funding for education and other public
programs. A lifelong Cambridge resident, he graduated from Harvard College
and Harvard Law School.
The Budget and Policy Center analyzes state finances, with an eye to how
budgets affect low-income residents. The group often goes head-to-head with
its anti-tax rival, Citizens for Limited Taxation, to oppose tax cuts as harmful
to working families.
State House News Service
Advances - Week of Feb. 2, 2003
Ex-Birmingham aide to head budget group
A fledgling group of advocates for social services
and immigrants kicked off a campaign yesterday to convince legislators to solve the state's near-$500
million budget deficit by making its wealthiest residents pay what the group
says is their fair share of taxes.
As dozens of the advocates applauded her words, former Green Party
gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein promised to lead a grass-roots coalition for
tax reform that will become "impossible" for Beacon Hill legislators to ignore.
"We're not saying anything that isn't being said by
lots of people out there. This is a conversation that people are dying for," she said. "If the
wealthiest were made to pay as much as the poor ... it would close the budget gap."
The Boston Globe
Feb. 2, 2003
Group seeks overhaul of tax system
to close state deficit
Even as city and town officials cry foul over local
aid cuts that will force layoffs and shrink services, state legislative leaders said yesterday
that Gov. Mitt Romney should have slashed deeper - particularly into direct aid to schools.
Turning the usual State House power grab on its head, lawmakers said Romney
hasn't flexed enough of the budget-cutting muscle they ceded to him - calling
the cuts "incomplete." ...
"There is a healthy dose of let (Romney) make the tough decisions, we'll
criticize the decisions he makes and we won't take the tough votes ourselves,"
said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading).
The Boston Herald
Feb. 1, 2003
Pols: Mitt didn't cut enough
Several legislators appeared upset that they were
being asked to vote on difficult cuts themselves, after complying with Romney's request last month
that he be given greater leeway to make emergency budget cuts without their
approval....
"There's some sense that we gave up some authority
in order for him to go ahead and be able to do things quickly and that he really hasn't gone far
enough," said Representative Lida Harkins, a Needham Democrat. "One of the
reasons we gave him those powers is because with 160 people being a deliberative body, we can't do things as quickly as
he can." ...
Although many of the House members yesterday appeared opposed to his
approach, few offered alternatives or suggested ideas for programs that should
be cut. Representative Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat, and others said that
Romney, who has vowed not to raise taxes, should rethink that position given
the state's need for revenues.
The Boston Globe
Feb. 1, 2003
Democrats hit Romney budget plan
Request for vote on cuts stirs anger in the House
State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's characterization as
"irresponsible" the effort by Gov. Mitt Romney to balance the budget without raising taxes is absurd
-- and downright farcical coming from a lawmaker who even neglected to pay income
taxes from 1991 to 1994. Striving to make state government live within its
means is not irresponsible by any rational definition. Indeed, it would be
irresponsible not to try, the warped tax-and-spend philosophy of Ms. Wilkerson and her ilk notwithstanding.
A Worcester Telegram & Gazette editorial
Jan. 31, 2003
Just a thought
The Legislature will also be called upon to do what
it should have done at the beginning of the fiscal year - heck, what it should have done more than a
decade ago when it was first proposed - and that's have state employees pick
up a fair share of their health insurance premiums - 25 percent instead of
the piddling 15 percent they now pay. If that happens by April 1, it will save $21
million. If it doesn't, that $21 million will have to come from other programs.
But now, at least, people will know who to blame....
No one ever said this would be easy - or uncomplicated. But the Legislature,
which during the boom years had been part of the problem - expanding Medicaid until it now consumes a quarter of the
entire state budget, adding one generous program after another - must now be part of the solution.
A Boston Herald editorial
Feb. 1, 2003
It's up to legislators to make cuts work
Romney also said he could accomplish all this
without raising taxes. We believe him, and economic theory seems to support his position. But he still
will have to deal with the mindset of many people who say the more the government
spends, the better off everyone is. They could not be more wrong.
