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Boston Globe
15-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Amid uncertainty from Trump's Washington, Mass. Democrats trimmed the budget. They left their earmarks intact.
While earmarks make up a relatively small slice of the state's $61 billion budget, they are coveted on Beacon Hill, delivering pots of money directly to members' districts and nonprofits serving the voters who elect them. This year's list of earmarks would fund programs ranging from senior centers and food pantries to $35,000 for a robot lawn mower in Topsfield, $50,000 for pickleball courts in Peabody, and $10,000 to restore Andover's Advertisement They also quickly became a target for potential belt-tightening. Citing pending federal funding cuts and a potential economic slowdown, Healey said she intends to delay releasing $125 million of those local earmarks until at least October. Advertisement But it remains unclear exactly which ones Healey will hold back. Matt Murphy, a spokesperson for Healey's budget office, said officials 'do not have a complete list that we could share.' Legislative leaders told the Globe the final budget deal represented an effort to practice fiscal restraint while still delivering for communities. House leaders also noted they added less money in earmarked spending this year than last; analyses from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a budget watchdog, found the chamber's plan included about $5.6 million less even though the House actually tacked on more individual earmarks ( 'At a time when Legislative leaders, however, found one common target in trimming the budget plan: a half-dozen Republicans who voted against their chamber's initial budget plans when they came to the floor in April and May. State representatives John Gaskey, Alyson Sullivan-Almeida, Ken Sweezey, and Justin Thurber had all of their earmarks snipped from the final budget bill, even though none of their districts' relatively modest hauls topped $70,000, the Globe found. State Senator Ryan Fattman had all $500,000 of his earmarks slashed, while his fellow GOP senator Kelly Dooner, a first-term Taunton lawmaker who also got a half-million in earmarks, had all of hers cut except for $15,000 that funded body-worn cameras for police in Seekonk. Advertisement Another of Dooner's requests and one of Sullivan-Almeida's also ultimately survived, but only because different lawmakers asked, and received, money for the same earmark. 'Any money is good money. But I feel like I can work outside of these earmarks and still bring more to my district,' said Thurber, a first-term Somerset lawmaker who had $20,000 in earmarks cut from the final deal. He said he voted against the budget out of principle — 'a [nearly] 6 percent increase is unsustainable' — and is willing to sacrifice some earmarks to use his vote to address wider issues. In Somerset, he said, 'I have 20,000 residents. Is their voice worth a dollar or two dollars [per resident]? I don't believe it is.' State Representative John Gaskey is one of a handful of GOP lawmakers who voted against their chambers' budget and later had their earmarks slashed from the final spending plan. Erin Clark/Globe Staff Gaskey, a first-term representative from Carver, said he wasn't surprised to see negotiators cut the $25,000 earmark he sought to help repurpose a Carver school's roof. 'I felt it was laughable that everybody was like, 'We need a lower budget.' And the entire Legislature jumped in and pushed the budget even higher,' said Gaskey, who initially sought $200,000 for the roof project, as well as money for other local departments. 'I admit I put mine in as well — but I didn't have an expectation of getting them.' Together, legislative leaders cut more than $1.1 million in earmarks for those GOP lawmakers. That's in addition to a separate $500,000 increase Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr sought, but budget negotiators cut, for regional emergency medical services. 'The local earmarks represent communities getting their relative share of state spending. And I don't think that should be dependent on how a particular legislator votes,' Tarr said of his fellow Republicans' cuts. Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, voted for the budget and otherwise got $1.45 million in other earmarks. Advertisement The Globe analysis found that legislative leaders also cut nearly $5.5 million in Democrat-filed earmarks that had passed in the initial House and Senate plans. However, for the vast majority of those cuts — $4.6 million worth — budget negotiators simply eliminated earmarks that were duplicated elsewhere, including in another lawmaker's request. In most cases, negotiators opted for the earmark that gave more money to the project, and cut the one with the smaller price tag, according to the Globe's analysis. For example, state Representative Jay Livingstone's $50,000 earmark to make improvements to the Museum of Science's Those budget maneuvers left $875,000 in Democratic earmarks that appeared to be cut entirely, according to the Globe analysis. But even some of that money appears primed to resurface. Representative Patricia Duffy, a Holyoke Democrat, said a 'senior staff' member in the House's budget committee told her that her request to fund a job training program at Holyoke Community College was taken out by mistake and would be restored in a future spending bill. Michlewitz's office confirmed the earmark 'should not have been removed.' Representative John Lawn didn't receive the $200,000 boost he requested for a helpline for residents enrolling in health insurance coverage. The Watertown Democrat said the helpline is critical amid federal cuts to Medicaid and that he plans to try and 'get some of that funding back.' 