Wednesday, April 12, 2006
How State Budgets Are Born. In Massachusetts we now have FY07 budget season. I will not bore you with specific numbers as I am not a numbers person. And yet (and this is a scary thought given my 4th grade math abilities), I am a cog in the wheel of the Massachusetts' State budget.
From my limited mathematical understanding, this is how it works (at least this year). The Governor comes out with a budget and the House comes out with a budget (and later the Senate). Ironically, the Republican Governor's FY07 local aide numbers are higher than the democratically-heavy House's numbers. Hmmm. Maybe Mormon Republicans seeking a presidential bid do have a heart after all....
Line Items. OK so there are these pages and pages of black and white dribble called "line items" -- these are dollar appropriations that are lumped under sub-sections of the budget e.g. Education, Health Services, Children Services, Economic Development, Transportation, Local Aid, etc., etc., etc. But these are just broad-brush-stroke numbers which serve to pit the big organizations e.g. the Nurses Association against a smaller organization e.g. the Massachusetts Rape Crisis Intervention Program. Both (as well as many other competing organizations) are then vying for a stipulated portion of money that makes up their slice of the big pie. But oh no! On top of that, each town and city in the commenwealth has its own local agenda (maybe a drug prevention pilot program in Malden or a sex education teen awareness program in Revere) nipping at the heels of the big guys trying to secure their share.
The "Amendment" (Pork) Scramble. So as soon as the budget is released, EVERY Representative begins filing amendments -- either district-specific one's that will bring bacon home to his/her constituents (to bring in votes) or those which are filed on behalf of a lobbyist (to bring in coffer replenishments). I haven't had time to do this but I think if you were to add up every amendment submitted over the course of the last two-and-a-half days, it wouldn't be surprising if the numbers exceeded the initially released budget by two-fold or more. What comes out at the end? Well after much penis wagging and groveling, the money goes to those deemed to be on whatever intangible 'winning team' of the moment there is. Note: if the amendment passes by Rep X to 'give every Massachusetts 6th and 7th grader his/her own laptop, I'm quitting...
From my limited mathematical understanding, this is how it works (at least this year). The Governor comes out with a budget and the House comes out with a budget (and later the Senate). Ironically, the Republican Governor's FY07 local aide numbers are higher than the democratically-heavy House's numbers. Hmmm. Maybe Mormon Republicans seeking a presidential bid do have a heart after all....
Line Items. OK so there are these pages and pages of black and white dribble called "line items" -- these are dollar appropriations that are lumped under sub-sections of the budget e.g. Education, Health Services, Children Services, Economic Development, Transportation, Local Aid, etc., etc., etc. But these are just broad-brush-stroke numbers which serve to pit the big organizations e.g. the Nurses Association against a smaller organization e.g. the Massachusetts Rape Crisis Intervention Program. Both (as well as many other competing organizations) are then vying for a stipulated portion of money that makes up their slice of the big pie. But oh no! On top of that, each town and city in the commenwealth has its own local agenda (maybe a drug prevention pilot program in Malden or a sex education teen awareness program in Revere) nipping at the heels of the big guys trying to secure their share.
The "Amendment" (Pork) Scramble. So as soon as the budget is released, EVERY Representative begins filing amendments -- either district-specific one's that will bring bacon home to his/her constituents (to bring in votes) or those which are filed on behalf of a lobbyist (to bring in coffer replenishments). I haven't had time to do this but I think if you were to add up every amendment submitted over the course of the last two-and-a-half days, it wouldn't be surprising if the numbers exceeded the initially released budget by two-fold or more. What comes out at the end? Well after much penis wagging and groveling, the money goes to those deemed to be on whatever intangible 'winning team' of the moment there is. Note: if the amendment passes by Rep X to 'give every Massachusetts 6th and 7th grader his/her own laptop, I'm quitting...
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