State Cutbacks That Hit Kids, Elders, and the Poor Just Deepen the Crisis
"It's tragic when our officials make decisions that would make our most vulnerable citizens further victims of the crisis that terrorism and recession have created in this nation," said Patricia Daly, MASSCAP President, in response to recent news about state budget developments.
"We know that state officials have a big challenge this year in balancing the budget. We applaud them for restoring some of the funds that were cut in the fall. But we have urged them to take care to protect Massachusetts' most vulnerable residents as they seek to make up for lost revenue," she added. "There are alternatives to doing that."
As Massachusetts legislative leaders broke their marathon, deadlocked budget negotiations, they decided to opt for significant program cutbacks in the face of declining state revenues. Late in the year, the legislature restored some of those funds. However, in January, the administration unveiled a new proposed budget for next fiscal year with additional cuts, and legislators were pondering additional reductions in the current year's budget. Meanwhile, a tax rollback plan remains on course for implementation.
"Cutting programs for frail elders, children of the working poor in subsidized day care, the newly unemployed, and those trying to attain economic self-sufficiency through public education, is simply short-sighted. It only will make the current situation even worse," pointed out Joe Diamond MASSCAP Executive Director. "It could deepen this crisis by creating a negative economic chain reaction, throwing more and more people out of work--without needed services, without homes, or without hope to get the public; education or training opportunity needed to get their next job."
Diamond also noted that a late January poll conducted by The Boston Globe and WBZ-TV revealed that 50 percent of Massachusetts voters now favor a delay in the planned tax reduction, while only 33 percent wanted it to remain on course. "I hope that our elected officials will heed this indication of voter preference," he declared, "and avoid sacrificing public services that are important to the residents of the Commonwealth -- especially the most vulnerable."
MASSCAP's letter to Acting Governor Swift. is available for your viewing.
MASSCAP is the statewide association of Massachusetts’ 25 Community Action Agencies (CAAs). These agencies, founded in the mid-1960s, serve all areas of the state. They help over 300,000 low-income Massachusetts residents each year meet their basic needs and become economically self-sufficient by providing a wide array of support services as well as education; and advocacy.
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