Saying that the state's extraordinary fiscal woes warrant drastic action, Senate President
Thomas F. Birmingham is backing a freeze of the voter-approved income tax rollback to
save $200 million in state programs.
Birmingham said he will fight for a one-year delay of the tax cut if two-thirds of senators --
enough to override Acting Governor Jane M. Swift's promised veto -- sign on at a
Democratic caucus today. He said he will tell the senators, in detail, what programs they can
save by halting the tax reduction.
"Which would you prefer -- would you prefer this $200 million of cuts, or would you prefer
freezing the tax reduction?" Birmingham said he will ask his colleagues. "My
personal sense is, I would vote to freeze. But I don't know what the members will decide."
Swift said she will not back down on her threat to veto any altering of the tax reduction,
which voters overwhelmingly approved at the polls last year. The income tax rate is
scheduled to drop from 5.6 percent to 5.3 percent on Jan. 1, which would save a family of
four with an income of $70,000 about $175 for the year.
Although Swift and then-governor Paul Cellucci said when they pushed for the tax rollback
that it could be implemented without cutting state programs, Swift acknowledged yesterday
that reductions will be necessary. She said the terrorist attacks dramatically changed the
economic outlook, and the state must respond prudently.
"Nobody was governing in anticipation of what happened on Sept. 11," Swift said. "Our
economy is weaker than any of us anticipated. Taking money out of the pockets of families
and into the coffers of state government is the wrong approach."
Swift said that unless Birmingham and House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran act quickly to
reach a budget agreement, she will implement $600 million in budget cuts on her own. The
state is facing a $1.35 billion budget gap, and the government is spending $1.6 million more
every day than it can afford now that the budget remains unfinished. She proposes making up
the rest of the gap by tapping reserve funds and money from the settlement of the state's
lawsuit against tobacco companies.
The Legislature is 130 days late in sending a budget to Swift, and Massachusetts is the only
state in the nation operating without a spending plan.
"It's fair to say my patience is starting to be exhausted," Swift said. "I can't allow their inability
to come to a budget agreement to have a dramatic impact on how we operate."
Swift said she warned Finneran and Birmingham that unless they tell her today that a budget
agreement is imminent, she will rein in spending without legislative approval. The current
interim spending plan expires Nov. 19, and Swift said that if the budget remains undone then,
her next interim budget will incorporate the cuts to state programs and services that she
deems appropriate.
She declined to specify areas that she would cut, saying her aides are still working out lists
and that she remains hopeful the Legislature will come to an agreement. House and Senate
leaders met again for several hours late yesterday, but ended their talks without a final
agreement.
Despite Birmingham's support for a tax rate freeze, it may not be part of any final agreement;
Finneran appears loath to go along, in part because it would solve a relatively small
part of the shortfall problem.
Still, Birmingham's stance on the question could become a campaign issue. Both Birmingham
and Swift are running for governor next year, and the Senate president's support for
backtracking on a voter-approved law is potentially explosive. Birmingham said he did not
come to the decision lightly.
"It's not as if we've been hiding in the bushes waiting to ambush the tax cut at the first
opportunity," Birmingham said. "Nobody could have predicted or even imagined the
precipitous drop in our revenues that has occurred."
AMBUSH LURKS BENEATH THE BUSHES
"Too much too soon" has been the reaction of Senate
President Thomas Birmingham, who, says aide Alison Franklin, prefers that any tax cuts
be targeted to those in need.
The Boston Globe
Jul. 7, 1997
CLT returns to center stage in fight for income-tax cut
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham (D-Chelsea),
meanwhile, sounds even more reluctant to move swiftly on the income tax cut, saying that while he has
not "slammed the door" on the idea, his preference is to target relief to people
of modest means.
The Boston Globe
Sept. 11, 1997
Cellucci, Legislature clash over tax cuts
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, who was not in office
in 1989, says he would try to abide by such a promise if there was one. But he says any
pledge made in 1989 was broken the next year, and it is preposterous for
Cellucci to suddenly hold it up for fulfillment eight years later.
"In 1990, the circumstances didn't allow the promise to be
kept," he said. "Members took a very different vote in an election year, withdrawing the
temporary nature of the tax increase."
Besides, says Birmingham, the legislative process is an
evolutionary one and legislators have the right to change their minds and pass new laws as they gain
new information.
The Boston Globe
Mar. 11, 1998
Bay State tax-cut vow is hard to track down
Senate President Thomas Birmingham, D-Chelsea, first of all,
disputed Cellucci's assertion that lawmakers promised to lower the 5.95 percent income
tax rate to a 5 percent after the tough fiscal times of the early 1990s were over.
"No such promise was made. ... No such representation was
made," Birmingham said at a news conference called to respond to the budget.
Associated Press
Jan. 27, 1999
Momentum slowing for tax cuts on Beacon Hill
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham had the insolence to
deny the tax hike was ever meant to be temporary.
An Eagle-Tribune editorial
Feb. 1, 1999
Money to burn, none to return
"I'm not saying it's dead on arrival, but I'm highly
doubtful the Senate will do an income tax reduction on the order of the governor or the speaker," Birmingham
said at his own press conference later in the day. "I think it is highly
doubtful the Senate will do an income tax cut because we have higher priorities" like
education, health care and public safety, he said.
State House News Service
Apr. 15, 1999
Birmingham, Finneran, Cellucci stake out tax cut positions
Tax cuts? asks Tom Birmingham. What tax cuts? He says he
hears no demands for tax cuts, but plenty of demands for government programs.
The Boston Herald
Apr. 17, 1999
A Boston Herald editorial
Yes, we do want tax cuts
Birmingham said he rejected calls to cut the income tax rate
because the Senate wants to pay for health care expansions and fully fund the final year of the 1993
education reform act.
