MASSACHUSETTS SENATE
Senator Bruce Tarr * Senator Steven Baddour
December 11, 2002
Contact: Ann Marie Bisaccio - 617-722-1600
Eleni Varitimos - 617-722-1604
Legislators Seek To Transform Budgeting Process
BOSTON In a move that would affect significant changes in the
way state budgets are developed and approved, Senate Minority Whip Bruce Tarr
(R-Gloucester) and Senator Steven Baddour (D-Methuen) have filed legislation
for the upcoming session to implement a system of zero-based budgeting. The
legislation would create a process to evaluate appropriations, address
funding priorities and eliminate unnecessary spending. Key elements of the bill are as
follows:
"Now, more than ever before, we need a system which
evaluates spending according to our priorities and our ability to respond to them," said
Tarr.
"The Legislature's current budget process is broken and must
be fixed. The use of a zero-based budget will force us to prioritize spending and substantively
review all state-sponsored programs," said Senator Baddour. "I believe
that this type of reform will begin to restore taxpayer confidence in government
spending."
"Given that the Commonwealth is currently confronting its
worst fiscal crisis since the 1930's, the Romney Administration and the Legislature should
consider every available tool in order to systematically determine spending
priorities. Implementation of a zero-based budgeting approach as provided
for by this bill would introduce much needed discipline into the debate and
discussion relative to state spending priorities," said Richard Lord, President &
CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
"The growing reform movement in support of this type of
responsible budgeting is critical given the Commonwealth's current budget crisis.
Innovative longer-term approaches such as this are a crucial first step in
resolving the ongoing cycle of budgetary shortfalls in Massachusetts," said
Christopher Anderson, President of the Massachusetts High Tech Council.
Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation, agreed. "Zero-based budgeting is one of those great ideas that go nowhere in this state
until there is a fiscal crisis requiring a new, dramatic approach. Let's go for it!"
Support for the concept of zero-based budgeting is building
in Massachusetts; Senator Tarr and Senator Baddour filed similar legislation in January as an
outside section to the budget.
The amendment was rejected and did not garner any co-sponsors. As of
December 4th, this year's filing deadline, there were sixteen co-sponsors. The
lead sponsors on the House side are Representative Tony Verga (D-Gloucester)
and Representative-Elect Mike Costello (D-Newburyport). Other sponsors of
the bill include: Representative Philip Travis (D-Rehoboth), Representative
Susan Pope (D-Wayland), Senator Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester), Senator
Michael Knapik (R-Westfield), Representative Bradley Jones (R-North Reading),
Senator Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge), Representative Garret Bradley (D-Hingham), Representative Karyn Polito
(R-Shrewsbury), Senator David Magnani (D-Framingham), Senator Joanne Sprague (R-Walpole), Senator
Guy Glodis (D-Worcester), Representative Vinny deMacedo (R-Plymouth), Senator Marc
Pacheco (D-Taunton), Representative Shirley Gomes (R-Harwich). Both Senators will continue to solicit co-sponsors.
Tarr added, "Through zero based budgeting we can better
target scarce resources to achieve effective performance."
"Given the Commonwealth's current fiscal crisis, it is clear
that legislators want to explore every possible option to ensure that we don't find ourselves here
again in ten years," added Senator Baddour.
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*** CLT BLASTS FROM THE PAST ***
The Boston Globe - Jan. 4, 1999
Cellucci agenda: cut taxes, cap spending
[Excerpt]
The Massachusetts economy is sunny now, but Governor Paul
Cellucci is expected to offer plenty of umbrellas when he unveils his administration's
agenda following his inauguration this week....
Cellucci is also expected to propose:
The Boston Globe - Jan. 4, 1999
Budget surplus may spell trouble
Cellucci's aides brace for demands
[Excerpt]
It should be the best of times on Beacon Hill - if you
measure good times by the torrent of tax dollars surging into state coffers, that is.
But in the governor's office, Paul Cellucci's aides are busy
piling up the sandbags against the bedlam they fear that flood will bring....
Keenly sensitive to how the Dukakis administration was swept
from its moorings in the last fiscal flood, Cellucci thinks the best way to avoid a repeat is
to reduce the flow.
For now, there's good reason that Cellucci's fiscal aides
are hoping to downplay the situation. Having been through the wrangling that last year's budget
surplus created, they know the political struggles and bureaucratic pressures
that a bulging treasury creates on Beacon Hill.
Surpluses spur every interest group in the state to seek
more funding for pet projects and programs. The bigger the surplus, the greater the expectations -
and the harder it is for the Beacon Hill budget writers to keep spending under
control.
The Eagle-Tribune - May 10, 2002
Senators want new approach to budget
[Excerpt]
Sens. Steven A. Baddour, D-Methuen, and Bruce E. Tarr,
R-Gloucester, want to radically change the way state budgets are assembled and debated, and next
week plan to file a bill that will call for zero-based budgeting.
That means departments will have to justify their entire
budgets from the ground up -- just as local municipalities must do....
Citizens for Limited Taxation supports the senators' plan
and Mass. Inc., a nonpartisan think-tank, said it's intrigued by the idea and supports
performance-based budgeting.
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