Tomorrow's 9C Cut Announcement: Can We Balance Cuts With Other Options to Support Our State?

Governor Patrick, in Wednesday's speech on employment for those with disabilities, announced that:

"There are going to be some programs, a limited number, that will be eliminated entirely." Patrick said his team was working with unions, and has previously said that up to 2,000 layoffs could result from the cuts... The governor's budget remedy package, including a request for expanded "9C" authority, is due tomorrow. "I've got a few more decisions to make. I'm close," he told reporters after his speech at the Westin Copley Hotel. "I'm going to do the very best I can, particularly to protect services for vulnerable people and education." [State House News Service]

And although tomorrow's 9C Cut announcement is being overshadowed by the great focus on Senate and Mayoral races, some community members and organizations are reaching out to the Governor and his staff, pushing for the programs they care deeply about.

Just one example is the push-back against Patrick's "plans to furlough workers and possibly cap staffing at the Massachusetts Disability Determination Services... a belt-tightening move that could worsen a Social Security backlog, leaving tens of thousands of disabled citizens desperately waiting for benefits." [Herald Article]

Another example is Tuesday's rally to protest cuts to Clubhouse services, with folks lining up from the plaza near the Department of Mental Health, proceeding to the front of the State House and ending at Governor Patrick's office.

In the past, these pleas have too often come in the form of "don't cut me, make cuts somewhere else!!" Thankfully, this is beginning to change. Many of those mental health advocates are not only asking for their program to be spared cuts - they are joining ONE Massachusetts in our Virtual Rally - telling Governor Patrick to take a balanced approach to resolving our budget shortfall - closing the gap between shrinking revenues and the increasing need for services to in a time when all families have been hit hard in their own budgets!

This means not only making cuts, but looking to increase our state revenue in ways that are stable, adequate, and balanced. It also means taking a thoughtful, careful look at the loopholes included in our Tax Expenditure Budget.

ONE Massachusetts project director Yawu Miller spent this morning at the Tax Expenditure Budget Hearing, asking that committee, and the Legislature as a whole, to examine the tax expenditure budget as carefully as legislators examine the state budget every year when considering where to make increases and where to make cuts. We believe that there are many exemptions in the Tax Expenditure Budget that may have made sense when enacted — some more than 20 years ago — but now may no longer serve the policy goals they were intended to serve. [Full Written Testimony]

These requests are starting to gain ground! According to the Boston Herald, "The state will keep its new film-industry tax credit even as the Patrick administration eyes tightening other tax laws to raise money for the cash-strapped state." Rep. Jay Barrows (R-Mansfield) told the [State House] News Service Tuesday that he hopes lawmakers will look at ways to simplify the tax code and make changes that spur job creation and investment. Barrows said he's not sure of the goal of the panel's foray into the depths of the tax code. "I'm not certain what the end result will be," he said.

If you are interested in learning more about the Tax Expenditure Budget, or other ways that we can help build a more stable, adequate balance between our revenues and budget, please drop us a line. In the meantime, please contact Governor Patrick and let him know that we need to move beyond just cuts!