The Massachusetts Legislature is again spending money as if it grows on trees.
It has sent to the governor a supplemental capital budget to spend $599 million,
which could eat up the entire surplus from the fiscal year which ended June 30 (and for
which the books haven't closed). The sum is bad enough; how the House-Senate conference
committee came up with it is just as bad.
Most of the time, the committee "compromised" by letting each branch
have what it wanted in full. It added items that weren't in either bill referred to it, or
increased the amount over what had been voted by either branch, in 12 instances, boosting
the outlay by an additional $39 million.
Most attention has been focused on highway and bridge projects, where repairs have
been on short rations because much federal aid has been diverted to the Big Dig. The bill
provides $359 million, what Gov. Paul Cellucci and legislative leaders had planned for.
They would have done well to stop there. But for the rest of the bill, it was the
by-now familiar story: Quick, spend it before the taxpayers ask for some back.
Capital expenditures -- roads and bridges, structures, equipment, major repairs --
normally ought to be made with borrowed money, but the Big Dig and past profligacy means
the state must limit its borrowing. So the Legislature turns to the yearly surplus to get
some projects accomplished, from important computer upgrades for the district attorneys
down to a directive to give $150,000 to St. Stephen's Church in the North End for repairs,
even though the Massachusetts Historical Commission refused a grant in that amount.
The governor again owes the taxpayers some vetoes and item reductions, about $100
million worth. He could start with the $11 million for UMass and the state colleges to
match alumni contributions and build endowments.
But this kind of spending spree can only be halted by voters insisting on a tax
reduction.