Patrick undoes some of Romney's damage
Mental health, education and child welfare advocates in Massachusetts were up in arms when it was revealed that outgoing Governor Mitt Romney -- an early frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008 -- had slashed hundreds of millions of dollars allotted to state higher education, social service programs and early education and care. Yesterday our incoming governor-elect, Deval Patrick, announced plans to restore those cuts in their entirety.
This money is used for a variety of social service programs -- everything from funding preschool and kindergarten to keeping domestic violence telephone hotlines open. The cuts that Romney announced, which happened mid-year, were to make up a budget shortfall, and according to some of the reports I've read, Romney actually overstepped his reach by making cuts in projects that are outside his jurisdiction.
Patrick said that the re-allocated money for these restored programs comes frm higher-than-anticipated tax revenue in November and December. If worse comes to worst, he said he'll dip into a "stabilization fund" to make sure the money is available. And he warned that this won't come without some sacrifices -- for FY 2007, he said, the Commonwealth will have to "make tough choices." Still, I'm glad to see it restored for now.
I'll fully admit that I have entirely selfish motivations for doing so. State agencies have been crucial for our family in obtaining the help and professional services our kids need. What's more, my wife's part-time employer is a state agency partially funded by this program, and she was recently told by the head of her department that her hours would be cut, rather dramatically, as a direct result of Romney's cuts. It'll be a little while before we learn if the money to pay Bonnie has been restored, unfortunately.