An Enterprise editorial
Jan. 31, 2003
Root for Romney to defeat the special interests
For Romney, a tax hike isn't even an option, as he
pointed out once again that he believes any effort to increase the total tax burden, "already one of
the highest in the nation," would only serve to further depress the Bay State's
economy and widen the gap between expenditures and revenues.
An Eagle-Tribune editorial
Jan. 31, 2003
Romney, Legislature firm on cuts
A fee is something that you pay and receive an
immediate, direct service for, Kriss asserts. Moreover, "it's voluntary," he says. In other words,
if you don't want to pay the fee, don't use the service. OK, we're with him so far, especially
when it comes to fees for golfing or mooring a boat at a state-owned park, or
professional license fees that support regulatory oversight.
But when it comes to more broad-based fees, like those charged by the
Registry of Motor Vehicles for licenses and registrations, Romney is on shakier
ground....
However, fees can become addictive for a revenue-hungry government, and
what was once cost-based and voluntary quickly can become excessive and compulsory. There's a slippery slope
ahead, and Romney should tread carefully.
A Boston Herald editorial
Feb. 2, 2003
Defining tax hikes: When a fee is a fee
Some lawmakers have already mentioned the T-word ...
tax increases. There will be increasing pressure on Romney to reconsider his pledge against a tax
increase of any kind. It's a legitimate option, and we would urge Romney to
remember that promises are made to be broken if legislators decide it's the
only option.
A Springfield Union-News editorial
Feb. 2, 2003
Gov. Romney's budget ax carries very sharp edge
[Excerpt]
In 1962, 1968, 1972, 1976, and most recently, 1994 a graduated income tax ballot question
was foisted on the electorate, and in each instance it was defeated. But here it
comes again, courtesy of socialist Green Party leader Jill Stein.
Obviously Ms. Stein is clueless in thinking that imposing
her "tax reform" can possibly solve a short-term revenue problem. Her proposal would require a constitutional
amendment, and that wouldn't make it onto the ballot until 2006 at the earliest. By then,
the economy will have rebounded, revenue will likely be pouring in faster than Beacon Hill
can spend it again, and the pols will be setting us up for the next fiscal
crisis.
As we celebrate the departure of Jimmy St. George, the socialist who led TEAM (Tax
Everything And More) for the past decade, along comes Jill Stein and her "fledgling group"
to pick up the battle cry: "More Is Never Enough (MINE) ... and never will be!"
"The Best Legislature Money Can Buy" is becoming a bigger
joke than usual. The Beacon Hill Cabal can't seem to decide whether Gov. Romney cut too much, or didn't cut enough --
and they sure don't want him handing them back any responsibility (aka, blame) for
cleaning up their act. Apparently they just got a pay raise so that they
can complain after handing over their jobs to the governor to perform, the
responsibility they cravenly abdicated.
They can overspend us into fiscal crisis after fiscal crisis, but don't dare attempt to get the
government out of the latest mess they created. Then they have the audacity to blame
the new governor for not taking more heat for doing their jobs, while turning up the heat when
he does. Profiles in courage, and hypocritical opportunism.
"Promises are made to be broken," the incorrigibly liberal
Springfield Union-News today declared ... and it might as well have thrown in "and the ends justify the means." That
shameless axiom can also be applied to the "promises" of Education Reform funding, state
Lottery profits going to municipalities, state revenue-sharing through local aid, and the
gold-plated state Medicaid program for "the most vulnerable among us."
"Be careful what you wish for" is another bromide that comes
to mind.
The Union-News should be more thoughtful about what it advocates; somebody might take
its editorial board seriously!
|
|
|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Sunday, February 2, 2003
Group seeks overhaul of tax system
to close state deficit
By Peter Demarco
Globe Correspondent
A fledgling group of advocates for social services and
immigrants kicked off a campaign yesterday to convince legislators to solve the state's near-$500
million budget deficit by making its wealthiest residents pay what the group
says is their fair share of taxes.
