The City of Lawrence is all yours, Governor!

Governor Patrick signed the so-called “Lawrence bailout bill” today and even though the state isn’t necessarily bailing out the cash-strapped city, the state is indeed on the hook for millions of dollars.
The City of Lawrence, which receives nearly 70% of its funding through local aid payments by the state, has been facing a dire fiscal situation since well before the global economic downturn.

In fact, it was the Patrick Administration who only two years ago commissioned a report detailing the fiscal situation in Lawrence. It was also the Patrick Administration who said two years ago that the next time this problem was revisited, strict and serious guidelines would be put into place. That of course was not during an election year!

Anyway, the City of Lawrence is all yours now, Governor! In a few months, when the city is out of money again, maybe then you’ll listen to the Republicans on Beacon Hill. As you may recall, we offered an amendment that would have put a control board into place immediately. That proposal was rejected but our efforts did not go unnoticed.

Click here to read an editorial in today’s Boston Herald that supports our effort for a control board.