Latest news with #RonMariano
Boston Globe
13-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump-fueled uncertainty is adding chaos as officials try to craft a state budget
That volatile mix is injecting chaos into a process that thrives on predictability. One state budget watcher is calling on lawmakers to pare back revenue estimates by $1 billion — as a starting point. The House's top Democrat, while pledging not to raise taxes or fees in the budget his chamber is expected to release next week, said he'll likely seek to fund many agencies and accounts at the same level as last year, given the uncertainty. But he warned the state may be unable to avoid mid-year budget cuts if federal aid dries up. 'We're treading on thin ice,' House Speaker Ron Mariano told reporters Wednesday, 'and we don't know what the final numbers are really going to be.' Advertisement That's not to say state lawmakers haven't budgeted in unsteady fiscal times before. The Great Recession forced the state to Advertisement Ultimately, officials didn't have to take that drastic step. And in both cases, the state benefitted from federal help offered as a cushion against economic stress: billions of dollars through a No such backstop appears on the horizon now. The Trump administration is aggressively pulling back federal spending through a frenetic series of Meanwhile, Congress is pursuing a spending blueprint that Democrats and state officials warn could mean for its MassHealth program. In all, the state budget typically leans on roughly $16 billion in federal aid — most of which is tied to health insurance for 2 million Massachusetts residents, including children, low-income families and those with disabilities. The state's own tax revenue also relies directly on its, and the nation's, economic health. Trump's 'Unlike recessions of the past which were created by cheap money, faulty mortgages, excessive risk taking or COVID, this one is self-inflicted, carried out by a single individual,' said Mark Williams, a Boston University finance professor. Advertisement Given the 'fragility' of the economy, he said, lawmakers should be downgrading their spending plans to reflect the growing likelihood the state's own tax collections will take a hit. 'Trump['s] economic policies should be keeping state lawmakers . . . up at night,' he said. President Trump holds an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House. Uncredited/Associated Press Evan Horowitz, executive director of Tuft University's Center for State Policy Analysis, said state officials should already be aggressively paring back their spending plans; that should include, he said, cutting their revenue estimates by $1 billion. He said lawmakers also shouldn't be 'squeamish' about tapping the state's now-record $8 billion emergency savings account should the state slide into a recession. Unlike before, there's 'zero chance' that Massachusetts will get the same kind of substantial help from the federal government during a major downturn, he said. 'We've gotten a lot more certainty on the economy [in recent weeks]. And it's all bad,' he said, adding that the risk of a recession or federal funding cuts have long been hanging over the budget process. The state has other exposures to changes at the federal level. The salaries of roughly 4,000 state workers — or about 10 percent of the executive branch workforce — are supported through federal funds, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed budget watchdog. The state also leans on $5 billion in other federal grants that don't directly prop up the state budget but nevertheless are vital to state government operations, the group said. 'We're building the budget with the best information that we have in front of us at the moment,' state Representative Aaron Michlewitz, the House budget chief, told reporters Wednesday. Advertisement He then added: 'That does change on a daily basis.' Mariano said his chamber wouldn't seek to automatically scale back spending, but cautioned that lawmakers need to 'be selective' about where they commit funding in the upcoming budget. He said he's repeatedly warned rank-and-file members 'not to expect business as usual' with the budget process. That could include the House scaling back the that virtually all lawmakers ask leadership to add to the budget. The Quincy Democrat provided some clarity on the House's plan on Thursday, when he told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce that the House's budget plan would not raise taxes or fees on residents or businesses in Massachusetts. Other states have responded to the uncertain fiscal moment in a variety of ways. Some are seeking to cut taxes, including Mississippi, where the governor But others are seeking a mix of ways to generate more revenue, too, either by hiking or implementing so-called sin taxes, said Brian Sigritz, the director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers, a nonpartisan trade group that tracks state spending plans around the country. 'The proposals have been more limited and more mixed than what we saw a couple years ago' coming out of the pandemic, Sigritz said. 'They're already facing tighter fiscal conditions and tight budgets." Advertisement It's likely Massachusetts budget plans could continue to morph. The House will likely pass its plan by month's end, after which the Senate will craft its version in May, with the goal of getting a final proposal to Governor Maura Healey this summer. A lot, of course, could change by then. Much already has since Healey released her own 'We've got a responsibility to make sure that anything that I sign is within . . . what we can sustain,' Healey told reporters Wednesday. 'The reality also is that every day we continue to see cuts and harm done to us from a federal administration that, you know, just doesn't seem to get it.' Samantha J. Gross of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Matt Stout can be reached at
