Patrick says he'll cut local aid by $128 million

WOW, wait till someone gets killed in a fire, because he cut the fire dept and crime rate goes up... OF course he will have someone else to blame... politicians in MA need to get things straightened out, maybe lighten their budget, get rid of travel pay, fancy cars etc... IT IS AFFECTING THE WORKING CLASS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where do these insane taxes stop? This is the only state in the country that penalizes you if you don't have healthcare coverage. We cannot afford it both of us being unemployed so we get hit with 800.00 penalty each when we file our taxes this year.

Instead of calling this state taxachutessets it should be called rapeachussettes.

Where's my property tax cut that you promised Mr. Governor???????

Restaruants remain packed....it's retail that's getting slammed....Been to an olive Garden on a Friday night recently? It's still an hour wait. They can afford the 1-percent.

I don't think there should be an addition tax for the restaurants as they're hurting in this economy.

Good,
He can start by taking back the raise the the state reps gave themselves.

Its good to finally see The Union Democratic Power Machine devower itself. The unionized government is nothing more that a Ponzi Scheme ! Until the unions are dissmantled and cost are brought under control,there will never be enough money. Just like a Ponzi scheme once the money slows down the entitled party is over.

Tax and spend, tax and spend...We have a democratic governor and house, it now becomes a free for all....They aren't figuring how to cut costs, they are figuring out how to get more revenue in, i.e. taxes...

It should be anything but not property tax we are sick of footing all the bills ,they should have an apartment rental tax why should they be speared the housing tax . You have people on section 8 with live in boyfriends or girlfiends with 2 incomes but reporting 1 and having rental rooms ect.

1 cent? You mean 1 percent!

It's actually a 20% increase, not a one-cent increase, in the tax.

Of all things to tax this is not a bad idea. If this is going to make a difference when you decide to go to a resturant; you shouldn't be eating out.

Simply more...

Change You (Dupes) Can Believe In.

Together We Can!

A better solution would be to increase the sales tax by one cent for all purchases and to target every penny of into local aid...

That would permit local aid to continue untouched help to address the property tax issue (part of the campaign promises)...

Further as the economy recovers a significant portion of these 'local aid' sales tax derived funds could be set aside in a local aid stabilization fund so that the next time (and their will be a next time) there will be funds to prevent this cyclical hit to municipal finances...

While Deval Patrick may not touch the Chapter 70 funding for education, he will likely cut critical state grants such as Circuit Breaker and Kindergarten funding that will result in layoffs in schools.

Time to let local communties have decision over where their income tax and sales tax revenue goes - not the state. A certain percentage should go back to local communities to decide how they are to be spent. At least it will be spent locally and from where it originated.

The Governor is right about at least one thing. The cities and towns must be do whatever is necessary to force their unionized employees join the GIC. Having each city and town cut a separate deal with each bargaining unit is ridiculous and incredibly wasteful. Now if the Governor can convice the Legislature to go along with that idea, we'll be in business.

HOGWASH!!!! Not sure if everyone realizes it or not, but our dear Gov has given 100K jobs to a few of his friends. People that supported his campaign and these jobs were not in the budget. So again the citizens get screwed and things are taken away for a leader who gives jobs out that were not necessary. Those jobs were payback and the globe is not even questioning him about it.

So backwards as usual- we are going to lose so many of our restaurants already, and not just the less popular or weakest financially. Then to go ahead and pile on a meals tax...Cowardace by the governor and the legislature- rather than make the easy decision to axe all the patronage jobs, rewrite the government labor agreements, eliminate redundant or unnecessary positions, or reform compensation, they attack high profile, high drama targets. Better to put the state in a sustainable fiscal position now while they can so we arent the perpetual basket case of the nation...you get the government you deserve.

I will gladly pay 1% extra on Tuesday for a hamburger today

I thought the budget was out of whack by $1B+ and he is cutting $128M to cities & towns? A 1% increase in the meals and hotel tax will do nothing as people can't afford to eat out and business are cutting back on T&E. Having people join the state health plan is a good idea but when is he going to have the testicular fortitude to cut salaries forst on Beaon Hill and then in every state agency. Come on , together we can....... remember!!!!

how about getting rid all together police details. One it will create jobs. Two it will save the state and towns millions of dollars a year. Three it will force the police to police not direct traffic (ie create enhance safety without additional cost). But the corrupt system and governor decided to cut local funding (ie schools, churchs, hospitals, homeless shelters, roads, etc.) REAL SMART Gov. Dimwit Patrick

It's not a 1 cent increase in the tax, it's one percent. Unless, of course, your meal only costed a buck.

