Thursday, May 16, 2013
Ways & Means Committee budget falls short of many of Gov. Deval Patrick's proposals.
The Massachusetts State Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released a fiscal year 2014 budget proposal that is just shy of $34 billion and which falls short of several of Gov. Deval Patrick's budget recommendations. According to the Boston Globe, the Senate $33.92 billion budget would increase spending by 4.4 percent as opposed to Patrick's budget, which hikes spending by 6.9 percent. The Senate budget is roughly in line in terms of spending with the $33.8 billion House budget proposed last month. The Globe reported that the Senate budget increases spending for elderly services and special education but does not reach Patrick's recommendations for expanding transportation and providing universal childcare access. Committee …
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Thursday, April 11, 2013
The House proposal cuts out increased funding for early education, one of the centerpieces of Patrick's plan.
House leaders on Wednesday proposed a budget that was a billion dollars less than the one Gov. Deval Patrick put forth in January. The $33.8 billion House budget includes increased funding for higher education and local aid but not more money for early education, one of the centerpieces of Patrick's budget that emphasizes prekindergarten funding and investment in transportation. Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said the House budget would not increase these funds over concerns that the Department of Early Education and Care is inefficient and wasteful, the Boston Globe reported. Altogether, the House proposal would raise taxes by $500 million, compared to Patrick's proposed $1.9 billion tax hike. The House plan would result in a 3.9 percent …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
The Patrick administration announced this week that 31 state boards have adopted new procedures to enable military members to transfer their skills to the civilian world.
As a follow-up to the act passed last year calling for state agencies that oversee professional licensing to establish guidelines to assist members of the armed forces, veterans and their spouses find jobs in Massachusetts, the Patrick administration announced this week that such guidelines are in now place. "This component of the (Veterans' Access, Livelihood, Opportunity and Resources) Act was inspired by a request from First Lady Michelle Obama and the Joining Forces Initiative to ensure that those who have served in the military have a streamlined and efficient process through which to obtain appropriate licensure for jobs when they are home," the administration said in a press release. Each of the state's 31 boards that oversee …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, but Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK available once more.
More than three years after Gov. Deval Patrick said he'd make the State House grounds open to the public, the gates remain shut. The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, and Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK, in particular, available once more. However, Boston Herald reporters were recently turned away from the plaza and told that it is open during the summer during official tours of the State House, the Herald reported. The governor seemed unaware that the grounds were never reopened. “Well, the JFK statue is accessible now, which is great,” he told Herald reporters Friday. “The rangers can take you out. You just have to ask them. It doesn’t have to be a tour, and that’s a great thing.” …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Sherri Killins stepped down Monday as the head of the Department of Early Education and Care after reports she spent significant time in a superintendent training program.
Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday that nothing was illegal about Early Education and Care Commissioner Sherri Killins continuing to collect her $200,000 annual salary while she took time to train to be a superintendent and lived in Connecticut. Killins stepped down from the post earlier this week amid questions about her participation in a training program in Ware, which required a significant time investment and had some wondering whether it was cutting into the time she spent on the job. Patrick said Thursday that Killins did the training during her vacation time and other time off, and that there is no rule against living in another state while serving as a top Massachusetts official, the Associated Press reported. The administration …
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The rally was organized by Campaign for our Communities, a coalition of over 120 organizations across the commonwealth.
Hundreds of people bused in from across the state packed into a State House auditorim Tuesday morning to rally in support of Gov. Deval Patrick's tax plan, which they say is critical to make much-needed improvements in education and transportation infrastructure. The rally, which was organized by Campaign for our Communities, a coalition of over 120 organizations across the commonwealth, ended with attendees heading off to the offices of their representatives, urging them to vote for Patrick's plan. The governor's $34.8 billion budget proposal calls for an increase in the income tax from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent and the elimination of 44 deductions coupled with a decrease in the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent and a …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The program also allows users to develop their own plan and see its effects on their tax bill.
In an effort to further promote his proposed $34.8 billlion budget, Gov. Deval Patrick this week rolled out an online tool that would help families see the effect his plan would have on their bottom line. The tool was released less than a week after Patrick unveiled 400 online maps showing what each district would receive in transportation and education benefits under his tax plan. "We are proposing meaningful investments in education and transportation, and people want to know what that means for them," Patrick said. "Last week, with the maps, we showed what long-postponed projects would get done in each community. Now, with this tool, we show just what the costs or savings will be for individual households." The program not only lets …
Monday, March 4, 2013
The tool includes a maps for transportation funding and educational funding for each legislative district.
In an effort to promote his $34.8 billion budget proposal, Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled an online tool with 400 maps that shows what each legislative district would receive in education funding. “This tool will help people see exactly what to expect in their own backyard as part of the investments we’ve proposed,” Patrick said. “Meaningful investments in education and transportation today will significantly improve our economic future both in the short term and for generations to come.” There are two maps per district – one displaying transportation investments and one displaying education investments in each community. For example, according to the maps, the 8th Suffolk House District, which includes Beacon Hill and the Back Bay, …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Gov. Deval Patrick told the crowd that his proposed budget will make college more affordable and accessible.
Hundreds of college students rallied at the State House Tuesday to urge legislators to increase funding for financial aid programs. Telling lawmakers that college has become increasingly unaffordable without government help, the students advocated for greater state support. Gov. Deval Patrick, who addressed the crowd, said his proposed budget does exactly that. "We have made great strides in higher education, but there is more to do to make sure everyone can get to college, no matter their income," Patrick said. The administration's proposed 2014 budget invests $6.79 billion in education – $152 million of that directed at making college more affordable and accessible, according to an administration press release. This money would be used …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
While specific deductions would end, personal exemptions would double under the Patrick budget.
A recent analysis of Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed budget finds that it eliminates 44 tax breaks that benefit a large slice of Massachusetts taxpayers. Patrick's $34.8 billion FY2014 budget includes not only a 1 percentage point hike in the income tax – from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent – but the end of such deductions such as the capital gains from the sale of a person's primary home, college tuition, and contributions to a health savings account. The analysis, by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, found that the eliminations would raise an additional $1 billion for the commonwealth. But Patrick's assistant secretary for fiscal policy, Gregory R. Mennis, told The Republican that that amount would be offset by the doubling of personal…
Kimberly Ashton
5:08 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Hi Patrick, good point, but there are other pieces of public property on which we accept restrictions, like the White House. What do you think the difference is? more ›