Patrick’s $28.2 billion budget increases spending, relies on some speculative revenue

January 23, 2008 01:17 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Matt Viser and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick today unveiled a $28.2 billion budget that boosts spending on education, parks, and public safety but has come under fire because it relies in part on proposals that have not been approved by the Legislature.

"We can afford to do what we are proposing," Patrick said today in a statement. "We can't afford not to. We have seen what the cost of inaction looks like -- failing schools, broken roads, violence on streets corners -- and we must not settle for it any longer."

The spending proposal includes $124 million that administration says could be generated from the sale of casino licenses and $297 million from the closing of so-called corporate tax loopholes. The administration says it plans to close a projected $1.3 billion deficit through an emphasis on greater efficiency and "careful approaches to generating additional revenues."

The budget also draws on $370 million from the state’s reserve fund, which is half of what the government used this fiscal year. Budget observers say it can be dangerous to rely on any reserves for a one-time fix without addressing long term problems.

Other proposals in the budget include:

- Doubling for the second year in a row the amount spent on extended school day programs, to $26 million.

- Spending $15 million more to fund an additional 892 prekindergarten classrooms and $8 million to help 440 of the state's half-day kindergarten classrooms expand to a full day.

- Spending another $2 million on tutoring students with low MCAS test scores, $4.5 million on helping underperforming schools, and $1.5 million more for the Metco program.

- Spending $15 million for water and sewer rate relief for MWRA communities.

- Increasing funding for new Municipal Police Grants by $4 million, which would double funding for the program that seeks to putting additional police officers on the street.

- Increasing funding for the Chief Medical Examiner's Office and the State Police Crime Lab by $4 million to help reduce a backlog in DNA testing and improve operations.

- $1.5 million in new funding for the Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which works with community development organizations to provide grants and technical assistance for businesses with fewer than 20 employees.