House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) issued the following statement today in response to allegations from the Patrick Administration that appeared in a recent State House News Service article:“The same day Governor Patrick says he is ‘not following the primaries,’ his underlings take a swipe at me and our former Governor and current presidential candidate Mitt Romney for our supposed lack of ‘fiscal management and responsible budgeting.’
Governor Patrick’s minions conveniently forget his ‘sound fiscal management and responsible budgeting’ were facilitated by $2.3 billion in reserves left to him by Governor Romney and $5 billion in special federal aid to deal with the economic downturn.
These two pillars dramatically helped the Commonwealth in ‘earning the strongest bond ratings in history.’ This would not have been possible without the efforts of his predecessor – Governor Mitt Romney.
Coming into office with a $2.5 billion budget deficit and depleted reserves, Governor Romney closed the budget gap, left the Rainy Day Fund at its highest balance in history, and achieved two bond rating upgrades.
Unfortunately, while we were earning the ‘strongest bond ratings in history,’ Governor Patrick’s political role model, President Obama, was presiding over the first credit rating downgrade in the nation’s history.
Perhaps the Governor needs to be reminded that the fiscal luxuries he inherited were thanks to fiscal discipline and responsible budgeting under the leadership of Republicans in the Commonwealth. ”
See below to read the aforementioned State House News Service article in its entirety.
Legislature Restores Funds for Gop Sheriffs Vetoed by Patrick
