The Lowell Sun
Sunday, February 9, 2003
An increase in state taxes?
'Small, small, small chance'
By Julie Mehegan
Sun Statehouse Bureau
Tax talk makes politicians touchy.
But in the midst of a fiscal emergency, Massachusetts
lawmakers are finding it increasingly difficult to avoid at least discussing the possibility of a tax increase.
Most legislators discount the prospect as a last resort to
solving the state's revenue shortfalls. For months, they have cited last year's $1.2 billion increase
and a near-miss ballot question that almost eliminated the income tax as a
mandate to hold the line on taxes.
They have also cited Gov. Mitt Romney's insistent pledge to
balance the state budget without raising taxes and without sacrificing government's core
services, suggesting he should be given time to accomplish that feat though one
lawmaker called it the equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
But last week, some said Senate President Robert Travaglini
opened the door to a debate over tax increases when he suggested spending reductions may cut
too deeply into core services. And there were similar objections to raising taxes
last year in the months leading up to the tax increase.
This year, the economic problem is worse, the prospects for
a quick recovery and a boost in revenues are slim, and program cuts are only expected to go
deeper. So will lawmakers turn to new taxes?
"Given the fact that the governor has said he would veto it,
that's got a very small, small, small chance of happening," said Sen. Steven C.
Panagiotakos, a Lowell Democrat, who suggested there would be insufficient votes to override
such a Romney veto.
Panagiotakos, vice chairman of the Senate Ways & Means
Committee, said there would have to be two major developments for lawmakers to even begin
to consider a tax increase: a sweeping change in public opinion and a change of
heart by Romney. Lawmakers are still willing to give the governor a chance to
balance the budget the way he has promised and have a similar duty to explore
every cost-cutting measure, he said.
"The public, I think, wants to see how far we can get making
cuts. They want a lean, mean state government, as they perceive it," he said. "But these cuts are
painful. At some point, so many people might be adversely affected that you
never know, there could be a change in public opinion."
Panagiotakos said new revenues from expanded gambling should
be considered to make up for the persistent shortfalls.
So far this year, Romney has cut $343 million from the
budget and lawmakers are considering a plan that could save an additional $300 million by closing tax
loopholes and moving funds from special accounts into the state's general fund.
Romney is less than three weeks from unveiling his budget proposal for fiscal
2004, a spending plan he has said will bring bold reforms and a major restructuring of government.
In addition, the administration plans to raise millions of
dollars in fees, which some argue is the equivalent of raising taxes. Romney last week unveiled $5
million worth of increases in fees, from the cost to register a boat, to highway
advertising signs, real-estate transactions, state golf courses, and a series of
other licenses and permits.
Eric Kriss, Romney's secretary of administration and
finance, said there is no direct link between taxes and fees.
"I'm not one of those that think a fee is a tax," Kriss said
last week, after releasing the administration's budget-balancing package. A fee is charged
"because you get something immediately in return," Kriss said, while a tax is
"much more indirect."
Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman echoed Kriss' sentiment.
"A tax is much more broad-based," she said.
And the Romney administration continues to insist a tax
increase is not the solution to the state's fiscal emergency.
"The governor feels that higher taxes would not only hurt
the working families in our state, but would also make Massachusetts less competitive and drive
jobs and economic development from the Commonwealth," Feddeman said.
Rep. Colleen Garry, a Dracut Democrat, said Democrats are
weary of taking the blame for raising taxes, and there is a temptation to leave the problem in the
Republican governor's lap.
"But when it comes down to it, we are the leaders and we
have to do the right thing," she said. "At this point, we're all just hoping Gov. Romney can pull the
rabbit out of the hat."
Noah Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts Budget
& Policy Center, formerly the Tax Equity Alliance of Massachusetts, said solving the state's
fiscal problems will require a combination of reforms, spending cuts and
increased revenues.
"With the size of the problem we face now, it's going to be
hard not to have a balanced approach," said Berger, who cited the structural imbalance that will
leave the state $3 billion short in fiscal 2004, which begins July 1. "Ultimately
it's hard to see a way to solve that structural deficit without restoring some of
the revenue that we've lost."
