“Fiscal ’12 is going to be one of the most difficult years we’ve seen…no program will be immune to the potential of a significant reduction in state funding, and it’s likely that every program will feel some effect.”
That was Senate President Therese M. Murray’s (D - Plymouth) warning to those who attended last week’s annual legislative budget forum in Hyannis. The Community Action Committee of Cape Cod and the Islands once again hosted the event, at which Sen. Murray and State Senator Daniel A. Wolf (D - Harwich) delivered a preview of the upcoming House and Senate budget sessions.
Except for State Representative Susan D. Williams Gifford (R - Wareham), every member of the Cape and Islands’ legislative delegation was in attendance, along with representatives from town and county governments, and members of the region’s business and human service communities.
According to Sen. Murray, the state is expecting an estimated $20.252 billion in tax revenue, which represents a 7.5 percent increase over FY11 levels, although half of that is FY11 tax revenue coming in at higher-than-expected levels.
However, she said obligations to the MBTA, the school building assistance fund, and the state pension fund will reduce the available revenue to $17.56 billion, resulting in a projected $1.822 billion budget gap for FY12.
Governor Deval L. Patrick outlined his spending priorities for Fiscal Year 2012 back in January. He proposed a $30.5 billion operating budget, which represents a $1.7 billion increase over the FY11 budget. However, total spending for the current year is expected to top $31.1 billion, meaning the FY12 budget would effectively cut spending by $570 million as compared to FY11.
“All of this discussion on the budget gap we’re facing seems very dismal, and it’s going to be a challenge, but we are seeing signs of our economy improving,” Sen. Murray said, citing the state’s steadily declining unemployment rate—8.2 percent in February, down .6 percent from a year ago—and continued high bond ratings. “Massachusetts is doing better than any other state.”
The national unemployment rate is 8.9 percent. Massachusetts has the 22nd lowest unemployment rate in the US, according to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the New England area (behind New Hampshire at 5.4 percent, Vermont at 5.6 percent, and Maine at 7.5 percent).
‘No More Earmarks’
Gov. Patrick’s spending priorities for FY12 are in the areas of education, job growth, health care, and youth and urban violence. He avoided new or increased taxes in his spending plan, but called for the use of $200 million out of the state’s rainy day reserve account, expanding the bottle bill to generate $20 million in new revenue, and selling off surplus state property to balance out the necessary cuts.
Sen. Murray said her priority was to maintain funding for programs serving vulnerable citizens, specifically in the area of mental health services, while ensuring that any budget cuts are balanced, fair, and spread out across all areas of spending.
“It does come to a point when you cut to the bone, and you can’t cut anymore, and when you try to actually cut expenses, you create more than you cut,” Sen. Wolf added, alluding to the increased long-term economic and social costs generated by excessive cuts to social service and safety net programs.
Members of the audience inquired about the possibility of state spending in support of nonprofit organizations, job training programs, wastewater management, and affordable housing. In each case the answer was, basically, advocate for your projects, don’t count on funding.
“Sometimes in the budget there can be funding there, but if the language that goes with the funding in the line item is written in such a way that you see that your organization might be getting the fuzzy end of the lollypop…that’s important for us to know,” said State Representative Sarah K. Peake (D - Provincetown).
She urged people to closely examine all three preliminary versions of the state budget—the governor’s, the House’s, and the Senate’s—to see if the language attached to line items is favorable for their programs, and if not, alert their local lawmakers.
However, Rep. Peake added that no one should expect any earmark requests to be honored. “Those days are over. No more earmarks,” she said.
Mary L. (Pat) Flynn, in her capacity as a member of the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners, raised the topic of the region’s Centralized Emergency Medical Dispatch (CMED) system. The CMED system coordinates ambulance service on Cape Cod, and is currently paid for by the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Department, which operates the service through the county emergency communications system.
Sheriff James M. Cummings has pushed to remove CMED costs from his budget, and Ms. Flynn noted that a regional CMED oversight board has been established, but a new funding mechanism has not been identified.
According to State Representative Cleon H. Turner (D - Dennis), the desirable option is to retain local control of CMED and secure additional state funding to support the operation, but State Representative David T. Vieira (R - Falmouth) said the state could decide that emergency dispatching is not a suitable function of the sheriff’s department and transfer control to a state-level entity as part of a larger reorganization effort.
Rep. Vieira is a former employee of the sheriff’s department and is now on a special commission charged with examining the impacts of the state takeover of seven county sheriff’s departments, including Barnstable County, that previously operated as county agencies. CMED dispatch is one of the issues now under consideration by the commission.
The House Committee on Ways and Means expects to release its FY12 spending plan later this month. The Senate Committee on Ways and Means is scheduled to release its version as early as May.
