House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North
Reading) is calling on House leadership to adopt a “wait and see” approach to
taking up overrides of Governor Charlie Baker’s FY18 budget vetoes.
In a letter delivered to House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo
yesterday, Representative Jones urged DeLeo to “proceed with caution when
considering the scheduling of any potential overrides in the House,” suggesting
that the Legislature wait until after the summer’s tax revenues numbers are in
before making a decision.
“Given the current fiscal realities, the best course of
action for the Legislature to pursue at this time would be to allow Governor
Baker’s vetoes to stand and not move forward with any overrides until we have a
chance to review the revenue numbers for June, July and August,” Jones wrote.
In his letter, Jones cited a series of reductions in
anticipated revenues that have left the Commonwealth facing a $439 million revenue
shortfall through the end of May, with June’s final revenue numbers still
pending. He also noted that the
Legislature’s decision to override most of the Governor’s vetoes last year
“essentially left the state with an unbalanced budget.”
“While the House could still take up a limited number of
targeted overrides to address emergency situations as they arise, it would be a
mistake to again attempt a wholesale reversal of virtually all of the
Governor’s vetoes without first having a better idea of where state revenues
are heading,” Jones wrote, adding that “Our focus in the coming months should
be on working with the Baker-Polito Administration to identify savings and
efficiencies throughout state government, rather than exacerbating an already
precarious financial situation by taking up multiple ill-advised veto overrides
before the summer recess.”
A copy of Representative Jones’ letter to Speaker DeLeo is
attached below.
LetterToSpeakerDeLeoFY18VetoOverrides by mike4rrt on Scribd
