Representative Jones’ Statement on Governor Healey’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal

 House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) released the following statement today in response to Governor Maura Healey’s filing of her Fiscal Year 2025 state budget proposal:

“Governor Healey has filed a Fiscal Year 2025 budget that calls for significantly increased spending across state government, but those aspirations need to be tempered by the fiscal realities facing the Commonwealth. After six-plus months of tax revenues coming in lower than expected, Governor Healey has already implemented hundreds of millions of dollars in mid-year cuts and downgraded projected revenues by $1 billion for Fiscal Year 2024. At the same time, funding for the migrant shelter crisis continues to drain much-needed revenues that would otherwise have been spent on other programs and services, with no end in sight, as evidenced by the Governor’s companion piece of legislation filed today that would empty the Transitional Escrow Fund to pay for this program. It’s telling that using the $863 million available in this fund will still leave a projected funding shortfall of about $91 million, a number that is sure to grow unless meaningful reforms are implemented. The members of the Republican Caucus look forward to reading through the Governor’s budget, participating in the hearing process, and learning more about her specific spending plans to ensure that the interests of the state’s taxpayers are protected.”

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” – the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963

Throughout his lifetime, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a tireless advocate for justice and equality. As a leader of the American civil rights movement, he proved that non-violent protest can be used to achieve positive change in society. Today, the Massachusetts House Republican Caucus honors Dr. King’s remarkable life and enduring legacy.

Representative Jones’ Statement on Governor Healey’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget 9C Cuts

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) released the following statement today following Governor Maura Healey’s announced 9C budget cuts:

“As the state’s fiscal situation worsens, difficult choices must be made to ensure that the Fiscal Year 2024 budget is balanced. In weighing the financial options available to maintain this balance, the state needs to set clear spending priorities to protect essential programs that benefit the residents of Massachusetts and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being managed responsibly. Unfortunately, some of the mid-year spending cuts announced by the Healey Administration today fall short of these goals. The state is hemorrhaging money while the price tag for addressing the migrant shelter crisis continues to climb at an unsustainable pace with no accompanying efforts to reform the system. This is exactly what Republicans predicted would happen when we debated the Fiscal Year 2023 closeout budget in December. The one reform we were able to secure in the emergency shelter program was a reporting requirement from the Administration, but no financial controls to slow this rate of spending which is now crowding out other priorities. As we sift through the fine print of the Administration’s budget balancing proposal it is clear we must do better in meeting the daunting fiscal challenges that lie ahead, and that requires a serious rethinking of our priorities moving forward.”