As dozens of the advocates applauded her words, former Green
Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein promised to lead a grass-roots coalition for
tax reform that will become "impossible" for Beacon Hill legislators to ignore.
"We're not saying anything that isn't being said by lots of
people out there. This is a conversation that people are dying for," she said. "If the wealthiest were
made to pay as much as the poor ... it would close the budget gap."
Stein cited federal statistics showing that the lowest 20
percent of income earners in the state pay 9.3 percent of their income to sales, property, and
income taxes. The top 1 percent of wage earners, meanwhile, pay 6.8 percent
of their income. Were those top earners to pay an equal share, the state would
reap nearly $2 billion in revenue, Stein said.
Stein was one of the chief organizers of a conference at
Simmons College yesterday aimed at solving the state's budget crisis without cutting local aid,
education, health care, and social service programs by $343 million, as
Governor Mitt Romney has proposed. In addition, Romney has requested the
Legislature to approve $143 million in cuts. Depending on capital gains, the
budget deficit could rise to as much as $650 million.
About 80 social workers, tenant advocates, college professors, and students, as
well as Boston city councilors Chuck Turner and Felix Arroyo, joined Stein in
calling for an equitable tax system that would create "a stronger democracy."
Such a system, they argued with the aid of charts and
statistics, would raise billions of dollars without saddling low- and moderate-income families with
more taxes.
"Why is there this tax hysteria? Because the tax burden
traditionally falls on the ordinary people," said Stein, who leads the advocacy group Massachusetts
Coalition for Healthy Communities.
Though many avowed liberals and Green Party supporters
attended yesterday's conference - one lost count of the barbs thrown at Romney - Stein
said the Coalition for Healthy Communities is not representative of one political
view. She said the group is calling for the bipartisan cooperation of legislators to
change tax codes even if it is opposed by special-interest groups and big-money
donors.
Return to top
The Boston Herald
Saturday, February 1, 2003
Pols: Mitt didn't cut enough
by Elizabeth W. Crowley
Even as city and town officials cry foul over local aid cuts
that will force layoffs and shrink services, state legislative leaders said yesterday that Gov. Mitt
Romney should have slashed deeper - particularly into direct aid to schools.
Turning the usual State House power grab on its head,
lawmakers said Romney hasn't flexed enough of the budget-cutting muscle they ceded to him - calling
the cuts "incomplete."
"The Legislature reasonably anticipated the governor would
actually cut more than he did," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman John H.
Rogers (D-Norwood), suggesting that Romney carve into the $3.3 billion in
school aid to cities and towns. "The one program that costs state taxpayers the
most and there were no cuts," Rogers said school aid. "That was a surprise."
Rogers, House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran's top budget
adviser, told Romney of the legislative displeasure in a letter drafted after a lengthy
closed-door caucus. Senators echoed the sentiment, spelling trouble for the new
Republican governor's budget fix-it.
"Some members feel like the governor was given a mandate,
that they had a deal with him and now he is coming back to them to do all of these other
(cuts)," state Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Therese Murray
(D-Plymouth) said. "They are willing to make cuts but they felt they had
already taken the tough vote when they gave the governor the power to do it."
Romney unwrapped a package of $343 million in spending cuts
Thursday to fill what he estimates to be a $650 million budget deficit for this fiscal year. The
cuts include $114 million slashed from local aid to cities and towns and more
than $100 million in cuts to health and human service programs.
To fill much of the remaining budget hole, Romney asked
lawmakers to approve a package of additional cuts totaling $143 million. The cuts include
changes to Medicaid eligibility, adding user fees for health and mental health
care and asking state employees to pay a larger share of their health insurance.
Lawmakers quickly balked, saying the governor must slash
more on his own before they approve legislation aimed at helping solve the fiscal mess.
Rogers said legislators are prepared to take the heat
generated by unpopular ideas about future cuts, including cutting general aid to education - which
Romney took off the table after hearing from local leaders who said cuts would
devastate school programs.
