Gov. Paul Cellucci is looking over the new state budget for
items to veto. The place to start is education.
The budget increases funds for education by a whopping $425
million. Some is needed, like the doubling of special MCAS help to $40 million, or the additional $27 million for early
childhood education.
The major extravagance is in regular no-strings aid to cities and towns, which the Legislature
wants to increase by almost 7 percent ($187 million) to $2.948 billion. The governor
should cut by $55 million, back to what he proposed.
With all the new special help they're getting, the cities
and towns could find it hard to spend the regular checks. Yes, we know, the Legislature will override the governor's veto,
just as it did last year, but that's no reason not to make the point that money is burning a hole in the
Legislature's pocket.
Which is why we're disappointed that the budget drops the
House-passed provision for cuts in the state income tax rate after 2002, tied to growth in personal income as the
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation proposed. This could have served as a backup to the
restoration of the 5 percent rate the governor is supporting in a ballot question this fall. Voters
now have a greater incentive to pass it.
The governor should not lack targets for his pen. Among them
is a raise for members of the Governor's Council from $15,600 a year to $25,000. For a job that takes about an hour a
week, the councilors already make too much.
The new budget is 7 percent higher than the old one. It contains major initiatives that will be
under constant pressure to grow. One is the new senior pharmacy program, whose initial
$32 million outlay will more than triple within three years. Our Legislature still has to learn that
trees do not grow to the sky.