4th Plymouth District Serving the Towns of Marshfield and Scituate

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THE HYNES STATE HOUSE REPORT September  2002                                         Rep. Hynes State House Report                                                       September, 2002 As we turn our backs to summer and open the door to a new Fall season, I reflect on some recently concluded legislative activities. State's Fiscal Crisis:   The state's FY'03 $23 billion budget was resolved with a combination of tax increases, program cuts, and use of revenue reserves.  The crisis in state finances was highlighted by the 15% ($2.5 billion) drop in state revenues during the last 12 months and $1 billion increases in recurring fixed accounts of health care, debt service, K-12 education, school building assistance, and caseload - driven human services.  Yet the structural gap between revenues and expenditures remains.  State revenues continue to fall (another $40 million less in July and August).  Heavy reliance on "rainy day" reserves to help balance the FY'02 and FY' 03 budgets spell fiscal trouble for FY '04 and beyond.  Economic conditions continue to be uncertain and volatile.  I am urging that legislators recognize this daunting challenge now, and begin to hold meetings to develop budgetary plans this Fall, so that the primary and core functions of government may be identified and agreed upon, while supportive and secondary governmental functions may be analyzed for spending reductions.  Particularly disappointing to me has been the failure of the five candidates running for Governor to acknowledge this fiscal challenge .  They also fail to present any credible plan to resolve the fiscal crisis by bringing the state's revenues and expenditures into structural alignment.  Some budget items of interest to Marshfield and Scituate are: Local Aid:  Overall funding for Local government accounts in the FY'03 state budget aggregate to $5.6 billion, or 24% of state spending, a drop of $115 million (2%).  Yet this reduction was far less than the 10% drop first announced by the Ways and Means Committee, prior to the tax increase which allowed more complete funding for these local government programs.  Scituate's total Cherry Sheet local aid increased a modest $105,000 and its assessment to the MBTA was reduced by $56,000.  Overall the net increase to Scituate is $150,000.  Marshfield's total Cherry Sheet Aid declined by $44,000 but its payment to the MBTA was reduced by $74,000.  The net direct Cherry Sheet increase to Marshfield was $24,000. Talking Information Center:   This Marshfield based, state wide radio reading service for the blind has received $500,000 in state funding in each of the last several years.  The Ways and Means Committee initially cut this dramatically but I was able to successfully restore it during the House Budget debate.  Unfortunately the Governor vetoed the entire amount but, I initiated a successful legislative override resulting in the full $500,000 being allocated to this worthwhile program in the current fiscal year. Chapter 40B:  Several long hours of legislative debate occurred in late July on this 33 year old controversial law.  Several of us sought to point out the failure of the existing statute, the adversarial relationship it engenders between a local community and developers, and the conflict it creates with "smart growth" policies.  We mustered only 61 House votes in support of our efforts, however, and thus failed to make even modest changes in the present 40B approach to achieving affordable housing.  We did, however, succeed in making the argument that the present statute fails in its objective to make 10% of each municipality's housing stock available for those with less than 80% of income.  We were also successful, I believe, in sending notice that the incoming new Legislature must grapple constructively with this matter and provide local towns with better, more effective tools for achieving affordability in housing. At the same time we need to recognize the dynamic of the free enterprise marketplace and the need for local communities to adopt smart growth planning policies which disallow sprawl and encourage the preservation of open space, water supplies, and the community's traditional character.  Several of us are working with residents and local officials to prepare legislative petitions for the upcoming session to accomplish these goals. Kudos to Boards of Health:   One of the consequences of the state's budget turmoil was its failure to finance the recently enacted beach monitoring program.  This environmentally sound program charged local communities to regularly test their bathing beach waters, promising adequate reimbursement from the state.  Despite the lack of state funds, local public health officials in Scituate and Marshfield continued their efforts, which in fact, have been going on for many summers, to routinely test ocean water for any contaminants that would require notification to swimmers.  Fortunately, in an ideal summer with many days of sunshine and warm water, and record numbers flocking to our shores, the energy and determination of our local health board agents gave us all a comfortable sense of security that we were swimming in clean waters. Reflection:  "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well."                                                                        - Lord Chesterfield Back to top of page