But, in the letter to Administration and Finance Secretary
Eric Kriss, Rogers warned that the administration has underestimated this year's budget hole -
possibly by hundreds of millions of dollars. Rogers, who has said the current
deficit might be as high as $900 million, said things are likely to get worse since
tax collections for January came in about $110 million below what the administration predicted.
House Majority Whip Lida E. Harkins (D-Needham) said,
"Before we take the next step, we want him to more fully use the extraordinary power we gave
him."
Harkins said Democratic House members, who caucused for more
than two hours yesterday, did not come up with a list of preferred cuts for the governor.
Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman said the administration is
confident it will be able to fill the remaining budget gap without drawing on the state's
dwindling reserves this year.
"On the day we announced our package, some legislators said
the cuts went too far and now they are saying they don't go far enough," Feddeman said. "We
think the plan includes the right balance."
And Republican lawmakers accused lawmakers of dodging the
issue.
"There is a healthy dose of let (Romney) make the tough
decisions, we'll criticize the decisions he makes and we won't take the tough votes ourselves,"
said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading).
"Clearly (Rogers') letter says that as far as the current
budget is concerned, the Legislature is incapable and unwilling to have a hand in this, to make the tough
decisions that have to be made," Jones said.
Analysts said it seems clear both sides are balking at tough
decisions.
"Neither the governor nor the Legislature wants to take the
lead in making cuts to basic services," said Michael Widmer, president of Massachusetts
Taxpayers Association. "The governor took a step in that direction and is
asking the Legislature to share in the responsibility too, but they are saying we
gave you the power so do it yourself."
Also yesterday, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
lopped 54 jobs off its payroll in the wake of the $48 million hit it took late last year from
outgoing acting Gov. Jane Swift.
Steve Marantz contributed to this report.
Return to top
The Boston Globe
Saturday, February 1, 2003
Democrats hit Romney budget plan
Request for vote on cuts stirs anger in the House
By Stephanie Ebbert
Globe Staff
House Democrats yesterday balked at Governor Mitt Romney's
request they approve $143 million in budget cuts, saying that the governor, after winning
expanded powers to make unilateral cuts, should have accomplished the job
himself.
After a nearly three-hour, closed-door caucus in which many
members vented anger, House Ways and Means Committee chairman John H. Rogers sent a
letter warning the administration not to expect speedy passage of the changes,
which include reductions in Medicaid spending, increased fees to mental health
providers, and a boost in the contribution state employees would pay for health
insurance.
Several legislators appeared upset that they were being
asked to vote on difficult cuts themselves, after complying with Romney's request last month
that he be given greater leeway to make emergency budget cuts without their
approval.
"There's some sense that we gave up some authority in order
for him to go ahead and be able to do things quickly and that he really hasn't gone far
enough," said Representative Lida Harkins, a Needham Democrat. "One of the
reasons we gave him those powers is because with 160 people being a deliberative
body, we can't do things as quickly as he can."
On Wednesday, Romney announced his plan to close a nearly
$500 million deficit in this fiscal year's budget. The major elements of the plan include $343
million in cuts he imposed unilaterally in local aid, education, social services,
and health care, and the $143 million in savings that require legislative
approval.
Although many of the House members yesterday appeared
opposed to his approach, few offered alternatives or suggested ideas for programs that should
be cut. Representative Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat, and others said that
Romney, who has vowed not to raise taxes, should rethink that position given
the state's need for revenues.
Some Democratic lawmakers also said the Romney package is
evidence he was unable to balance the budget without cutting "core services," which he had
pledged during his campaign to protect.
"I think that the governor has essentially set us up," said
Representative Byron Rushing, a South End Democrat. "Clearly, the governor has not come close to
keeping his promise to not cut core services and he really is just miles away
from the campaign statements that he made. But what he asked from us and
what most of us were willing to give him was extended [emergency] power so
he could come up with $650 million worth of cuts. And what he has given us is
half of that."
Senate Democrats are to meet in a caucus on the plan Monday.
Democrats dominate in both chambers, and Romney, a Republican, needs their support to
gain approval of his proposal.
