House budget trims Patrick's plan
Speaker insists state can't afford many initiatives
House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi said yesterday that the House budget will include more than a third of the spending increases sought by Governor Deval Patrick.
DiMasi said the House proposal, to be released this afternoon, would fund about $80 million of the $213 million in spending increases that were in Patrick's fiscal 2009 budget for a variety of programs including education, police, and social programs. DiMasi refused to say which specific items the House will reject.
"There's nothing spectacular about any new initiatives, because we can't afford to do that at this time," DiMasi told reporters in his office, speaking generally about the $28.2 billion budget. "We have to live within our means."
DiMasi said his budget will include $109 million in direct budget cuts. He would not identify the cuts yesterday, but said they were spread throughout the budget to limit the impact.
The governor has identified $344 million in cost-saving plans, including $124 million through a mixture of "constrained growth in agency and program spending" and cuts to legislative earmarks.
The House voted last week to raise $392 million in corporate and cigarette taxes, a major political victory for the governor, who has been seeking corporate tax changes since he took office.
The House also plans to go along with the governor's plans to spend $10 million on homelessness programs; raise $51 million by increasing state employee healthcare contributions; and raise $166 million in additional taxes and increased enforcement of tax collections.
Patrick aides claimed victory yesterday, saying DiMasi was embracing most of their initiatives, such as additional prekindergarten classes and extended school-day programs.
"We see a lot to like in this budget," said Leslie Kirwan, the secretary of Administration and Finance. "They've adopted many of the reforms that the governor initiated."
Over the next several days, House lawmakers will file amendments to the budget, before debate later this month.
The Senate will weigh in following House deliberations, and then the different plans will have to be reconciled before July 1, when the budget takes effect.
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