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Prostate Cancer Awareness at the State House
BOSTON (WWLP) – Thursday is Prostate Cancer Awareness Day at the State House, and lawmakers are speaking out about the importance of early and frequent screening. In the United States, 1 in every 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and in Massachusetts, about 133 in every 100,000 men will be diagnosed in their lifetimes. This means about 6,420 men will be diagnosed this year in Massachusetts, and about 700 will die. Black men are over 2 times more likely to die from this cancer, and it is primarily due to lack of early detection. The speaker of the House gave remarks at the event, speaking about House efforts to combat racial inequities in other healthcare scenarios, like during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'Unfortunately, many of these same inequities can also be found in the fight against prostate cancer,' said Speaker Ron Mariano. Racial inequities in prostate cancer are especially pronounced in western Massachusetts. Springfield Representative Williams says prostate cancer death rates are much higher than average in the western part of the state for all groups of men but are especially dire for men of color. 'Hampden County leads the state in prostate cancer mortality in black and Hispanic men. Unacceptable,' said Representative Bud Williams. Thursday's awareness day and event are focused on making sure Massachusetts men are aware of their chances of getting prostate cancer and encouraging early and frequent screening. When it is caught early, and when the cancer is confined to just the prostate gland, prostate cancer is almost always curable. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mass. legislators visited Canadian renewable power operations
BOSTON (SHNS) – Annual state budget hearings got off to a late start this year, but lawmakers packed two hearings into three business days before pausing for an unusual two-week break that is coinciding with a general lack of activity among all legislative committees 10 weeks into the new session. While it doesn't explain the full length of the pause, nearly a dozen lawmakers, including the chairs of the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, were out of the country recently for three days. In response to a News Service inquiry about the longer-than-usual break in budget hearings and possible out-of-state travel, aides to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate Way and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said 11 legislators, all Democrats, left for Canada on Thursday with plans to return Saturday. Rodrigues spokesman Sean Fitzgerald called it an 'alternative energy fact finding trip.' In an email late Friday, Fitzgerald called the visit 'part of a broader strategy to explore affordable, sustainable, and renewable forms of carbon-free energy' and said the legislators planned to tour the HQ James Bay Generating Facility, which is part of Hydro-Québec's operations. 'The facility is a two-hour propeller plane flight out of Montreal and is one of several options to ensure the availability and viability of New England's energy future,' Fitzgerald said. 'With uncertainty at the federal government occurring in all sectors of the American economy, it is especially important to maintain the partnership with Hydro Quebec as one avenue to help meet the Commonwealth's renewable energy goals and future grid demand.' The trip comes as state energy policies shaped through a series of clean energy laws are suddenly at odds with the new direction of federal energy policy under President Donald Trump. State policies are geared toward compliance with strict carbon emission reduction mandates, while U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright this week emphasized 'the critical role of fossil fuels in meeting global energy demands,' according to the energy department, and hyped the the need to 'end the Biden administration's irrational, quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens.' In the last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved a plan to extend the operational life of Montana's Spring Creek Mine by 16 years, enabling the production of nearly 40 million tons of coal. The U.S. Department of Energy signed a major liquefied natural gas export permit approval, the White House said, and the Environmental Protection Agency launched the 'biggest day of deregulation in American history.' State officials in Massachusetts also face new and serious questions about federal support for ongoing and future clean energy efforts. As Trump looks to build jobs in fossil fuel-based energy, plans in Massachusetts to grow jobs and produce a major new supply of clean power through offshore wind projects are in doubt. Sen. Ed Markey and eight other U.S. senators released a letter Friday demanding that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin 'cease his illegal witch hunt to claw back nearly $20 billion in congressionally appropriated and legally obligated funds that underpin the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.' The fund is designed to 'spur economic development, lower energy costs, and reduce pollution,' Markey said. Ana Vivas, a spokeswoman for Mariano, said in an email Thursday night that legislators planned to visit the Hydro-Québec Research Institute, the