Massachusetts House lawmakers broke records this year by filing more than 1,700 amendments to their budget proposal, and clerks have spent the past week quietly sorting, grouping and preparing the hundreds of proposals ahead of the upcoming floor debate. As Representatives prepare their final and best cases to leadership to support those local earmarks, State House News Service reporter Alison Kuznitz explains whether we are looking at a process that truly addresses regional needs, or if the sheer volume of these requests turned the budget debate into a tactical game of legislative horse trading.
Alison Kuznitz, SHNS: So we had tons of amendments as you said. The issue with how the House is going to debate these amendments is that lawmakers are going to go behind closed doors, so we're not going to see an amendment by amendment process. We're going to see these mega amendments, and there's not going to be a clear rhyme or reason to the public of which amendments did go forward. I think the big issue weighing on lawmakers this budget season is that Massachusetts, like every state in the country, is facing massive federal funding cuts. So, lawmakers are going to be hard pressed to accept every local earmark that's on the table for this budget season.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: Behind the record shattering budget amendments, there's another deadline and pressure. That's the state's initiative petition process. With an historic number of ballot questions heading to November, lawmakers are increasingly questioning the influence of paid signature gatherers and the integrity of the process itself, with a deadline for lawmakers of May 5th to address the issues. Do you see leadership moving to genuinely modernize this system, or is this really an effort to insulate Beacon Hill from being bypassed by voters?
So, we actually have seen the Senate somewhat act on this issue. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a law that would add more transparency into campaign finance reporting requirements for ballot question committees, so the public would get at least monthly access into how these campaigns are being funded. And while House leaders have also really expressed their disdain for the initiative petition process, the House has yet to release its own reform package of how the ballot question process should go moving forward.
Is it likely that lawmakers will take action on any of the ballot questions?
I think the one question that is most problematic for lawmakers is the proposed question to cut the income tax. That would cost the state about $800 million in annual revenue, which would have cascading effects on cuts to programs and services. House Speaker Ron Mariano, at a recent address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, expressed a willingness to come together with those ballot question backers and find a solution to make Massachusetts more affordable and address business leaders’ concerns without needing to cut the income tax rate.
Finally, there's another big procedural hurdle coming this week, and time is running out for the proposed changes to the state Constitution. Since these amendments have to survive a two-year process, there's a lot of pressure to clear that committee filter by Wednesday. So, what's actually moving through this two year pipeline? And what are you keeping an eye on as we hit the deadline?
So, Senator Jo Comerford of Northampton has a proposal that would redefine ‘agriculture,’ and it's in the [state] Constitution that it has to be at least five contiguous acres to qualify for ‘agricultural’ tax benefits. So, because it's Constitutional language, it needs to be rewritten.
Five contiguous acres of land made a lot of sense a few hundred years ago, but now it's creating an obstacle for smaller farmers to benefit from the tax benefit. But Senator Comerford has said she doesn't expect her Constitutional amendment to go through this session, and she's already looking forward to how she'll make her proposal advance more in the next session.