Despite members' protests, the House does plan to deliberate
the Romney package fully, Rogers said, and will begin hearings on the package of bills next
week. However, no up-or-down vote on the package has been set. That could
create a problem for the Romney administration, which is seeking quick
approval of its plan. On Feb. 26, the governor will release his budget for
fiscal 2004, which begins July 1, and he wants this year's financial problems
addressed before then.
Rogers also suggested the governor's package may be
insufficient to deal with this year's problem, which Romney has said is about $500 million now, but
could grow to $650 million if capital gains revenues prove weak this spring.
Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman said the administration
believes the plan is sufficient, though the administration has said it may tap the state's cash
reserves later this spring if revenues lag. Administration and Finance Secretary
Eric Kriss has also outlined a proposal to recover more revenue by closing
a tax loophole on real estate investment trusts, but that, too, will require the
Legislature to enact the governor's bills.
"If we can't close loopholes fast enough, we will tap the
reserves as needed," Feddeman said.
She added that Democratic lawmakers seem to want to have it
both ways -- they criticize Romney's cuts as overly harsh, but they also suggest the
reductions are not deep enough to address the problem.
"When we first announced the package, some members of the
Legislature said the cuts went too far," Feddeman said. "Today, some members of the
Legislature are saying the cuts don't go far enough. We think our plan will close
the $650 million shortfall."
The cuts were still coming down yesterday, when about 300
school nurses were laid off across the state, because of cuts to Department of Public Health
funds that supported them.
Though Romney said that he would preserve Chapter 70
education funds to avoid direct impact on children, his cuts in other areas have hurt those same
children, said Sheldon H. Berman, president of the Massachusetts Association
of School Superintendents.
"This isn't what the governor had indicated," said Berman,
who is superintendent of the Hudson schools. "This is going to be very painful, and it
does have a direct impact on services to children. The impact of this is much
greater than the governor anticipated."
In Hudson alone, three nurses and two health assistants were
laid off yesterday, at a time, Berman said, when their services are more crucial than
ever, given the numbers of special needs children in schools, and the many who
are on medication.
In Boston, Action for Boston Community Development executive
vice president John Drew said at least 250 low-income children would lose child care services
due to the budget cuts, after hundreds lost care due to budget cuts imposed on
the Young Parents Program, which helped women on welfare who are pregnant
or have children to get GEDs. The program helped about 300 statewide, Drew
said.
"It's like stepping on them or throwing them away," said
Drew, "based on, quite frankly, the arrogance of people coming into power and, within a few
weeks, making mindless reductions without knowing the consequences."
Yvonne Abraham of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Return to top
The Boston Herald
Saturday, February 1, 2003
A Boston Herald editorial
It's up to legislators to make cuts work
Make no mistake about it, the cuts announced by Gov. Mitt
Romney and his team are just a dress rehearsal for the fiscal 2004 budget due out at the end of
February. And so they constitute fair warning that if some things don't get
"fixed" now, the consequences for next year are far worse, far more painful.
"I will not tell you that no one will be inconvenienced,"
Administration and Finance Secretary Eric Kriss said Thursday. "People are outraged anytime
anything affects their own self-interest."
And so the howling is fairly predictable. The question now
is what will be the impact of that howling on the Legislature, which must act - and act quickly - on
what amounts to a $143 million piece of the budget gap puzzle.
There's the $76 million item Kriss characterized as what
should be a mere "accounting transfer" - some $50 million in cuts already made by acting Gov.
Jane Swift, but the money itself remains in a variety of special purpose trust
funds. Now the Romney administration will cut another $26 million, but
still the money will have to be transferred - and here's the tricky part - from such
things as the Tobacco Trust Fund, the Head Injury Trust Fund, the Workforce
Training Fund ($12 million) and the Affordable Housing Trust ($8 million).
Each, of course, has its own constituency. That's how and
why they were set up in the first place. Nothing involving Beacon Hill is a simple "accounting
transfer."