Berger believes lawmakers have been "enormously fiscally
responsible" in spending during the past decade and instead blames the current fiscal situation
on $4 billion worth of tax cuts in the last 12 years. He suggested voters have
been convinced that billions can be cut from the state budget without affecting
core services.
"As they see that it can't be done, I think public opinion
will change," he said.
But anti-tax advocates continue to insist that the message
from voters in November was clear: Lawmakers should consider raising taxes at their peril.
"When 46 percent of the voters are willing to abolish the
income tax, they'd better be looking over their shoulders," said Chip Ford of
Citizens for Limited Taxation. "There is anger out there. It's quiet, it's beneath the surface, but go
ahead, push us some more. If they raise taxes again, there will be twice as
many people who come out in 2004 and vote (to eliminate the income tax)."
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The MetroWest Daily News
Sunday, February 9, 2003
The stench of state's cronyism
By John P. Gregg
Ten years ago, while vacationing in Arizona, I stumbled
across the javelina, a small wild hog prevalent in the foothills of Tucson.
It was so ugly it could have been cute, except for one thing
-- the gland on its back, which emitted a terrible smell to keep predators at bay.
Like the javelina, the Legislature and big-city machines in
Massachusetts are also best observed from a distance (in my case, happily across the state line in
Vermont), because they always seem to emit a whiff of self-interest and greed.
Never mind House Speaker Thomas Finneran's hamhanded attempt
to give more of the obscure toadies in his ranks a $7,500 pay raise while the Romney
administration takes a chain saw to the state budget. I mean, really, what does
a House committee vice-chairman do?
And never mind the unlamented departure of state Rep. Joseph
Sullivan, the Braintree Democrat who ran for a new term and then immediately told voters
he was abandoning his office to become the high-paid director of the state
Lottery -- an appointment made by his South Shore crony, newly elected
Treasurer Tim Cahill.
Sullivan wielded much power as the chairman of the Transportation
Committee, but never lifted a finger to come up with a more equitable toll plan
in Massachusetts. His tenure is distinguished mainly by his ability to protect
Rte. 3 commuters from having to pay their fair share of road projects,
especially the $14.6 billion Big Dig.
And never mind, even, that the House this week, instead of
actually cutting spending, voted to raid almost $150 million in reserve funds, including $2.8
million from the Clean Elections Fund. That's money, of course, which otherwise would help
ordinary citizens give entrenched incumbents a real run for their money at the polls.
The real sign of the Legislature's craven attitude about the
current budget crisis is its obstinate refusal to raise premiums for state workers, who currently
pay only 15 percent of their health insurance.
At least three governors and the non-partisan Massachusetts
Taxpayers Foundation have suggested raising the state-employee match to 20 or 25
percent for their health care, bringing them more in line with the rest of us
working stiffs and saving the state tens of millions of dollars.
Here's where the greed and self-interest really come into
play: raising the premiums not only would affect legislators themselves, it would also force their
loyal bands of followers, the state workers who campaign for them every two
years, to pay more for their health care.
And it would also put pressure on municipal workers, many of
whom currently pay only 10 percent and are perhaps even more valuable on Election Day, to
also foot a wee bit more of their health care bill (and save towns millions of
dollars a year, too).
The Legislature also could probably save a million dollars a
year by merging the staff of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees and having one
group do the basic number-crunching. Vermont, for example, has a non-partisan
Joint Fiscal Office modeled on the Congressional Budget Office.
As for city government, crybaby Boston Mayor Tom Menino is
going to have an even harder time getting anyone to hand him a hankie after the Globe reported
on rampant cronyism at the city-owned George Wright Golf Course in Hyde
Park.
Apparently, the private vendor who was running the course
and trying to curb favoritism got bounced after politically connected friends of the mayor
complained. The mayor's political consultant, Edward Jesser, is said to have
parked his Jaguar illegally all the time -- even in the fire lane. And
several golfers kept their own keys to golf carts to avoid paying a $25 rental fee.