dikes, dam and spillway that are part of the Robert-Bourassa hydroelectric facilities, and an underground generating station that she said are part of 'the largest hydroelectric facility in North America' and include a dedicated transmission line to Ayer, Massachusetts. Budget hearings paused after a March 10 hearing in Gloucester and will resume March 24 in Amherst, starting a string of four budget hearings in six business days. After two final budget hearings in April, the House Ways and Means Committee plans to release its redraft of Gov. Maura Healey's $62 billion budget during the week of April 14, with floor debate scheduled for the week of April 28. Healey filed her budget Jan. 22. The Legislature has made a habit of not completing annual budget by the July 1 start of the fiscal year. Rodrigues, Sens. John Cronin and Jacob Oliveira were on the trip, according to Fitzgerald. Cronin is a member of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. House members who went on the Canada trip included Rep. Mark Cusack, the new House chair of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, and vice chair Rep. Michael Kushmerek. Senate co-chair Sen. Michael Barrett and vice chair Michael Brady were not listed as trip participants. Rep. Jeff Roy, who Mariano moved off his former Energy Committee chairmanship and up into his leadership team, was also on the trip to Canada. Roy has been the focus of Boston Globe reporting over his relationship with an energy sector lobbyist. The other House members who went to Canada, according to Vivas, are Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz, Rep. Danielle Gregoire, Rep. Kathy LaNatra, Rep. Meghan Kilcoyne and Rep. Michael Finn. None of those representatives are among the House members of the Energy Committee. Fitzgerald said senators on the trip were responsible for paying for transportation, lodging and expenses. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State House Spotlight: Advocates flood Beacon Hill
BOSTON (WWLP) – This week at the State House in Boston, state leadership focused on big picture items like federal funding and a legislative audit, while advocates fought for budget funding for their causes. Following a Monday afternoon leadership meeting, the governor addressed the impact of losing federal funding on Massachusetts' economy. She says there is no possible way for the state to fill in the gaps. 'Are you kidding?' said Governor Healey. 'The numbers are so huge that there is no way the state can begin to fill the void.' State leadership addressed the state auditor's voter-approved audit of the legislature. They say they will not be taking their constitutional concerns to the Supreme Judicial Court. 'You have to understand, why would we ask for an opinion from the SJC? Because she's the one that's driving the question. She's the one that campaigned for the question. She was the one out knocking doors for the question,' said House Speaker Ron Mariano. On Friday morning the Fiscal Alliance released a poll of likely voters, and they say it's clear that Massachusetts residents support the auditor, with over 80% of those polled saying the attorney general should get involved. 'If I was the attorney general, I'd be pretty careful with this one…if she has any future aspirations in politics, even if she's suing Trump five days a week, this could be something that could come back and haunt her,' said Mass Fiscal spokesperson Paul Craney. Advocates continued to hold State House events to fight for funding in the fiscal year 2026 budget. This week, lawmakers heard from supporters of the earned income tax credit, students and teachers fighting for civics education, and organizations advocating for multilingual access to social services. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will the Supreme Judicial Court get involved with legislative audit questions?
BOSTON (WWLP) – As the state auditor and the legislature continue to go back and forth on a potential audit, democrat leadership says they have no interest in asking the Supreme Judicial Court for an opinion. Since the passage of a ballot question authorizing the state auditor to examine the finances of the legislature, lawmakers have argued that it would violate the separation of powers clause of the constitution. Advocates look to expand tax credits for low-income immigrant families After a Monday afternoon leadership meeting, the House Speaker was adamant that he will not be seeking an opinion on the audit's constitutionality from the state's highest court, as he said 'things are going fine' with their current independent auditor. 'You have to understand, why would we ask for an opinion from the SJC? Because she's the one that's driving the question,' said House Speaker Ron Mariano. 'She's the one that campaigned for the question. She was the one out knocking doors for the question. She was the one with the personal investment in the question.' Auditor DiZoglio continues to say the legislature is breaking the law, saying in a statement, 'The most powerful man in state government is being allowed to break the law that 72% of you voted for by telling you it's my fault.' The Senate president pointed to her branch's subcommittee examining the potential audit, also expressing disinterest in looping in the courts. 'We've asked the auditor to answer, most of it she has refused to answer,' said Senate President Karen Spilka. 'So that's why we are having the hearing,' The auditor continues to call for Attorney General Campbell to step in, but the AG says she is waiting on information from the auditor's office before she can proceed. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