That's the spirit, implement new taxes on already struggling businesses when employment is dropping like a rock. Together we can!*

*go broke!

It's a good thing we voted down the elimination of the income tax. That would have led to a decrease in funding to local communities and an increase in other taxes. Bullett dodged!

"They can tell you a lot about biotech, why it's important, and why we need to give them $1 billion," he added. "But they want to tax your hamburger."

Are you kidding me??!! Yes, raise taxes on non-necessity, “luxury” food. People are still just as lazy and will eat out just as much. That industry isn’t “suffering”. Maybe now FATAmerica will start losing some weight.
Biotech is for scientific advances, the betterment of human kind. It deserves funding.

"They can tell you a lot about biotech, why it's important, and why we need to give them $1 billion," he added. "But they want to tax your hamburger."

I think not, this industry is well noted for it's spending habits. I think we as citizens need to put our foot down and stop this free giveaway of 1 billion dollars. On several occasion we gave millions to private biotech companies
that will eventualy get into the pockets of individuals. This will be his last term in office if he continues to throw money out the wrong window.

Life science initiative/Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 23I

Another massive waste of tax payers money that we most likely will get a negitive return on spending.

Shut this program down and save a Billion...I think this can be done next week?

Patrick,
what kind of health insurance do you have?
You want to make budget cuts but still gave the reps and senator's their 3000+ raises why didn't you cut them And the fact that you want to penalize unions if they do not join the GIC is disgraceful Unions where formed to help the working person. Are you and all of our legistrators insured by GIC

That biotech giveaway will be the downfall of our Governor. We need to fund
more public programs not the companies that operate in our state.

Massachusetts Motto..."Need More Money, Raise Taxes".
The Governor's plan to raise meals and hotel taxes 1% will do nothing. People aren't going out fine dining anymore and hotels will remain unoccupied because people can't afford a weekend get a way, let alone the business traveler coming to Boston.
Lets tax the people from NH that come to Mass. to work. Let's tax the businesses that outsource jobs out of the country.
They want us to pay more and get less, That's the Massachusetts Way.

Good luck staying safe, there will be less Police and Firefighters working in your city or town now.

It's extremely disingenous for the govenor to say he will NOT touch the aid to schools. To think that the state aid being cut will not harm education is ludicrous. Cities and towns bear the burden of most of the cost of education. I'll bet 3.9 million doesn't cover any where close to the cost of state mandated programs like MCAS and others. Local municipalties will certainly be forced to make cuts right across the board, including to the schools.

Meanwhile our legislators accept raises. Sickening. Where is the leadership?

Typical approach for all politicians and large businesses. Rob from those who are lucky enough to be working, because there isn't enough money coming in the door to support the expected income. Raise Taxes, Prices on Goods & Services and provide a lesser amount of product. IE. Ice cream containers are now 1.5. quarts and the same price as the previously packaged 2 quarts. How much more does the working class have to give before there is nothing left to give? TAX-A-CHUSETTS lives on!

Biotech thats brilliant!

Thier failure rate is higher than resturants?
Let's give them 2 Billion instead?

Great idea Dev, raise taxes to kill off even more businesses, when will the voters of Massachusetts realize the the Democrat party has destroyed the state,
The decline in Massachusetts industry corelates almost exactly with the post war Democrat take over of state government,
For goodnes sakes Dev read a history book.

"Patrick said he would not touch the $3.9 billion that goes to communities for public schools."
- Then he should at lease split up the Mega-$$'s that were awarded for the Newton School to other towns

Why cant we start with structure/chain of commands?
Get rid of some of the chiefs in the state payrolls.
my my my, our we backwards?

What a bunch of baloney. He'll penalize the towns if they don't join the State's health insurance plan. The towns have no authority to make the unions accept it and he knows it. Until the legislature votes to give towns the right to set health insurance rates the same way the state does (without union approval), he's wasting his breath.

Hey Deval, how about some real cost cutting and layoffs before you start talking about additional taxes, er, I mean revenues.

Welcome to the Republic of Ma.!!! Tax you to oblivion. My question about tolls on the state borders. Are they going up to keeps us in??

together we cans.

change we cans beliebs in.

They shouldn't be raising meals taxes. Restaurants are highly suseptible to the downturn in the economy and employ a lot of harworking people. Last thing they need is a higher tax to keep everyone home. Even if the tax is raised only 1%, people will still be reluctant to go out knowing that it went up. Cut taxes and cut state government. As a state employee, I see it first hand, there is waste!

