New Fiscal Year, Revenue Freefall Continues

State House News Service reported more grim news pertaining to the fiscal climate here in the Bay State late yesterday afternoon. According to State House News Service, "tax collections for the first 15 days of July fell $46 million compared to last July." While some economists are saying the Commonwealth has seen the worst of the recession, this data proves otherwise. We as a state, are not in the clear yet and we still have a long way to go before we begin to see improvement.

Unfortunately, the Fiscal Year 2010 budget is a deja vu of last year's budget. It is too dependent on new and increased taxes. That got us into a lot of trouble last year and will likely have the same effect as we move deeper into this fiscal year. There's been a lot of talk of reform this year and while we have made much progress in the state's transportation and pension systems, there is still much work to be done.

Republican lawmakers offered a number of cost savings measures this budget season that were unfortunately rejected. This will not deter us. We plan to continue offering innovative ways to save the state and taxpayers money. Hopefully, our Democratic colleagues will eventually realize that raising taxes, while a quick reaction, is not necessarily the right solution.