'It's not over,' Lawn said, adding that he believes budget negotiators 'are just being very conservative.' Advertisement As they have done Michlewitz, widely regarded as House Speaker Ron Mariano's likely successor, added nearly $2.2 million in total earmark funding for his priorities, topping what all 25 House Republicans received in local earmarks in the final budget combined. It included $50,000 for indoor bocce courts in Michlewitz's North End neighborhood and $400,000 for the North End Waterfront health center. Mariano, meanwhile, secured just under $1 million in earmarks, with $500,000 going to the Nearly every member of the Legislature sought — and scored — some type of funding, too. Tarr, the Senate's top Republican, scored a varied haul of earmarks that would both help protect right whales and pay for a new autonomous robotic lawn mower for Topsfield, where officials are 'This is another piece of the pie to get the most out of the [town's] fields,' said Topsfield town administrator Kevin Harutunian, who said the town requested the earmark. 'One of our goals is to look for innovative ways to deliver the best possible services.' Advertisement The Healey administration said it could decide to release the earmark money in October, when her budget czar has to certify whether state revenues can cover expenses. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the business-backed budget watchdog, called the decision to 'Government needs to absolutely prioritize the core things that government does,' said Doug Howgate, the foundation's president. In tough times, he said, 'it is appropriate to focus on [funding] major programs . . . and focus a lot less on very specific earmarks.' Samantha J. Gross can be reached at
Boston Globe
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Mass. House passes language barring students from playing on teams of the opposite sex, but requires state analysis
The provision, nonetheless, drew swift condemnation from gay and transgender advocates, who feared it gives credibility to Advertisement State Representative John Gaskey, a Carver Republican, State Representative Ken Gordon, a Bedford Democrat, then offered a so-called further amendment, which the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with having 'analyzed the policy,' including reviewing 'any safeguards that may alleviate safety concerns.' Under the bill, state officials would also issue a report, and lawmakers would have to pass other legislation to 'carry out any recommendations' before the ban would take effect. Advertisement Gordon framed the new language as giving state policymakers time to 'better understand these issues.' 'The topic of the amendment is complex, involving issues of federal and state law,' Gordon said from the House floor. 'It is a matter of concern to residents of the Commonwealth who have expressed concern from both sides of the issue, and the matter deserves a public hearing before' a legislative committee. Gaskey, the amendment's Republican author, criticized the change as a Democratic attempt to effectively kill his measure, calling it 'a way to bury this and make sure that nobody ever gets this on the record.' 'We already know how this is going to affect people. We already know how many students are going to be affected: Every student is going to be affected,' he said. 'Every student athlete will play on the team that they were born to play on. ... That's what this amendment is for. We don't need a study. The polls support this. The federal government supports this. It's time that we recognize science.' President Trump issued an executive order in February barring transgender athletes from sports. Maine officials have since Joshua Croke cq , president of Worcester-based LGTBQ advocacy group Love Your Labels, said they often hear people say 'thankfully we're in Massachusetts , ' when it comes to protections for the transgender community. But that the amendment passed Wednesday is 'one of many warnings' that these types of actions are happening here, too, they said. Advertisement 'We are not in a time where it's alarmist to say people need to get involved and know what is going on at the local and state level,' Croke said. 'The attacks on trans students over sports is a tactic that is continuing to be used to distract from the other work that is being done to create less safety in our communities. Trans folks are being acutely impacted.' Tanya Neslusan, executive director of MassEquality, said she was 'appalled' to learn the amendment passed Wednesday. 'Right now the trans community is under attack from the federal government and the executive branch. The last thing our community needs is for legislators in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts making transgender kids a target,' Neslusan said. 'I am extremely dismayed that they are treating this issue as if it's even a credible thing to say or to even look into.' Matt Stout can be reached at
