Governor's vetoes raise more questions on national run
Governor Mitt Romney raised presidential alarm bells again yesterday by vetoing nearly $1 million for teen pregnancy prevention and cutting another $175,000 that would pay for programs designed to protect gay and lesbian youth, part of $110 million he sliced from the Legislature's $23.9 billion budget plan for fiscal 2006.
Romney said his vetoes were motivated by fiscal prudence, not opposition to the programs or presidential politics. Even with his vetoes, the state would spend more than $1 million on teen pregnancy prevention and $250,000 on the programs for gay and lesbian youth.
''There was no proposal made to us as to why that needed to be increased," he said of the extra money the Legislature allocated for gay and lesbian youth programs. ''The work that they're doing to prevent suicide and prevent violence is important work, and we support the work which they're doing . . . [but] we didn't see a need to raise their budget by 40 percent."
The 2006 budget Romney signed into law yesterday increases the state's total spending by about 3.5 percent. It includes modest increases in aid to cities and towns and for higher education, among other areas.
Democrats have accused the Republican governor of tacking to the right on social issues to burnish his conservative credentials for a possible presidential run. Religious conservatives oppose the sort of antipregnancy programs Romney targeted because they promote contraception, and not just abstinence. And local gay rights opponents were publicly urging Romney to veto the extra money lawmakers wanted to spend on the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.
''Is this a chip in the effort to appeal to a national audience? I don't know. But it is on the backs of Massachusetts kids, if that's the case," said Patricia Quinn, public policy director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy.
Grace Sterling Stowell, executive director of the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth, said Romney's veto of an extra $175,000 for suicide prevention and antidiscrimination initiatives ''is hurting the young people of Massachusetts." She said antigay episodes have spiked as a result of the emotions generated by the gay marriage debate.
Kathleen Henry, chairwoman of the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, defended Romney. Henry said the governor's fiscal 2006 budget plan included $250,000 for the commission, twice as much as he proposed spending in 2005.
''The fact that he doubled last year's [proposed budget allocation] this year is huge to us. It's really huge. It says to us clearly that he gets the service for what it really is," said Henry, who was appointed by former acting governor Jane Swift. ''It's about danger, about bullying, about life and death, despite what these fringe groups will say it's about."
Romney also subtracted $45 million from $1.84 billion the Legislature budgeted for Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes, and $10 million of $20 million lawmakers set aside to increase payments to private healthcare contractors. In the first case, the governor said the Legislature was usurping the power of the executive branch, and in the second instance he said the extra money was not needed. He also vetoed $2 million for rental vouchers for low-income families; $1.3 million for Head Start programs; and $455,000 for the state's new Department of Early Education and Care.
The governor let stand a move, initiated by the House, to block trial court administrators from transferring money between district courts according to need. Lawmakers want to retain that power for themselves, despite court reformers' arguments that the arrangement encourages patronage.
House and Senate leaders said yesterday that they are still reviewing the governor's vetoes. With an overwhelming majority in both chambers, Democratic lawmakers generally can overrule Romney on their priorities. Last year, Romney vetoed a total of $108.5 million in spending, and legislators restored $40 million of it.