The Legislature will also be called upon to do what it
should have done at the beginning of the fiscal year - heck, what it should have done more than a
decade ago when it was first proposed - and that's have state employees pick
up a fair share of their health insurance premiums - 25 percent instead
of the piddling 15 percent they now pay. If that happens by April 1, it will save $21
million. If it doesn't, that $21 million will have to come from other programs.
But now, at least, people will know who to blame.
And this is one of those changes that must be made permanent.
Also on the Legislature's to-do list are some $39 million in
proposed Medicaid "savings." Now there is no glossing over the fact that a good portion of such
"savings" is essentially cost-shifting to providers, some of them - especially
nursing homes - already in precarious financial condition. Nursing homes were
counting on a $23 million increase in their reimbursement rate. Like many
other segments of the health care industry, they are being asked to wait and
legislators are being asked to rescind that new rate.
They would also need to approve provisions freezing
MassHealth enrollment for those earning more than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That
could save $800,000 for the remainder of this year, but some hospitals
anticipate it will only drive up the number of people who end up getting their
care paid for through the free-care, bad debt pool, which is in turn funded by
hospitals.
No one ever said this would be easy - or uncomplicated. But
the Legislature, which during the boom years had been part of the problem - expanding
Medicaid until it now consumes a quarter of the entire state budget, adding one
generous program after another - must now be part of the solution.
Return to top
The Brockton Enterprise
Friday, January 31, 2003
Editorial
Root for Romney to defeat the special interests
Talk is cheap. So while we were heartened to hear Gov. Mitt
Romney say Wednesday that this is the end of the road for special interests in
Massachusetts, we were more impressed by Romney's firing hours before of
the ultimate hack, MDC boss David Balfour.
Romney will have his hands full in the next few weeks and
some of his grand ideas for overhauling state government may not go anywhere. But he is the
first governor in memory who seems to have the credibility, willingness and
ability to make progress.
The few specific measures he cited in his televised speech
Wednesday will strike at the heart of special interests particularly public employees. If he
cannot tame that group, all is lost, because too much money is unnecessarily
thrown to that constituency out of fear that the unions will cause gridlock in the
state if they are not taken care of.
But those days of fealty are ending. Romney said he will
seek to have public employees increase their share of health insurance costs from 15 to 25 percent.
That is more in line with what most private-sector employees pay. And, like
Shakespeare, he will metaphorically kill most of the state's lawyers. There's no
downside to that one. The Metropolitan District Commission history.
All these are steps in the right direction, but it is just
the beginning. The budget shortfall next year will be three or four times larger than it is now. But by then,
the reformulation of government should be rolling along, with a growth in
savings that should offset decreased revenues. That is Romney's hope, anyway.
Partisan politicians will try to obstruct him, egged on by the special interests. If
they succeed, there will be dire consequences.
Romney also said he could accomplish all this without
raising taxes. We believe him, and economic theory seems to support his position. But he still will have to
deal with the mindset of many people who say the more the government spends,
the better off everyone is. They could not be more wrong.
It won't be easy. After Romney said Wednesday that state aid
will be cut this year by about 2.5 percent, far less than the 10 percent communities had
feared, Brockton Mayor John T. Yunits Jr. was on television saying that tax
hikes still had to be on the table.
That is not the type of thinking that will get the state
economy going again. Romney has a plan to confront that attitude head-on and enough support to
change the way government operates.
Return to top
The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune
Friday, January 31, 2003
Editorial
Romney, Legislature firm on cuts
OUR VIEW
Gov. Mitt Romney and the Democratic leaders of the Legislature
vowed yesterday to obey the will of Massachusetts voters who want to see the state
budget balanced through spending cuts rather than an increase in taxes.
Gov. Mitt Romney and the Democratic leaders of the Legislature vowed
yesterday to obey the will of Massachusetts voters who want to see the state
budget balanced through spending cuts rather than an increase in taxes.
For Romney, a tax hike isn't even an option, as he pointed
out once again that he believes any effort to increase the total tax burden, "already one of the
highest in the nation," would only serve to further depress the Bay State's
economy and widen the gap between expenditures and revenues.
