Acting Gov. Jane Swift announced yesterday a budget proposal that would dramatically reduce spending in 2003 and utilize $2.4 billion in state reserve funds over the next four years.
In addition to tapping reserve funds, Swift’s four-year plan would mean $700 million more in spending cuts than the house originally proposed — a reduction of about 3 percent, bringing the 2003 fiscal year budget to $22.8 billion. The Office of Health and Human Services and Local Aid and Education programs will feel the brunt of the blow.
Swift defended her budget cuts by emphasizing her determination to avoid implementing a tax hike.
“This is a responsible plan for dealing with the ’02 and ’03 budget shortfalls without crippling the economy with new taxes,” Swift said. She went on to describe efforts by the legislature to raise taxes as “frenzied” and claimed it would only lead to the loss of jobs.
Swift was unable to provide a concrete number of the jobs that would be lost as a result of her budget cuts.
With members of her cabinet appearing behind her, Swift referred to an illustration of the legislature’s proposed annual $960 tax increase on Massachusetts’ middle-class families.
“Raising taxes is the last thing we should do, not the first,” she said. “Why not use tax dollars that tax payers have already sent in, before we sock them for more?”
Swift said the local economy appears to be recovering from the recession but is still in a fragile state. She claimed the proposed tax increase is “sending exactly the wrong message. It is exactly the wrong medicine for an economy emerging from an economic recession.”
Under Swift’s intended budget plan, the state reserve funds will be depleted to $440 million by the end of the 2005 fiscal year. In addition to draining “rainy day” resources, Swift advocates using 100 percent of the tobacco settlement money Massachusetts received recently for healthcare programs, potentially avoiding another $150 million in budget cuts.
Swift strongly criticized the House of Representatives for rejecting her original budget proposals without first providing a better alternative.
“Their job isn’t just to reject proposed solutions, but to also come up with a better alternative,” she said.
Swift’s first budget proposal was knocked down by the Legislature last November, after it quickly rejected $134 million of her proposed $289 million in cuts.
Swift recommended the Legislature grant cabinet secretaries and agency heads more flexibility in identifying necessary budget cuts.
“If we want agencies to manage with tighter budgets, we have to give them the flexibility to make their own budget decisions,” she said. “Our present system ties agencies’ hands by allowing the Legislature to dictate where every dollar will be spent. It’s time to let the managers manage.”
Responding to talk of a dramatic slip in Republican support for the acting governor, Swift said, “I have a big job here as governor. That is what I am focusing on right now. I never let numbers upset me.”
She reacted similarly to remarks about possible campaign competitor and Olympic organizer Mitt Romney, who is rapidly gaining support among state Republicans.
“Right now I’m focused on not raising taxes,” Swift said.
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