Patrick's power of the purse

CAN IT BE a coincidence that, a couple of weeks after Senate President Robert Travaglini denounced Deval Patrick for implying that the Legislature was over spending, the soon-to-be-governor announced that he would restore all the cuts that Mitt Romney unilaterally made in this year's budget? For all the campaign rhetoric that made out the governor to be an omnipotent czar, it is the Legislature that dominates the budget process. Legislators will need to restrain their enthusiasm for spending and be open to government efficiencies in the coming year.

When Travaglini criticized Patrick, he was defending the Legislature's performance in devising the fiscal 2007 budget, which began July 1. But when the Legislature wrote that budget, in the spring of last year, revenues were growing at an annual rate of more than 8 percent. Legislators rewrote the local aid formula, financed the initial stages of the new healthcare law, and increased money for higher education, but then they got carried away -- a gazebo here, a boat ramp there -- on projects that are beloved in individual districts but to most people seem like pork-barrel spending.

Since July 1, the growth in state revenue has slowed to 3.5 percent. There probably is just enough money to maintain all the commitments in the budget, but it's going to be tight, and in the meantime, the legislators' pet items stand out as frills. In an ideal world, Patrick would have restored the cuts made by Romney in human service and education programs, but let stand those that trimmed local largesse.

The new governor has to deal with Travaglini and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and the rest of the Legislature to get almost anything done, and a boat ramp or two is a small price as long as long it does not become a down payment on greater extravagance. Next week, fiscal realism should be reinforced by hearings the new administration and the Legislature will hold to assess revenue estimates for the next fiscal year. They shouldn't be surprised to hear projections of no more than 3 percent revenue growth.

This week, Patrick edged away from his campaign promises to hire more police officers and relieve the local property tax burden -- at least right away. In the campaign, however, he said he could save money by curtailing budget earmarks, like those legislative favorites, and eliminating waste throughout state government. His first budget, to be released next month, will show whether he has made a start at fulfilling these commitments. The Legislature did much rewriting of Romney's budgets, but, to maximize the effectiveness of limited state revenues next year, they ought to give any cost-cutting by Patrick a more respectful treatment, even if it endangers the odd gazebo.