Now, this is a laugh...
Each year Massachusetts doles out hundreds of millions of dollars in federal low-interest loans to quasi-public development and education financing agencies in a selection process that takes place largely out of public view.Now the Patrick administration says it wants to open up the process to public scrutiny and is holding what it says is the first-ever public hearing on where the money goes, and how it is spent.
“It’s a huge economic engine that the state is investing in that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention,” Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie Kirwan said in a recent interview with the Associated Press.
Imagine that. Deval wants to open up the process to public scrutiny, just as he has specifically denied similar scrutiny for his own administration.
Not that they admit that there is any hypocrisy:
Kirwan said the distribution of the funds has historically been done largely out of the public eye. She said the decision to hold a public hearing is in keeping with Gov. Deval Patrick’s pledge to encourage more participation by citizens in government. She emphasized that there was no suggestion that funds were missued.
How about participation by the citizens with regards to budget cuts? Why are we being kept in the dark about that?