The state legislature ended its 2009 formal session on Thursday, approving a budget-balancing bill in the House of Representatives but leaving a few major bills unfinished until they resume in January.
Major budget cuts, proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick that would have affected the Probation Department, bonuses for police officers with college degrees and the legislature’s own funds were left unresolved, according a Nov. 19 Boston Globe article.
‘I have to respect their rules,” Patrick told the Globe. ‘But I also know they can suspend their rules if there’s work to be done. And I think there is work to be done.”
The House passed the budget-balancing legislation 132-21 at about 10:40 p.m., leaving the Senate too little time to consider by the session’s formal end at midnight, according to a Nov. 18 State House News article.
Patrick is left with a $125 million budget gap because many of his proposed cuts didn’t get approved by the legislature, The Globe reported, though a proposal he put forward last month asked to see $215 million budget cuts in order to close a $600 million budget deficit.
The legislature also didn’t approve Patrick’s emergency budget bill, which would include funding for traffic cameras that would better apprehend violators who could be fined, and would eliminate two paid holidays for certain state workers.
Patrick is particularly concerned about his education proposal and the criminal justice bill, according to The Globe.
His education proposal, filed in July, aimed to increase the number of charter schools in under-performing districts. The criminal justice bill is designed to help former prisoners get jobs by limiting employer access to their criminal history.
‘ ‘I just think now is the time to stick to it and get this work done,’ Patrick said.
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