Governor Deval Patrick's first budget is being criticized--of course--and it's not about partisanship, it's about his blatant hypocrisy.
After pledging to protect funding for poor and vulnerable citizens, Gov. Deval Patrick is facing harsh criticism for slashing salaries for social workers, reducing services for the mentally ill and eliminating water-rate relief for cash-strapped homeowners.“This is the governor who last night said he wasn’t going to balance the budget on the backs of the poorest people in Massachusetts,” said state Sen. Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield). “What we’re looking at today is a direct contradiction to that.”
The criticism emerged after Patrick released a line-by-line accounting of a $26.7-billion budget that slashes spending by $515 million and squeezes businesses for about $300 million in new taxes. The governor’s cuts drew immediate heat yesterday, with human service advocates decrying a $16 million cut to a fund that boosts the salaries of social workers.
“These are some of the lowest-paid people doing some of the toughest jobs with our most vulnerable populations,” said Michael Weekes, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers. “It’s unfair to people making $12 and $13 an hour.”
During a press conference yesterday, Patrick said he was pained by many of the cuts, but he defended them as necessary amid a $1.3 billion deficit. “We appreciate that behind every single dollar is a human being, somebody’s job or a program of vital importance,” Patrick said.
We congratulate the Governor on being able to make a cut in the budget, but you can't ignore the fact that he cut out the budget the very thing he said he wouldn't.