House approves $35m loan to help Lawrence stay solvent

Supporters said the bill - which passed, 101 to 56, after several hours of bitter debate - will prevent one of the state’s poorest cities from running out of money this spring, threatening its critical police, fire, and municipal services.

“This is the soul of the Democratic Party, to help people who need help,’’ said Representative Angelo M. Scaccia, a Democrat from Hyde Park.

The bill, which authorizes Lawrence to borrow up to $35 million under state supervision, must also be approved by the Senate, which has not set a timetable for debate on the measure.

During the debate yesterday, Republicans proposed an amendment that would have created a five-member board to seize control of the city’s finances. Under the House bill, an overseer appointed by Governor Deval Patrick would work closely with Lawrence officials, but City Hall would retain ultimate authority over the budget.

Bradley H. Jones, the House minority leader, said a control board was “the tough medicine that’s necessary to get Lawrence back on its fiscal footing.’’

Simply allowing Lawrence to borrow $35 million under the guidance of an overseer is “kicking the problem down the road a little bit, parenthetically, until after the next election,’’ Jones said.

Democrats who control the chamber crushed the amendment by overriding it with one of their own, a procedural maneuver that drew howls of protest from Republicans, who accused Democrats of unfairly squelching debate.

“Democracy is truly dead here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,’’ said Representative Bradford Hill, an Ipswich Republican.

Representative Elizabeth A. Poirier, a North Attleborough Republican, accused the Democratic majority of pulling a “cruel trick on the citizens of the Commonwealth, not to allow fair and open debate to go forward.’’

But Scaccia, a veteran lawmaker, said overriding one proposal with another counterproposal was “not something new.’’

Much of the debate was consumed by Democrats defending Mayor William Lantigua of Lawrence, who resigned last month from his second job as a Democratic state representative. Lantigua was facing criticism from the governor and his legislative colleagues, who said he needed to devote his undivided attention to his job in City Hall.

Representative Charles Murphy, a Burlington Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said that because Lantigua took office as mayor on Jan. 4, he “has nothing to do with the current fiscal situation in Lawrence.’’

“He has inherited a nightmare, and he knows that,’’ Murphy said, urging his colleagues to give a “fair opportunity for the mayor to steer his city in the right direction.’’

The overseer will “work hand-in-hand, on a day-to-day basis, to make sure they’re moving in the right direction,’’ Murphy said.

Lantigua, reached on his cellphone last night, declined to comment on the bill’s passage in the House.

If the overseer is concerned that Lantigua and his aides are not making progress, the overseer can recommend that a control board take over the city’s finances, stripping the mayor of much of his budgeting powers. In 2004, the state appointed a similar panel to manage finances in Springfield.

Representative David M. Torrisi, a North Andover Democrat who represents part of Lawrence, said the firestorm caused by Lantigua’s initial refusal to resign from his state position “quite frankly has not made this process easy for any one of us.’’ But he urged his colleagues not to punish Lawrence because of their anger at Lantigua.

“This isn’t about the current mayor of Lawrence,’’ Torrisi said, adding that he considers Lantigua a friend. “This is about the citizens of Lawrence. . . and your obligation is to those people.’’

There is some precedent for the Legislature’s allowing communities to borrow money to cover their budgets, although not on this scale. Representative Barry R. Finegold, an Andover Democrat who represents part of Lawrence, said lawmakers gave borrowing power to Swansea in 2002, to Southbridge in 2004, and to Medway in 2006.

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.