Republican Leadership’s Statement on Supplemental Budget

BOSTON—House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr., Assistant Minority Leader George N. Peterson, Minority Whip Brad Hill, Assistant Minority Whip Betty Poirier and Representative Vinny deMacedo issued the following statement regarding the supplemental budget.

The Republican Leadership Office is ready to allow the supplemental budget to move forward. After several meetings with the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as some conversations with various Executive Branch officials, we feel our concerns and questions have been adequately addressed. We are pleased with some of the compromises the committee has been willing to make in order to make this a more fiscally responsible piece of legislation. Obviously, this bill still faces one major hurdle and it will remain to be seen if we will be able to support the bill pending any changes the Senate may render.

In addition to paring back the bill substantially from its original form, we are glad to see nearly $200 million being put back into the rainy day fund, as we had urged back in August. Additionally, we are satisfied that nearly 90% of the money being spent is going directly to Medicaid, an account that was dramatically underfunded in the FY11 budget passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed by Governor Patrick.

This bill further underscores that Governor Patrick’s budget was not balanced, irresponsible and certainly not sustainable. The fact that he and his Administration remain mute on their priorities is further proof of his lack of leadership when it comes to managing the state’s budget.