Mass delegation, sans Brown, lobbies for more stimulus money

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON – The Massachusetts delegation sent letters this afternoon to House and Senate leaders urging them to support an extension of Medicaid funding that Massachusetts and other states say is vital to prevent drastic budget cuts.

The letters were missing one notable signature: Scott Brown, the newly elected Republican senator who opposes the current proposal for the funding because it would add to the federal deficit.

But the 11 Democrats in the delegation were adamant that the extension be approved, which would cost $24 billion over 10 years.

“The extension will provide a vital lifeline that will protect health programs serving vulnerable residents, mitigate the need for state layoffs of teachers and public safety employees, and preserve the social safety net for individuals and families still struggling to recover from the ongoing recession,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter. “If the extension is not enacted in the coming weeks, states will begin to initiate drastic cuts, layoffs, and tax increases which will endanger our national economic recovery.”

Governor Deval Patrick and state lawmakers have been counting on the extension to fund about $800 million of next year’s budget. Patrick this week announced that he would cut 3.6 percent from nearly every line item unless the funding comes through.

“Without this federal funding, our state’s fiscal health will be in serious jeopardy,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat and dean of the delegation. “This funding will not only protect critical medical programs in the Commonwealth, but will also help keep cops on the beat and teachers at work in our classrooms.”

The proposal would extend Medicaid reimbursements that had been helping states close budget gaps during the economic downturn. Those reimbursements expired this month, but the legislation would extend the funding for another six months.

“Initially they were supposed to be a one-time payment to the state,” Brown said in an interview this afternoon. “I remember when I was in the Legislature, we warned them. We told them, ‘Listen, it may not be here again.’ And a lot of cities and towns, and the state especially, didn’t make the proper decisions, the tough decisions. So now there’s even a bigger hole, as we said there would be.”

The Medicaid extension is included in a package that includes extending unemployment benefits, funding more summer jobs, and changing a variety of tax policies. The House passed a $112 billion bill two weeks ago, and the measure is currently before the Senate. The House bill stripped the Medicaid extension from the bill, but there is an effort in the Senate to put it back in.

Brown said that he would support the proposal only if it did not add to the federal deficit.

Still, Brown stopped just short of criticizing Patrick and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature for including the funding before Congress had approved it.

“The years of over-spending and not making tough decisions are coming to the forefront,” Brown said. “I don’t’ feel it’s appropriate to saddle our kids and grandkids with debt that they’re going to be responsible for. We need to make the tough decisions now.”

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.