CLT NEWS RELEASE
January 15, 2002
State of the State address
The state of the State will be ultimately OK as long as
elected representatives respect the voters.
Governor Swift's support of the voter-passed income tax
rollback and now that it is also being threatened the voter-passed charitable deduction, forces the Legislature to
respect the voters' decisions unless it can get a two-thirds vote to override the governor's vetoes and the
vast majority of voters' mandate.
As long as we are no longer Taxachusetts, the economy will
inevitably improve. State revenues will grow again. The Legislature will spend them again. Things are not much more
complicated than that, in the state of the State, 2002.
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The Boston Herald
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
Swift takes aim at Legislature
by David R. Guarino
A fervent acting Gov. Jane M. Swift drew a political line in the sand with critics and challengers last night, slamming Democrats with an in-your-face critique on a bevy of divisive, election year issues.
Swift used her first State of the State address as a political coming out and call to arms, forcefully challenging the Democrat-led Legislature not to turn its back on the will of voters who want an income tax cut and publicly financed elections.
Pointing directly at lawmakers on the ornate House floor and pounding the rostrum, Swift chided them for protecting their fiefdoms rather than following the public will.
"Public service cannot be seen as self-service," Swift said, her voice rising. "What better way to win back (the public) trust than by honoring the will of the people? When people vote for clean elections, fund them. When people vote for lower taxes, roll them back."
The Republican tweaked Democrats for last year's budget follies and, intoning the nation's wartime spirit, said pols owe the people more than they're giving.
"The people of this commonwealth deserve to have elected officials who rise above self-interest to work effectively and efficiently for the greater good," Swift said.
Swift's 20-minute speech - short on policy and long on campaign-style rhetoric - was meant to disarm six Democrats teeing off on her daily.
But her strong words enraged Democrats, including four running for governor who attended the speech, who charged that Swift's legacy so far is of only limp leadership.
"I think we have an obligation to judge her not on what she's saying, the words she's expressing, but on her actions - both past and future," said Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien, an early front-runner in the race.
House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran skewered Swift for failing to acknowledge a looming budget deficit he's pegged at $2 billion, saying he doubts Swift is "up to the task" she preached on fiscal discipline.
"If she files a budget that is phony or fraudulent, filled with gimmickry and schemes, the gloves come off," Finneran said.
Swift, both more calm and forceful than in her stilted October televised address on terrorism, won the hoots and hollers of Republicans throughout the speech - including former Gov. William F. Weld, who now lives in New York. Weld's surprise appearance was a show of GOP solidarity.
But Democrats often sat on their hands, particularly at her tough talk on taxes and reform.
Swift quoted President Abraham Lincoln's address to a divided Civil War Congress, saying, "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present."
Plying on emotions of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and the death of Green Beret Sgt. Daniel Petithory of Cheshire in Afghanistan, Swift said adversity could be used for great reward.
"Turning our own challenges into opportunity requires that this Legislature and all elected officials rededicate ourselves to the most important tenets of our democracy: freedom, openness, honesty," Swift said. "These principles are what the terrorists attacked. They're what our own Sgt. Dan Petithory gave his life defending and they are what we are sworn to uphold."
She challenged lawmakers to produce a budget "on time and in balance" and to work to "restore public trust in an age of increasing cynicism."
The Republican acting governor made it clear she wouldn't stand for a freeze in the voter approved cut in the income tax to 5 percent, stealing a well-worn page from her predecessors' tenure.
"The tax rollback, supported by an overwhelming number of voters, must and will stand," Swift bellowed.
Sitting behind Swift at the rostrum, Finneran and Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham didn't clap and smiled, whispering to one another.
The acting governor promised to put struggling Bay Staters back to work, recalling her immigrant family's struggle to keep its small Berkshire plumbing business open during hard times. "While state government alone cannot solve the problems of recession, . . . we can be a lifeline to those who need our help most," she said.
Swift promised to expand the state's tax credits to promote business expansion in troubled cities. By boosting the credit from 5 percent to 15 percent, Swift promised growth in areas with the highest unemployment.
