House Speaker Robert DeLeo told his colleagues the chamber’s budget for the coming fiscal year would not include any new taxes or fees, and he didn’t mention whether he has any plan to address the MBTA’s $161 million budget shortfall.
In an election-year speech to House members on Tuesday, DeLeo celebrated the Legislature’s “remarkable record of achievement and commitment to the public good.” He said on-time budgets, a healthy stabilization fund, and an historically high bond rating (AA+ from Standard and Poor’s) have helped “insulate” Massachusetts from the dire economic conditions other states are facing.
But the biggest applause line of the afternoon was DeLeo’s tax pledge. “We will be releasing a budget from the House Committee on Ways and Means that does not rely on any new taxes or any new fees,” he said.
The speaker’s pronouncement probably means Gov. Deval Patrick’s call for $260 million in new revenue is unlikely to pass. Patrick, in his fiscal 2013 budget proposal, called for a 50-cent increase in the cigarette tax, an extension of the state’s 5 percent sales tax to candy and soda, and an expansion of the bottle bill to noncarbonated beverages.
Aside from the no new taxes and fees pledge, DeLeo’s speech was short on drama or fresh ideas. He highlighted two years worth of reforms in municipal health care and public pensions. He also touted reorganizations of the judiciary and the Probation Department and recently completed gambling and redistricting plans.
Though DeLeo offered up a shout-out to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, saying “we want you here” in Massachusetts, the speaker did not outline how the Bay State could persuade entrepreneurs and innovators to stay or lure back people like Zuckerberg who left. Nor did he offer up any new initiatives on education, health care, or job creation.
“We need to do everything in our power to improve the economic climate in Massachusetts,” said Rep. Dan Winslow, the Norfolk Republican, who complained outside the House chamber that the first vote after DeLeo’s speech involved an organ donation bill. “I suppose the good news is you can sell your kidney to pay your rent if you’re jobless, but that doesn’t help the agenda for getting Massachusetts working again.”
Assistant Majority Leader Byron Rushing said that he wasn’t surprised by the lack of new specifics in DeLeo’s speech. “We’re wrapping up the session and he is reiterating all the issues that are his priorities,” he said.
Rushing added that no one should read too much into the speaker’s silence on other pressing problems such as MBTA funding. “On all the other things that we are working on, you are going to see words from the speaker on those [issues] as we come closer to having consensus,” he said.
