Here's how various stakeholders reacted to the governor's budget proposal:
Early Education for All —
"While the governor's budget level-funds many items related to early education and care, Patrick, in his budget message, noted that one of his 'tough choices' was to limit funding of child care vouchers for children in low-income families, which he said will cause the waiting list to grow by thousands of families.
"The governor's budget would increase funding for full-day kindergarten grants by $3 million.
"The Gateway Cities Education Agenda, a $10 million initiative in the Executive Office of Education, includes a $575,000 Gateway Cities Early Literacy Programs line item, targeted to professional development for family child care providers and support for families whose children are enrolled in family child care programs."
Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center —
"Faced with long-term structural budget deficits and the lingering effects of the national economic crisis, the governor proposes to balance the budget largely through cuts and other savings. This is on top of the $3 billion in cuts and savings which have been enacted over the last four years, including deep cuts in local aid, education, health care, human services and public safety.
"While in some areas, there are additional clear cuts, many programs that are "level-funded" in this budget — meaning that they are funded at the same dollar amount in FY 2013 as FY 2012 — are actually being cut relative to inflation.
"The governor's proposal includes very modest revenue initiatives, including an increase in the cigarette tax and the end of the sales tax exemption for candy and soda. It also makes use of one-time resources, primarily from the state's Stabilization Fund (the 'rainy day fund')."
House Minority Leader Bradley Jones, R-North Reading —
"The residents of Massachusetts are ready for fiscal responsibility. Yet as proposed, the governor's budget fails to deliver.
"The Patrick administration has indicated their plans for $260 million in tax and fee increases, as well as taking $400 million from our surplus. But these recommendations come at a severe cost to the taxpayer. In these dire economic times, we must explore and exhaust all other potential avenues before we consider raising taxes and fees as the governor plans to do.
"While I commend the governor for realizing the importance of fostering job growth in Massachusetts, I fail to see how his various proposals will meet that expectation. What he hasn't addressed is how his administration will provide more opportunities for small businesses, which make up 98 percent of our businesses statewide and employ 47 percent of our private-sector work force. We need job creation, not elimination.
"While one could appreciate his retention of a Republican-led initiative to restore monies to cities and towns, there are serious questions whether this budget meets their needs.
"I applaud the governor for delivering a timely budget. But it will be some time before we know whether or not his numbers and proposals add up."
Bill Vernon, state director, National Federation of Independent Business —
"Gov. Patrick's proposed $32 billion budget featuring $730 million in savings is encouraging to small-business owners, but his proposal to increase taxes by $260 million on small-business consumers is hardly a departure from the status quo.
"Fiscal discipline is only half an aspirin. We need a full-blown reform of the way we tax and regulate small businesses in Massachusetts. Raising taxes won't fix the structural problems. Residents and small businesses don't have the luxury of increasing their revenue whenever it doesn't match expenses.
"Every household and small business in Massachusetts has had to make sacrifices during the recession, so we're pleased that the governor seems to be applying some restraints to state spending. But it is very disappointing that the governor, instead of using his budget proposal to call for a more balanced relationship between his administration and the private sector, actually called for higher taxes, too.
"Small-business owners pay higher taxes and energy costs than their counterparts almost anywhere else, and some of those taxes exist only in Massachusetts. We will never repair our anti-business reputation as long as we are distinguished by size and multiplicity of our taxes."
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