This week the members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives convened in full formal session to deliberate, consolidate, debate, and vote on over 888 amendments to the Fiscal Year 2014 state budget that was released on April 10 by the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Their budget was a $33.8 billion proposal.
As an experienced legislator who has personally been through eleven budget debates and witnessed eleven more as a staffer on Beacon Hill, a few things made this budget debate week and process memorable to me.
First, legislators debated this budget in the wake of the Boston marathon bombings and all that transpired in the week after. The House began our session with saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing God Bless America. We applauded a Massachusetts State Trooper who was there to represent all the law enforcement and public safety officials who responded to the bombing. On Tuesday, the Adjutant General of the Massachusetts National Guard, General Scott Rice, visited the chamber and addressed the body. He was accompanied by soldiers from the Massachusetts Guard. The appreciative applause from my colleagues and me was thunderous.
Second, there was a good amount of debate, some of which got rather heated, about issues I think are important for the people’s legislature to deliberate on such as the reinstating of the death penalty in Massachusetts, the so-called “Bathroom Bill” concerning gender expression of school students and which bathroom and locker room facilities they should be using, the Patrick administration policy of providing taxpayer-subsidized in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants, the problems with fraud and abuse of the public welfare and EBT system, and much more.
Unfortunately, there was also so much more taking place off the floor, out of the public eye, in a room near the House chamber called Room 348 where the Chairman of Ways and Means and W&M staffers would meet with legislators wishing to advocate for their amendments on issues such as public safety, public health, or local aid. Those amendments would then be bundled or consolidated into one or more big categories and voted on en masse. “In the old days” amendments were debated individually on the House floor in plain sight of everyone from the media and press to the members of the public watching from the gallery.
I filed three amendments and co-sponsored dozens more. My amendments dealt with local aid to municipal libraries like the Westfield Athenaeum, restoring cuts to Western Mass Hospital, and state police patrols for Hampton Ponds State Park. Although I made what I hoped was a strong case for all three, only the WMH amendment prevailed. I did have the chance to get up on the floor and support the consolidated Public Health amendment which included the money for Western Mass Hospital. It also included a line item for youth at risk in the Commonwealth. I spoke in support of this line item because it provided resources to our Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs across the state.
Third, many of my colleagues and I have turned to social media like Facebook to inform our constituents about what was happening during the debate. I posted more this year than I can ever remember doing before. I know it doesn’t reach everyone but my sense is it got out to more of my constituents than the traditional media would have. And it was much more interactive.
Finally, the days of debate usually started in the late morning and lasted until midnight each day. But this year the House concluded its debate in only three days. In my tenure as a State Representative I have gone through 5 day and 4 day budgets. This year was the first time it’s taken only 3 days.
Late Wednesday night the House voted and the budget passed 127-29 along party lines. I voted against the House budget this year. I think my House Republican Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) summed up my feelings well when he stated, “I appreciate the work done by Speaker DeLeo, Chairman Dempsey and the House Committee on Ways and Means on the Fiscal Year 2014 budget.
Unfortunately, as adopted, the budget demonstrates the House Democrats’ continued willingness to rely on revenue found in the recently passed transportation finance bill. While the taxpayers of Massachusetts have avoided the enormity of Governor Patrick’s $1.9 billion dollar tax hike, our state’s residents should find no comfort in the $500 million dollar tax increase approved by my colleagues across the aisle.
By opposing the Fiscal Year 2014 budget, House Republicans continue to demonstrate our strong opposition to fiscal irresponsibility and our ongoing advocacy for the elimination of waste, fraud and abuse in state government. While many initiatives offered by the Republican Caucus fell victim to the ongoing reliance on procedural gamesmanship, the minority party in the House will continue to advocate for Massachusetts’ taxpayers.
I look forward to my Republican colleagues in the State Senate making every attempt to restore fiscal responsibility and governmental integrity to the state budget before it is ultimately sent to the Governor for his review.”
In other words, no matter how good the budget may be it still raises taxes on working Baystaters and businesses that employ our constituents and that is the wrong thing to do in an economy like ours.
I’m looking forward to being back home in Westfield after spending the week on Beacon Hill. I missed my wife and son. Maybe I’ll see you at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club’s annual youth fishing derby Sunday, April 28, from 9 AM – 3 p.m The event is free and is open to all youth 15 years old and younger.
I’d like to congratulate Bill Parks from the Westfield Boys and Girls Club who was awarded the Outstanding Community Spirit award by the Westfield Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Have a great week!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of the Westfield News.
Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Maura Cassin may be reached at their Westfield District Office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, (413) 568-1366.
Representative Don Humason may be reached at his Boston office, State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803.
Email address: [email protected]
Website: www.DonHumason.org
