A crisis in budget form
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THERE ARE many things to like about the $27.4 billion state budget currently on the governor's desk, and much that saddens us. Although most of the heat has been directed at nearly $1 billion in tax increases needed to keep the budget balanced, the program cuts and spending reductions total $2.4 billion: more than twice as much.
The collapse of state revenues has made possible - even necessary - changes in the way government is financed that were long overdue. Under the compromise budget hammered out in the Legislature last week, cities and towns are at last freed to raise their own revenues, through modest local option meals and hotel taxes. The first tentative steps toward regionalization of municipal services is encouraged with a $1 million incentive program.
State employees will contribute 5 percent more toward their health insurance premiums - up to 25 percent, depending on when they were hired. The Quinn bill, a former sacred cow that was notorious for enhancing the salaries of public safety workers who earn sometimes dubious college credits, was slashed by 75 percent. Special-interest tax breaks have been removed from alcohol store purchases, satellite broadcast services, and telecommunications poles and wires, which could generate an extra $130 million. But all these innovations combined won't begin to close what became a $5 billion budget gap. That's where the pain begins.
According to an analysis by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the plan cuts $10 million over the current year’s initial budget from child-care subsidies that allow low-income mothers to work. It cuts $10 million from programs giving parents with severely disabled children an occasional day of respite care. It eliminates $12 million in services for the frail elderly, mostly women, who want to stay in their homes. It halves funding for summer jobs and other gang-prevention programs for at-risk youth.
Two particularly galling cuts go to the heart of why government exists: to protect the most vulnerable and level the playing field of social rights. A $1.5 million cut in the legal aid program would mean an estimated 4,600 low-income people facing eviction, domestic violence, or caught in other disputes will not have access to an attorney. The US Constitution requires a lawyer for the indigent who face criminal charges, but civil disputes are where most people encounter the court system.
And 28,000 legal immigrants - repeat, legal - would be denied health insurance under Commonwealth Care, created by the state’s much-touted healthcare reform.
Much has been made in this budget cycle of the phrase “every crisis is an opportunity.’’ But for damaged families, needy children, and people facing personal hardship, it’s just a crisis.