These are extremely difficult times. House Speaker Thomas
Finneran termed it an "extraordinary crisis," adding that comparisons of the current economic
climate to the Great Depression of the 1930s are not out of line.
Such times require strong leadership, and Romney has made a
good first impression by standing fast to promises made during last year's campaign and
taking his case for greater efficiency in government directly to the people. He
held out hope for better days ahead, noting that "the sharp decline of our
economy appears to have stopped."
Regardless of the speed or breadth of this anticipated
rebound, there are deficits this year and next to deal with. Romney says the state must save $650
million between now and the end of the current fiscal year June 30 and reduce
expenses by $3 billion in fiscal year 2004.
Rather than curse the lack of funds, state and municipal
officials should see the current crisis as an opportunity to make some fundamental reforms in the way
the business of government operates.
Though his speech was short on specifics, Romney did give
some idea of the direction in which he is heading. He talked about a reduction in the state's army
of 800 lawyers, the elimination of the patronage-laden Metropolitan District
Commission, an increase in state employees' share of their health insurance
premiums from 15 percent to 25 percent, and a "new vision" for the state's
higher education system.
Meanwhile, he promised to protect critical functions like
education and assistance for society's downtrodden. Cities and towns will see a 2.5 percent
reduction in their local aid numbers for the current fiscal year and will have to
be similarly imaginative in making those figures work. And cut they must, for
the next fiscal year, as Romney warned, will be "a real bear."
Though there's been the expected whining from mayors,
selectmen, employee groups and other special interests, citizens can take heart from the positive
attitude adopted by legislative leaders like Finneran and Senate President
Robert Travaglini thus far.
In fact, Finneran noted, "It is important for the governor
to succeed in his stated mission" -- important for the state and important for the people who
live here.
Return to top
The Boston Herald
Sunday, February 2, 2003
A Boston Herald editorial
Defining tax hikes: When a fee is a fee
A tax by any other name is still a ... fee?
That is the question citizens will find themselves asking as
they pay more for state services including parking at a state park, registering a boat, buying a
new car or obtaining a marriage license. These are among the fees Gov. Mitt
Romney will raise as part of his plan to address the $650 million budget gap.
The total take from taxpayers' wallets for the fee plan is
almost $5 million this year, growing to $20 million next year - not counting whatever fees may be
part of the Romney plan to address the fiscal year 2004 $3 billion deficit.
Romney's budget chief, Eric Kriss, is emphatic in dismissing
any contention that a fee is a tax. "They both have three letters in their name," Kriss concedes, but
says that's as far as the comparison should go.
A fee is something that you pay and receive an immediate,
direct service for, Kriss asserts. Moreover, "it's voluntary," he says. In other words, if you don't
want to pay the fee, don't use the service. OK, we're with him so far, especially
when it comes to fees for golfing or mooring a boat at a state-owned park, or
professional license fees that support regulatory oversight.
But when it comes to more broad-based fees, like those
charged by the Registry of Motor Vehicles for licenses and registrations, Romney is on shakier
ground.
"Driving a car is voluntary," Kriss contended in an
interview with Herald editors and reporters. Oh? And how is one supposed to get to work, get the
kids to soccer practice or go grocery shopping?
"Take public transportation," Kriss said. Right, that will
work for most suburbanites.
Three principles govern whether a fee is a fee: (1) if a
charge for a state service covers only the cost of the service provided; (2) if the citizen paying the fee
receives a direct benefit or service in return; and (3) if it is a voluntary
choice to purchase a service not generally available to all taxpayers. Under those
circumstances a fee is indeed a fee, not a tax.
Massachusetts citizens certainly pay plenty in taxes
already, and understandably get cranky about paying fees on top of taxes for the few
services they might need. But that still doesn't make the fee a tax.
However, fees can become addictive for a revenue-hungry
government, and what was once cost-based and voluntary quickly can become excessive and
compulsory. There's a slippery slope ahead, and Romney should tread carefully.