Maybe the state should take the Hyde Park course by eminent
domain from the city, and turn it into a state prison. That would bring Menino the money he
says he needs, and ease his worries about his short game, too.
Finally, Salem Mayor Stanley Usovicz did some first-class
whining this week when Gov. Mitt Romney said he will enforce a long-standing order for the
Salem Harbor Station power plant to install new scrubbers by 2004 to cut
down on pollution from the oil-and-coal powered plant.
The plant, dubbed one of the state's "Filthy Five," might
close instead, and Usovicz said that would be a major blow to both a major employer and the
biggest taxpayer in Salem.
"They're looking at global climate change and trying to
reduce emissions and not even looking at the budget impact on the city of Salem," a spokesman for
the mayor said.
Exactly as it should be for a governor. Romney had a much
better retort for the hecklers who work at the plant and want another deadline extension.
"In 2001, you asked for 2004, in 2003, you asked for 2006,
in 2006, you'll ask for 2008," Romney said. "I will not protect jobs that kill people ... and that
plant kills people."
It's good to see the javelinas on the run. The air smells
better already.
Return to top
The MetroWest Daily News
Monday, February 10, 2003
Editorial
Business as usual in the House
House Speaker Thomas Finneran had some words of advice for
his fellow House members last week: "The fiscal imperative we face cannot be
exaggerated or overstated. For that reason, I suggest we concentrate our
efforts there."
Good advice. If only Finneran would follow it. It's Finneran
who needs a dressing down; Finneran who needs to get on with the business at hand, not
members of his House.
Finneran tried to sneak through a legislative measure [last]
week giving him the power to raise the salaries of his favorite sidekicks up to $7,500. It's a
brash and curious move at a time when when legislators must trim the current
state budget because it is hundreds of millions of dollars in the red.
Cities and towns are wrestling with state aid cuts that are
forcing employee layoffs and closing schools. Human service agencies that serve the homeless
and helpless have seen entire programs eliminated. Thousands are losing
access to health care. Hundreds of state workers have, or soon will, lose their
jobs. Override requests will soon leave communities without vital services or
overburden taxpayers with bills they can't pay.
While Finneran was playing business as usual, rewarding his
friends and punishing with meaningless committee assignments those who dared disagree
with him, his House was papering over the fiscal crisis instead of facing it
head-on. Responding to an estimated $650 budget gap, Finneran's House approved a $150
million package that leans heavily on one-time transfers and reserve funds.
That leaves the budget still a half-billion out of balance,
but Finneran is shrinking from the challenge laid down by Gov. Mitt Romney's budget
proposal. The fearless speaker seems especially afraid to touch a proposal that
state employees pay a slightly larger share of soaring health insurance costs.
Sooner or later, the Legislature is going to have to grapple
with the state employee unions that carry so much clout on Beacon Hill. Health insurance,
police details, the raises the Quinn Bill awards to police officers earning
matchbook degrees will all become more obvious targets for belt-tightening as
budget cuts pinch local aid and human services.
Instead of tackling the tough issues, Finneran wasted the
Legislature's dwindling credibility by focusing public attention on another of his games of
power and perks. Fortunately for Massachusetts, some legislators didn't leave
the House chamber even after Finneran assured them that the important business of the day was done - instead they stayed,
heard his outlandish proposal to raise leadership salaries and blew the whistle on it.
The Speaker doesn't understand the opposition. He says he
renegotiated other contracts so that, though he intends to raise salaries, the overall budget of the
House will remain the same.
But this isn't a year of level-funded budgets, this is a
year of budget cuts, and legislators -- who are receiving a 6 percent pay raise and will continue to enjoy
the per diem perks of free gas and lunch -- will feel none of the pain.
Finneran says he'll reintroduce the measure at a more
appropriate time. Instead, he should take his own advice and concentrate his efforts where they
are needed. And he should take the money he "saved" in the House budget and
put that somewhere where it's needed, as well. For instance, there are a
few schools here in MetroWest whose nurses were given pink slips last week.
Finneran needs to start taking care of people, not politicians.