Though promising austerity, Swift promised "significant" new spending on education - which aides said will top $100 million in new cash - and said MCAS tutorial accounts will be boosted by $50 million.
She promised parents control over bilingual education and rolled out a new Bioterrorism Council to "prevent and prepare for" future attacks.
Swift today will hit the campaign trail with her choice for lieutenant governor, former state Rep. Patrick C. Guerriero of Melrose.
Elisabeth J. Beardsley contributed to this report.
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The Boston Herald
Tuesday, January 15, 2002
Just weeks after defending human services against legislative cuts, the Swift administration is
moving toward restricting Medicaid prescription drug benefits to rein in the
fastest-growing cost in state government....
Meanwhile, House budget leaders yesterday unveiled a $244
million supplemental budget that would use up the remainder of the fiscal 2002 reserves and restore funding to several
human service programs, including home care for seniors and Healthy Start....
Rogers warned yesterday that Massachusetts is facing a $2
billion budget shortfall for the 2002-03 fiscal year.
Lawmakers plan to close part of that shortfall by using up
$500 million in rainy day funds.
Rogers also said House leaders are hoping to kill a
voter-approved tax cut designed to encourage charitable giving, saving the state about $200 million annually.
Question 7, which took effect last January, was approved by
voters in November 2000 and makes charitable donations tax deductible in Massachusetts.
The federal government already considers charitable
donations tax deductible.
Rather than encouraging new donations, however, the tax
break is just draining money from the state in the midst of a fiscal crisis, according to Rogers, who said he is hoping to
round up enough votes in the House to revoke the ballot question.
"I'm pursuing it with the membership," he said. "I was never
in favor of it."
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The Boston Globe
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
A Boston Globe editorial
The taxing truth
MASSACHUSETTS is not the only state facing a fiscal meltdown as
revenues plummet from more optimistic projections made earlier in the fiscal year. But some other states are
doing a more responsible job of balancing program cuts against tax breaks
that were promised in times of economic surplus.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reported in
November that 43 states are showing revenues below forecasts, exacerbated by increases in security costs since Sept. 11.
Collectively, the states face a possible $50 billion deficit, according to the National
Governors' Association. Dozens of states are running over budget in specific programs, most
notably Medicaid.
But, unlike the political leadership in Massachusetts, other
state governors and legislators have taken unpopular steps to distribute the burden more equitably.
In Florida, for example, the Republican-controlled Legislature voted last month to postpone
by 18 months the scheduled phase-out of the state's "intangible property tax."
This preserved $128 million in revenue; not enough to make up a projected $1 billion shortfall, but enough to
stave off more drastic program cuts. Lawmakers there had already voted to cut
education, health care, and social services by about $450 million.
In Virginia, a phase-out of the sales tax on food was wisely
linked to revenues. Facing a $892 million shortfall, Virginia legislators agreed to freeze the reduction late last year.
North Carolina actually increased taxes to help close its
budget deficit, raising the sales tax by one half of one percent and introducing a new top rate in the state's income
tax. In Indiana, Democratic Governor Frank O'Bannon proposed a cigarette tax increase.
By contrast, Acting Governor Jane Swift resolutely refuses
to delay the state's income tax reduction, approved by the voters in 2000, reiterating her position in her State of the
State address last night. Swift even refuses to consider linking its phase-out to revenues, as
suggested by the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The
Massachusetts Municipal Association, representing the 351 cities and towns, is also on
record supporting a temporary freeze in the tax rollback.
In addition, Swift continues to oppose a hike in the
cigarette tax to help close the shameful gap between what health care providers spend and how much they are reimbursed.
Raising taxes is rarely a good idea in a recession, but
cutting programs for the most vulnerable is an even worse idea. Swift worked hard to restore funds for the homeless and
mentally ill last month, but she was forced to close the Healthy Start program for babies and
prenatal care to new families. Only a wholesale reordering of budget priorities will
prevent the state being whipsawed from one crisis to another.
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