House cuts in local aid may hit 5%
House leaders prepared members in a closed session yesterday for a politically unpleasant effort to reduce state aid to cities and towns in the budget proposal expected to emerge in mid-April. House Democrats said the local aid cut in the House Ways and Means Committee budget could hit 5 percent.
A 5 percent cut, which Democratic officials called the steepest under consideration, would bring the Chapter 70 account to over $3.8 billion and likely force layoffs and program cuts across the state.
The budget proposal Governor Deval Patrick released in January contained no cuts to the largest local aid account, worth over $4.04 billion, but legislative Democrats have said they will ignore Patrick’s requests for new taxes and have questioned his use of federal assistance not yet authorized by Congress.
“We’re not doing tax revenues,’’ House budget chief Charles Murphy said. “We’re going to have to do more cuts.’’
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo appears to have decided to resist Republican House members’ calls for a local aid resolution guaranteeing level funding in Chapter 70, municipalities’ biggest pot of state assistance. Rather than force members to vote on a local aid resolution, which municipal officials seek annually to guide their budgets, DeLeo could team up with Senate President Therese Murray to issue a joint statement.
Twelve Democrats signed onto the GOP resolution.