State House News Service
Jun. 1, 1999
Senate Unveils $177 Million in Tax Cuts;
Cellucci Calls Plan "Peanuts"
[Birmingham] also ridiculed the notion that the state's
economy needs a 5 percent income-tax rate to flourish. "I dare him to find a legitimate economist to
say the same thing," Birmingham said of Cellucci's comments. "This economy is
hot enough as it is."
The Boston Globe
Jun. 2, 1999
Senate leaders reject income-tax cut idea
Senate President Tom Birmingham is not just planting his
feet in concrete against Gov. Paul Cellucci's call for a return to the 5 percent income tax rate.
Birmingham and his followers won't even accept the small step the House wants
to take to lower the rate from 5.95 percent to 5.75 percent.
A Boston Herald editorial
Jun. 3, 1999
Broken promises litter Beacon Hill
Birmingham said another year of major education funding
increases is doable, despite fears that the economy may slow down and that the state will have to
absorb more Big Dig and health care-related costs. "We can afford it," said
Birmingham.
State House News Service
Mar. 20, 2000
Birmingham Says Good Times
Make $245M Boost to Education Affordable
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, an opponent of
sweeping tax cuts, recently said: "The sky will not fall if the tax rollback passes. Massachusetts will
not crumble into the ocean."
The Boston Globe
May 23, 2000
Think tank warns against tax cuts
Taxpayers who tune in to the debate no doubt will observe
plenty of fancy fiscal footwork. Mr. Birmingham, the redoubtable advocate for the pro-tax
side, can be expected to marshal an impressive array of figures suggesting that,
despite the overflowing coffers, the state can't afford the rollback.
A Telegram & Gazette editorial
Jun. 22, 2000
Tax fairness the issue in ballot question debate
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham opposes the rollback
and would prefer to spend the windfall on programs such as the Senate plan for senior
drug benefits.
The Boston Globe
Jul. 2, 2000
State surplus swells by $200m
As was the case last year, the House and Senate have been in
a standoff over the state budget. For example, House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran has said
he wants a reduction of the state income tax to 5 percent, conditioned on a
strong economy. Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham opposes the reduction,
and has said he would prefer that budget surpluses go to programs such as the Senate's plan to expand senior
prescription drug benefits.
The Telegram & Gazette
Jul. 3, 2000
State's surplus surges $200M
Extra cash to fuel spending debates
The Senate makes similar arguments against the tax cut but
avoids mentioning the House's tax cut plan. Senate Republicans failed to offer the
House-approved tax cut plan during the income tax portion of May budget
debate, and Senate President Thomas Birmingham refused to allow debate on it
after that mistake.
State House News Service
Jul. 11, 2000
Lawmakers Plot to "Double" Ballot Arguments
Against Income Tax Cut
While acknowledging a "steeply uphill fight" to defeat the
income tax cut, [Birmingham] said the rate reduction would hamper government's ability to
spend more money on programs such as last year's $25 million in rate relief for
financially struggling hospitals.
"That's the sort of thing I would like to continue to do
next year," Birmingham said. "That is the sort of commitment that will necessarily be compromised if we
are to indulge ourselves in an overly aggressive, highly regressive tax cut."
State House News Service
Sept. 28, 2000
New health care group warns subsidies, services
threatened by tax cut
Birmingham has called the cut reckless and the theory that
it will actually spur revenue growth, "Rumplestiltskinomics."
The MetroWest Daily News
Oct. 15, 2000
Tax cut ballot flashpoint
Birmingham, an opponent of the tax cut, said there is
nothing in the legislation itself that promised a tax cut once the economy improved.
"The Legislature makes a promise in legislation, not in
description, not by prediction," he said. "I reviewed the legislation. There was no promise."
The Patriot Ledger
Oct. 17, 2000
Ballot question proposes reduction, faces criticism
"The sky won't fall, the state won't crumble into the ocean,
particularly if our economy stays strong," said Senate President Thomas Birmingham, a Democrat
who is scheduled to debate Cellucci about Question 4 later this month. "But
what will be compromised is our ability to move forward, to continue
to improve our public schools, to expand health care coverage."
Ottaway News Service
Oct. 21, 2000
Question 4: Considering the tax rollback
"I don't see any prospect whatsoever of tax increases on the
horizon in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ... [and] I'm not going to take a back seat in
terms of fiscal responsibility to anybody."
WCVB-TV Question 4 debate: Sen Birmingham vs.Gov. Cellucci
Oct. 30, 2000
Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham could be a loser. Not
only was he one of the most visible opponents of Question 4, but his Democratic Senate refused
this year to go along with a House plan to cut the income tax rate from 5.85
percent to 5 percent, triggered by growth in the state's economy.
The Boston Globe
Nov. 8, 2000
Cellucci gets a win, may stay to enjoy it
By Brian C. Mooney
Senate President Thomas Birmingham said his budget writers
are willing to slash where necessary, which may mean a slight reduction in health care and
education spending.
The MetroWest Daily News
Nov. 9, 2000
Tax rollback committee predict $150 savings for average family
Even the Senate, which refused to go along with a more
cautious House plan to cut the income tax cut, appears prepared to implement the ballot question.
Senate President Thomas Birmingham's spokesman Alison Franklin said, "The
voters' will will be done."
State House News Service
Nov. 19, 2000
Legislature faces decisions on if,
how to implement ballot questions
"The voters having passed Question 4, my very strong
predisposition is that we ought to live with what they passed," Birmingham said. "This is a matter that
was fully and fairly debated before the people of the Commonwealth."
State House News Service
Jan. 29, 2001
Liberals look to revisit income tax cut,
detractors threaten "war"
"It's not as if we've been hiding in the bushes waiting to
ambush the tax cut at the first opportunity," Birmingham said.
Yeah, right!
