Patrick vows to restore cuts of $383.6m

Governor-elect Deval Patrick declared yesterday that he would restore all $383.6 million in emergency spending cuts made last month by Governor Mitt Romney, saying they were harmful to thousands of needy residents and not necessary to balance the state's books.

The move immediately touched off a debate as Patrick prepares to take office next week.

The Romney administration criticized the decision, saying it would make it more difficult for Patrick to balance the budget next year. One independent budget specialist agreed, saying that Patrick's decision signaled the arrival of a more free-spending administration, despite signs the state is headed for a budget crunch.

"It seems to ratify the fears of his opponents that he's going to be much less concerned with economizing and much more concerned with satisfying the various constituents that are going to be demanding more attention from state government," said David G. Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative economic think tank.

But many legislators welcomed the move, saying it showed Patrick had listened to their pleas to restore the money. Human services groups, which absorbed most of the cuts, also applauded the decision, saying it would end confusion over whether the money would be available and would enable them to provide critical services for the mentally ill, the homeless, and the elderly.

"It's going to be absolutely wonderful from the perspective of the people who get the care, the clients," said Elizabeth Funk, chief executive of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporation of Massachusetts, the state's largest provider of behavior health services. "So we are indeed grateful that he stepped up to the plate sooner rather than later. It takes the heat off us, at least temporarily."

The decision is the second time this month that Patrick has vowed to overrule a major Romney policy. Last week, Patrick said he would revoke an agreement with federal authorities that Romney obtained allowing specially trained state troopers to arrest illegal immigrants.

The budget-cut debate dates to Nov. 10, when Romney invoked emergency powers that allow a governor to cut spending without getting legislative approval and slashed $425 million from the current state budget. At the time, Romney said the cuts would avert a spending crisis, which he blamed on the Legislature taking $450 million from the state's $2.1 billion "rainy day" fund. Romney said that fund should be tapped only as a last resort during a fiscal crisis.

On Dec. 1, he restored $41.4 million, mostly for state psychiatric hospitals, saying that tax collections in November had exceeded projections.

Yesterday, Patrick said revenue collections for December are also higher than projections , allowing him to restore the rest of the money.

But Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom questioned the revenue figures that Patrick is using. While Patrick said revenues this fiscal year are $306 million to $326 million above projections, Fehrnstrom said the number is closer to $100 million. The fiscal year began July 1.

The Romney administration also released a budget blueprint for the next fiscal year that it had turned over to Patrick's incoming administration and finance secretary Leslie Kirwan. In the document, Romney aides argue that the budget can be balanced next year without raising taxes, but only if $252 million of the cuts Romney ordered remain in effect.

"Obviously if those cuts are restored, it makes it that much harder to achieve balance in 2008," Fehrnstrom said.

Tuerck said it would have been fairer for Patrick to set aside $383 million for a rollback of the state income tax, which voters approved in 2000. "This raises questions about the governor's willingness to honor what the voters clearly demanded six years ago," Tuerck said.

In an interview, Kirwan said she would put in place several controls to try to rein in spending. These include distributing funds to agencies monthly instead of quarterly, so they don't spend their allotments all at once; limiting spending of unused funds; and possibly delaying filling job vacancies.

"I do not take this action lightly," Patrick, who is on vacation in South Africa, said in a statement. "While we support the initiatives agreed to for the current fiscal year, it is critically important for Massachusetts residents to understand that next year's budget will be tight and will require that we make tough choices."

Patrick's decision will reverse 455 cuts, including $25 million for rate relief for customers of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, $15 million for a contract for employees of the University of Massachusetts, and $31 million for the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston. Patrick said Romney had no authority to cut those accounts. The move will also restore $28 million for salaries for about 28,000 human services workers, $26 million for healthcare for the poor, and smaller amounts for dozens of other programs.

"This is a huge victory for our state," said Carl Nilsson, campaign director for the activist group Neighbor to Neighbor, which lobbied to reverse the cuts. "There are thousands and thousands of people who have been hurt by these cuts, and to have them reversed is a great victory. This is momentous and exciting and a harbinger, hopefully, of what's to come with this new administration."

The decision also sharpened the contrast between Romney and Patrick, the first Democrat elected governor in 16 years. Many Democrats had accused Romney of making the cuts to bolster his credentials as a fiscal conservative as he prepares to run for the White House in 2008.

Yesterday, Republicans fired back at Patrick.

"This is proof positive that Deval Patrick will make no attempt to curb the Legislature's wild spending," said Brian Dodge, executive director of the state Republican Party. "Every time Deval Patrick meets with legislative leaders behind closed doors, it costs taxpayers more money."

Democrats scoffed at the notion, saying Patrick had listened to legislators and social service providers.

"There was a real concern about how these programs and projects were going to be funded," said Representative Robert A. DeLeo of Winthrop, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "So hopefully this will alleviate all of the fears."

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com; Andrea Estes at estes@globe.com.