It's disheartening to see all the narrow-minded comments here poking at state government and trying to cast blame. We also should be reminded of the citizen's petition which lowered tax revenues by hundreds of millions if not billions back in 2000/2001. When this happened we were on our way to even lower taxes - which is simply not sustainable. Stop to recall all of the "fees" and other "non-tax" charges that came into play to make up for the loss of income tax revenue. If you want services, the government needs to collect taxes. Former Governor Mitt Romney promised us a lot and delivered little to nothing; in fact, I believe we're in this mess because he cooked the books to make it look like Governor Patrick was inheriting a surplus which ended up being a deficit fairly on. As for politicians with fancy cars, I don't know how that is, but my elected official drives a Ford Crown Victoria - not fancy in my world. If we don't fully support our Governor, and stop griping about the taxes we will never dig ourselves out of this mess. Let's work together here, people.

I want to know ho much we spend on non-citizens! When the money is there, they might be an option. Perhaps, THIS is the best place to start cutting the budget, yeah?

However, if our officials are more interested in non-citizens in times like these, then they have to go. We no longer have the luxury to care for the world when our own citizens are suffering, simply put. It's us or them. We paid for the place with our backs and blood, so we're not going quietly. "Let us hang together, or we will all hang separately" (Franklin, B.)

Please look at the jobs at the State Level and compare it to the functional role of what is actually done. Does a Clerk really need to be paid 65K a year to order supplies or does a College Professor really need to be paid 165K a year to teach Marketing? Why doesn't the State offer early reitement with years? There are other options then taxing the working people.

CRIME IS SKYROCKETING, murder spree in Brockton (a Jewish Bingo event to be targeted as police get shot at, and apprehend suspect), daily shootings in Boston, home invasions, and robberies on the rise, muggings, stabbings, and shootings on our public transportation, pharmacies being robbed at gunpoint as we pick up our prescriptions. If you don't think this is happening, get a police scanner and listen for yourself. LOCK YOUR DOOR AND WINDOWS, AND DON'T GO OUT, YOU'LL BE OK????
What will happen when these nuts attack our children and seniors????
SOLUTION Cut local aid for the police that protect us = INSANITY

A meals tax is a no brainer. Is someone really not going to buy that hamburger on the dollar menu because it is going to cost an extra penny???? Common! ! Municipalities are in desperate need of funds and this is a solid proposal.

"Why single us out?" Peter G. Christie, president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, asks????

Because it's FOR THE CHILDREN you numbskull!

BLAME THE UNIONS, ALL OF THEM. STATE WORKERS, FIRE, POLICE, TEACHERS......

PLAIN AND SIMPLE

but, but, but Governor ... you said if I voted for Question One, local aid would get slashed and police and fire would be cut. That it was just too risky.

I voted against Question One and you're doing what ?????

Note to g.grimaldi...yes, in fact the Governor and all state reps and senators are insured by GIC. You act like it's some third rate insurance, when most of us in the private sector...and people like me who pay 100% of health insurance costs...would LOVE to have the cadillac health insurance that state reps, senators, governors, and workers have. WAKE UP! The free ride is (hopefully) over...Amazing...truly amazing

Just hold another state wide Police examination in the spring to raise money for the state......... Wait, you're already going to do that.

Patrick will no doubt propose that tolls be set up at all town borders. His thinking through this crisis is most questionable and picking on the restaurants and hotels is pathetic, especially during hard times.

Hey Gov, if cutting local aid is the last resort, why has spending from the General Revenue account gone up 300% in the last 12 years while aid to municipalities has gone up just 50%? I think some cuts at the State level are in order first. Too many frivilous projects are being spared, while basic services like Fire, Police, road repair and schools get the axe.

Watch out all you liberal morons who think an increase in any tax is OK. Wait until they start taxing your grocery bill from the supermarket.

Let me ask a question here...if you go out to a resturant with your family, and the total bill for the evening comes to say $100 bucks, are you telling me that extra 1% in additional meal tax ... that extra $1 on this bill is going to stop you from going to a resturant? Let's get real people !!

He wants GIC because his GIC is another Gvt. Hole We need to subsidize his socialistic policies.

Just as President Obama has done - ALL EMPLOYEES MAKING OVER 100,000 NO RAISES! Ask around different towns and you'll find it isn't the "little guy" making a decent living thanks to town managers and local selectmen. The Globe should REALLY do a news report on this FACT.