Patrick, rivals spar over state budget

"Their budget proposals would have exactly the same impact -- exactly the same impact -- $2.5 billion," the governor said at the forum, which focused on the challenges facing social services providers. "The time will come to talk about rolling back the tax rate, and we should. But the time is not right now."

Baker defended his tax-cut proposals, saying they may not cost the state as much as the sales tax question, which takes effect Jan. 1, because they may take time to shepherd through the Democrat-led Legislature. Baker, who has proposed 13 cost-saving measures for state government, also noted that the state is currently facing a $2 billion budget deficit next year, which he blamed on the governor.

"My view is we need to cut taxes and make Massachusetts more affordable and more competitive," Baker said in an interview after the forum. "We'll have to do that over the course of a Baker administration, and that's my plan."

The hour-long forum, held before an audience of hundreds of human services workers and advocates, showcased policy and stylistic differences between the candidates and featured some direct jabs at each other's perceived weaknesses.

Decrying the average salary of $12 an hour for human services workers, Cahill proposed a "Quinn bill for direct care workers," modeled on a controversial state program that has been deeply cut in recent years, which awards salary increases for police officers who earn college degrees.

"We have to put them on the level of teachers and police officers," Cahill, the state treasurer, said of social services workers. "They are as important, if not more important, than those professions."

Jill Stein, the Greein-Rainbow candidate, touted her plans to eradicate millions of dollars in state tax incentives for large corporations and direct the money to human services workers. She also proposed moving toward a single-payer health care system which she called a cost-saving "Medicare-for-all system."

"When you're told there's not enough money, you're really being told there's not enough money for you," Stein told the audience at the forum, which was sponsored by the Providers Council, a group representing social services providers, and moderated by Karen Holmes Ward, a WCVB-TV host.

Baker said his goal is to streamline state health and human services agencies, which he repeatedly called cumbersome and needlessly complex. At one point during the forum, Baker said tackling the constellation of agencies is "like eating an elephant. You have to do it one bite at a time."

"Health and human services matters a lot," said Baker, who served as the state's health and human services secretary under Governor William F. Weld in the 1990s. "But I also believe sate government needs to be a lot more efficient in providing those services and administering them, and I think we have miles to go on that."

Patrick sought to highlight his personal connection to human services workers. In a direct jab at Baker, who is known for diving into policy minutiae, Patrick said his approach is not about "me acting like I'm smarter than you."

"I have not brushed past you once," Patrick said, asserting that he has been listening to the concerns of human services workers even when the protested budget cuts outside his office.