Happy Independence Day!
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
As we approach the 236th birthday of our nation, here are the opening few paragraphs from the Declaration of Independence to get your patriotic juices flowing:
“IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”
I make it an annual tradition to re-read the Declaration every year on the 4th of July. I am always surprised to find that the complaints and grievances the colonists had with England in 1776 are not all that dissimilar with the complaints we may have with our government today, in 2012.
If you would like to read more of the Declaration of Independence, or the United States Constitution, or any of the foundational documents of our republic, feel free to visit he National Archives online at http://www.archives.gov/research/.
Westfield will be celebrating the birth of our country with fireworks this Saturday evening in Stanley Park at dusk. The Westfield Rotary Club is hosting the event and has dedicated the fireworks display to the memory of Councilor Patti Andras.
There will also be 2 Independence Day parades on Wednesday, July 4. The first begins at 10 a.m. at Hampton Ponds plaza and goes to the Hampton Ponds Association Building where a ceremony will be held. Later that evening, at 6 p.m., the Wyben neighborhood will hold their annual parade. All are welcome to come and celebrate our freedom and liberty.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate voted on Thursday to accept the Conference Committee report on the Fiscal Year 2013 state budget. In the House the vote was 147-3 to support the version of the budget as released from the committee. I voted YEA.
Members of my caucus met earlier in the day to go over provisions of the budget report. There was good debate among Republican legislators about our role as members of the minority party in Massachusetts, the Loyal Opposition to the overwhelming Democrat super majority in the Legislative and Executive branches.
In the Senate there are 4 Republicans and 36 Democrats, or 10%. In the House there are 33 Republicans and 127 Democrats, or just a bit over 20%. Democrats control every committee. Yet, we Republicans were successful in driving an agenda this session that the Speaker of the House embraced and that should make taxpayers proud.
The question on our minds was, “Should we vote for a budget that contains many of the positive things Republicans have been championing in the Bay State even though it doesn’t contain all the things we’ve fought for?” Or, “Should we vote against the budget because it contains things we don’t like and wasn’t as good as we would have liked it?”
The budget contained no new taxes or fees for a second year in a row, a strong and consistent message to individuals and businesses in our state. It prioritized spending money on local aid to cities and towns. It increased money for K-12 education. It makes favorable changes to the Community Preservation Act.
Because the economy is slow to improve in Massachusetts we had to again rely on drawing money from our stabilization fund or “Rainy Day” account. But it was a smaller draw this year than last year, about $350 million. We are one of only a handful of state in the country that can boast a reserve account of over $1 billion.
The budget attempts to get at the problems with a liberal public welfare benefit program called EBT, for Electronic Benefits Transfer, which has been shown to be rife with abuse. It contains a provision allowing for coupons for purchasing drugs in the state, something that was previously against the law. It creates a salary reserve for those earning less than $40,000 a year working in the difficult human services field. In the end, all but 3 members of our caucus chose to vote in favor of the budget.
There are always areas we must work to improve. We agreed the largest goal should be tackling the huge problem of illegal immigration in our state and the nearly $1 billion that is spent on benefits, housing, and health care for illegals at the expense of law abiding legal immigrants and citizens.
Eliminating fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption while increasing transparency of where we spend our precious and limited state resources should always be our priority. That battle continues. Restoring balance to the legislature will help and voters will have their opportunity in November.
Have a great week and an awesome 4th of July!
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
