cuts

This week parents with toddlers protested planned cuts in services, fee hikes at the State House. Last week the Environmental League of Massachusetts released a report that highlights the deep environmental spending cuts that have taken place in Massachusetts. While in the Environmental League of Massachusetts report environmental officials said that they understand that the current state fiscal crisis has forced spending cuts, both advocacy organizations evaded the tough question that legislators are facing today: cut these programs further, take money away from other programs to fund them or raise new revenues.  

“A healthy environment is the result of decisions we make together through our government through different policies, initiatives and decisions that keep our water clean and protect our green spaces.”

“Young children thrive when we support policies that create a network of support to help their families overcome their childrens’ health challenges.”

While everyone would agree with the above statements and would support funding these government initiatives, we cannot lose sight of the fact that there are many other worthy programs in our state that also contribute to the overall health of our community. In fact the State House corridors are packed everyday with hundred of single issue advocates lobbying for their worthy programs to be protected from cuts.

The public debate about these programs should not based on whether a program is more important than another one or which one is getting cut the most but on how we all as a community decide how to support all these structures by providing them with the necessary funding to keep them functioning and servicing our communities.

In good economic times we have cut taxes in the state to bring money back into “people’s pockets”. In bad economic times, we cut taxes to “re-active the economy and create jobs”. We can not have it both ways and expect to have the same level of services and programs.

We need to continue our one issue advocacy but add a revenue message to protect the entire range of important programs that we value in our communities.

Our governor and Legislature are at a critical juncture, faced with the choice between making sweeping cuts that could have far reaching consequences for the health and well being of the state or raising new revenue to support the public structures that keep our state and its economy functioning smoothly.

At its deepest level, the conversation is about what kind of state we want to live in and how we are going to pay for it.

But so far, the discussion has been relegated to cuts. Governor Patrick’s announcement he plans to lay off 2,000 employees sent shockwaves through the state yesterday. State officials are anticipating a revenue shortfall of $600 million for this fiscal year and $2-3 billion for next year.

As advocates point out, cutting 2,000 jobs doesn’t simply mean 2,000 people are out of work. It also means services and programs will be cut. Higher education, public health, human services are all on the chopping block. Patrick is also seeking powers under state law, to make cuts in the judiciary branch and to Local Aid. This means the cuts could also affect everything from the judiciary branch to schools, fire and police departments.

In times like these, the public systems we have built in Massachusetts are more important than ever – job training programs, social services, our public higher education system which is training the skilled workforce that attracts businesses to our state and grows our economy.