BOSTON - Gov. Deval Patrick has made good on his pledge to restore $383.3 million in budget cuts former Gov. Mitt Romney imposed during his final weeks in office.
Patrick late yesterday signed off on a letter from Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie Kirwan, who recommended the cuts be reversed. Romney said he made the cuts to keep the budget balanced.
With a stroke of his pen, Patrick returned millions of dollars for critically important government services, from senior centers to rental vouchers for the poor to food pantries, approved in the state's fiscal 2007 state budget but slashed Nov. 9. His action affects communities from the Merrimack Valley to Cape Ann to the North Shore.
Haverhill, for instance, will receive $2.6 million in Hale Hospital debt relief, money needed to keep the city's budget balanced.
Funding for Pettengill House, the Newburyport YWCA, the Lower Merrimack Valley Boys & Girls Club, Salisbury's Historical Society, Amesbury's Cultural Council and Salisbury's Chamber of Commerce also were restored.
Salem State College, which lost $800,000 for its nursing program, will see that money. The state will also pay $500,000 for Peabody flood prevention and $400,000 for the dredging of Crystal Lake.
Patrick late yesterday signed off on a letter from Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie Kirwan, who recommended the cuts be reversed. Romney said he made the cuts to keep the budget balanced.
With a stroke of his pen, Patrick returned millions of dollars for critically important government services, from senior centers to rental vouchers for the poor to food pantries, approved in the state's fiscal 2007 state budget but slashed Nov. 9. His action affects communities from the Merrimack Valley to Cape Ann to the North Shore.
Haverhill, for instance, will receive $2.6 million in Hale Hospital debt relief, money needed to keep the city's budget balanced.
Funding for Pettengill House, the Newburyport YWCA, the Lower Merrimack Valley Boys & Girls Club, Salisbury's Historical Society, Amesbury's Cultural Council and Salisbury's Chamber of Commerce also were restored.
Salem State College, which lost $800,000 for its nursing program, will see that money. The state will also pay $500,000 for Peabody flood prevention and $400,000 for the dredging of Crystal Lake.
Romney cut $425 million in state spending on Nov. 9, saying there wasn't money to pay for those items.
He later restored $41.4 million on Dec. 2, after Kirwan's predecessor said tax receipts had picked up in November.
In explaining which items were selected to be cut, Romney aides pointed out that many were vetoed when the Legislature first passed the budget last summer.
But some of the spending cuts seemed ill-considered - or not considered at all. Gloucester, for instance, lost $350,000 in public school funding for no reason except that its turn to claim the funds had not come up yet.
Kirwan recommended the complete reversal because estimates indicated state revenues were enough to cover the expenses.
"In light of higher projected tax revenue collections for fiscal year 2007 and higher than projected year-to-date collections," Kirwan wrote, "I conclude that sufficient additional revenues may be available to restore all of the Nov. 9 reductions not previously restored."
Even if estimates don't hold up, Patrick won't be asked to cut those items again. Kirwan recommended the Legislature transfer whatever money is needed from the state's reserve fund.
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