The new Massachusetts state budget proposal for the 2012 fiscal year, which starts July first, was released Wednesday by Gov. Deval Patrick in a press conference at the Statehouse.
“At a total of $30.5 billion, this budget proposes to reduce spending by $570 million, the largest year over year spending reduction in 20 years,” Patrick said at the press conference. “It reflects many difficult, and in some cases painful choices, but we are making those choices to support our priorities.”
Among those priorities the governor mentioned were job creation, health care cost control, better schools and reduced youth violence.
Patrick said they were “priorities I know will make a stronger Commonwealth for all of us.”
The governor emphasized the need for job creation in his speech.
“Job creation is first and foremost…state government will do its part by maintaining our plan gradually to reduce the corporate tax rate to 8 percent next year down from 9.5 percent in 2009,” he said. “This helps over 35,000 Massachusetts businesses, most of them small, by saving them $85 million to invest in their own growth.”
Patrick emphasized the creation of life sciences and “other innovative industries that create the jobs of tomorrow” as one of the sectors that must be invested in.
Although the budget proposal does look to help create jobs, it will also be reducing nearly 900 jobs from the state workforce.
These 900 jobs will join the 5,900 jobs eliminated since 2008.
The rainy day fund, which was a highly debated topic during the campaign for governor, will be utilized by the administration in order to help combat the recession, which has been felt in Massachusetts, as well as the end of certain federal stimulus funds.
$200 million will be taken from the fund, according to the plan, which will leave $569 million remaining.
By reducing the budget by $570 million, Patrick will be cutting it by 1.8 percent.
Included in this downsizing will be the closing of two prisons and the cutting of $23 million that is designated for emergency homeless shelters.
Despite this, the new budget plan does not raise taxes or fees.
It also works to help provide increased funding for K-12 education.
In a press release put out by the governor’s office, Patrick explains the decisions made in the budget recommendations.
“This budget makes investments in critical areas that will help strengthen our economy in the near-term, position us for a strong recovery in the long-term, and continue to improve the way the government does business,” Patrick said. “With job growth up, unemployment falling, students outperforming their peers elsewhere, and health security expanding, we have positioned Massachusetts to recover stronger and faster than most other states.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
