The House Ways and Means Committee issued a win for Massachusetts higher education when it announced formal recommendations for Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2007 fiscal year budget Monday at the Statehouse, allocating more money to colleges than Romney’s initial proposal.
The committee proposed a $22 million increase to Romney’s original allocation of $432 million for the University of Massachusetts system. The committee also recommended an additional $34.7 million across the board to other state and community colleges to close the so-called “funding gap” that plagues smaller publicly-funded Massachusetts schools.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) explained that elementary school through high school public education, however, took a hit in the Committee’s proposal because Romney has asked that the state provide unrealistic funding for Massachusetts schools.
“There has been a lot of dedication in the House to education,” DiMasi said at a press conference following the committee meeting. “So the people who say that the [public education] budget in Chapter 70 is not enough should come up with some convincing figures.”
DiMasi argued that the Republicans’ promises to increase spending for education gave them good press, but the promises were unrealistic, referring to Chapter 70, which allocates money directly to public schools.
“The Governor, basically irresponsibly, made a budget based on political reasons — as the Republicans always do — while we had to deal with reality,” he said.
The committee allocated nearly $72 million less than Romney’s proposal for Chapter 70 funding.
The Committee’s overall $25.3 billion budget proposal was a nearly $100 million increase from Romney’s proposal, allowing for key allocation additions for higher education and welfare.
Committee Chairman Rep. Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) explained the basis for the discrepancies between the budgets.
“We utilized sound fiscal principles to budget with foresight and compassion for those most in need,” DeLeo said. “With this budget, we strengthen the foundation of Massachusetts’s economic recovery and resist the temptation to spend beyond our means.”
Calling Romney’s health care proposal “irresponsible,” the committee objected to Romney’s proposal to cut $31 million from Medicare spending.
The Committee contended that it was not possible in any democracy to meet everybody’s demands, but that the proposed budget is “fair and honest, and [will] give the Commonwealth a solid fiscal footing in the future.”
For the first time in history, the committee’s budget does not contain “outside sections,” committee recommendations which previously could not be debated in the House.
“This is something we should stick to, although the debate is going to take much longer,” speaker DiMasi said.
The Committee’s budget proposal will be discussed in the House beginning April 24 alongside Romney’s proposal to form a final budget for the 2007 fiscal year, set to go into effect on July 1.