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House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. and Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei, along with Representative Vinny deMacedo and Senator Michael Knapik, the ranking members on the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, released the following statement today in light of Monday’s dismal revenue update:
Based on the latest revenue figures released by DOR, Republican legislators believe Governor Patrick needs to come up with an immediate plan to address the worsening fiscal situation. If he does not do that, we believe the Legislature should be called back into session before the end of the year to address the problem. Clearly, time is of the essence, and the longer we wait before tackling this problem, the worse the impact will be.
As a result of Monday’s Consensus Revenue Hearing, we have learned that DOR is anticipating another revenue shortfall of between $648 million and $749 million for the current fiscal year. This is on top of a $1.4 billion gap that has yet to be addressed and was only partially offset by the Governor’s October 9C cuts.
There have been numerous opportunities to deal with this fiscal situation, yet we find it getting worse by the day. At this point, everyone would agree that the depth of our fiscal problems is accelerating and needs to be addressed as soon as possible to mitigate the impact on our state’s communities. As late as yesterday, the Lieutenant Governor was saying there will be local aid cuts.
We’ve already seen the debacle that has taken place with the state’s transportation infrastructure. For 14 months, the Governor has talked about doing something, but has yet to file any legislation that the House and Senate can act on. When it comes to the budget, we can’t afford to be all talk and no action. This is something that needs to be addressed immediately, and if the Governor is not willing to do it, then the Legislature should step in and do what needs to be done.
In July when this budget was passed, the signs of economic despair were not only evident to us, but were already being felt on a national scale. The collapse of Bear Stearns, the rising costs of energy, new enrollment on unemployment and the crumbling housing market had already started taking its toll on citizens nationwide and here in the Commonwealth. These signs, along with others, were the driving force behind our decision to vote against the budget and encourage the reining in of spending. The warnings, however, were unfortunately ignored, and we are now faced with an increasing burden on the state level.
Based on the latest revenue figures released by DOR, Republican legislators believe Governor Patrick needs to come up with an immediate plan to address the worsening fiscal situation. If he does not do that, we believe the Legislature should be called back into session before the end of the year to address the problem. Clearly, time is of the essence, and the longer we wait before tackling this problem, the worse the impact will be.
As a result of Monday’s Consensus Revenue Hearing, we have learned that DOR is anticipating another revenue shortfall of between $648 million and $749 million for the current fiscal year. This is on top of a $1.4 billion gap that has yet to be addressed and was only partially offset by the Governor’s October 9C cuts.
There have been numerous opportunities to deal with this fiscal situation, yet we find it getting worse by the day. At this point, everyone would agree that the depth of our fiscal problems is accelerating and needs to be addressed as soon as possible to mitigate the impact on our state’s communities. As late as yesterday, the Lieutenant Governor was saying there will be local aid cuts.
We’ve already seen the debacle that has taken place with the state’s transportation infrastructure. For 14 months, the Governor has talked about doing something, but has yet to file any legislation that the House and Senate can act on. When it comes to the budget, we can’t afford to be all talk and no action. This is something that needs to be addressed immediately, and if the Governor is not willing to do it, then the Legislature should step in and do what needs to be done.
In July when this budget was passed, the signs of economic despair were not only evident to us, but were already being felt on a national scale. The collapse of Bear Stearns, the rising costs of energy, new enrollment on unemployment and the crumbling housing market had already started taking its toll on citizens nationwide and here in the Commonwealth. These signs, along with others, were the driving force behind our decision to vote against the budget and encourage the reining in of spending. The warnings, however, were unfortunately ignored, and we are now faced with an increasing burden on the state level.
