Category Archives: State

Baker to MMA

Posted on January 26, 2015 | Comments Off on Baker to MMA

The State House News Service got the quote from Governor Baker more accurately than I did on Friday.  It is encouraging that the Gov seems so focused on making the state-town relationship work better.  I am looking forward to learning more about the “community compacts.” –

BAKER PLEDGES STRONG TIES TO MUNI LEADERS

[Story Developing] After pledging on the campaign trail to boost local aid in lockstep with growing state revenues, Gov. Charlie Baker told local officials Friday in a major address that he’s creating a community compact cabinet.

The cabinet and the new position, located within the Department of Revenue, was created through the first executive order of Baker’s new administration.

The cabinet, headed by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, will “reduce red tape” and lead to “community compacts,” Baker said in a speech to 900 members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. “These compacts will create clear mutual standards, expectations and accountability,” he said.

On the campaign trail, Baker pledged to boost local aid in lockstep with growing state revenues. He is due to file his first budget for fiscal year 2016 by early March.

Baker on Friday noted the deficit in the fiscal 2015 budget, which he has estimated at $765 million.

“I would call it challenging, I don’t think it’s any more than that,” Baker said, adding that in 1991 while coming into government as a part of Gov. William Weld’s administration, “We faced a similar budget deficit on a more smaller budget overall and worked our way through that.” – Gintautas Dumcius/SHNS

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Posted in Massachusetts Municipal Association, State

Gov Baker on road $

Posted on January 9, 2015 | Comments Off on Gov Baker on road $

This was the Mass Municipal Assoc alert that came this afternoon –

 

Friday, January 9, 2015

GOV. BAKER RELEASES $100 MILLION IN CH. 90 FUNDS FOR LOCAL ROADS, PLEDGES NO CUTS TO MUNICIPAL AID

Just hours after taking the oath of office on Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker directed the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to follow through on his campaign promise to release immediately $100 million in Chapter 90 bond authorizations that had been withheld by the previous administration.

In his inaugural address, Gov. Baker also declared that he would oppose further cuts to local aid, even as his administration grapples with an inherited mid-year budget deficit that could reach $750 million, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and other budget experts.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association and local officials from across the state applaud Governor Baker for recognizing the importance of investing in our local transportation systems, and understanding the damage that would be caused by mid-year cuts to local aid. Releasing the $100 million in withheld Chapter 90 funds and protecting municipal aid are important elements of a strong state-local partnership to improve our economy, enhance public safety, and build stronger communities.

A letter from Gov. Baker was issued yesterday informing local officials of his decision to release the funds, meaning that cities and towns will now receive the full $300 million in Chapter 90 funding authorized for fiscal 2015 – a record level of funding.

A $300 million Chapter 90 authorization for fiscal 2015 was included in a $13 billion transportation bond bill enacted last year. Decisions about how much funding to actually release are made by the governor’s office, however, and the Patrick administration decided to release just $200 million.

At the 2014 MMA Annual Meeting last January, then-candidate Baker famously declared that he would release the full $300 million “before I take my jacket off on my first day,” a statement that was met with loud applause from the hundreds of local officials in the audience. The MMA is currently compiling the results of an updated local road funding needs survey, which will be used to document the need for a $300 million annual authorization for Chapter 90 in a multi-year bond bill that needs to pass early this year to ensure that Chapter 90 funding will continue in fiscal years 2016 and beyond.

Please click on this link to read Gov. Baker’s Chapter 90 announcement and letter to municipalities: http://www.mass.gov/governor/press-office/press-releases/governor-directs-massdot-to-release-100-million.html

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Posted in Budgets, State

Medfield gets the rest of its road $

Posted on January 8, 2015 | Comments Off on Medfield gets the rest of its road $

Governor Patrick failed to release $100m. of appropriated road repair monies this fiscal year, as he did last fiscal year also, because the legislature failed to appropriate as much as he wanted for the transportation budget.  Governor Baker released those monies on his first day in office.

 

GOV. BAKER WILL RELEASE $100 MIL IN LOCAL ROAD FUNDS

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JAN. 8, 2014…..Gov. Charlie Baker will make good on a campaign promise Thursday afternoon by making his first official action as governor to release $100 million for local road and bridge repairs.

The funding, which had been authorized by the Legislature but withheld by former Gov. Deval Patrick, will be dispersed to cities and towns to pay for local infrastructure projects.

Patrick released $200 million for Chapter 90 last year, but held back the additional funding because he said the borrowing capacity was needed for other transportation priorities.

Lawmakers were highly critical of Patrick’s decision not to release the funding, and Baker during the campaign pledged to release the funding as soon as he took office.

During his inaugural address, Baker on Thursday said he hoped to address a “spending problem” in state government to address a midyear budget gap that he estimated at more than $500 million.

Baker, who supported a November ballot law that unhinged the gas tax from an inflation index, said during his address that he would hold the line on taxes but that everything else was on the table in the upcoming budget-balancing exercise.

The governor must file a fiscal 2016 spending plan by March 4, though a proposal to address the midyear gap could be rolled out before that date.

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Posted in Budgets, Legislature, State, Transportation