Democratic Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is testifying today before state lawmakers during a hearing on the $55.5 billion budget that she put forward last week. The plan is now in the hands of legislators like Democratic State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier of the 2nd Berkshire District, who represents county seat, Pittsfield. Echoing her Berkshire legislative delegation colleague State Senator Paul Mark, Farley-Bouvier says Healey’s $742 million tax plan is too favorable to the commonwealth’s wealthiest. She also has concerns about how the budget addresses the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition or RAFT program. Farley-Bouvier spoke with WAMC.
FARLEY-BOUVIER: First, something that people might not have noticed is that there's $8.5 million dollars for the Pittsfield station track improvements. So right in downtown, we have our intermodal station, and as part of the Western Mass rail projects, plural, it has been determined that we need to have this station track in order to accommodate further work on the west-east rail project and for the Berkshire Flyer. And so, we're thrilled to see that the governor has put her chip down right away that rail is for the whole commonwealth. And amongst those positives are, the local aid numbers are consistent, and of course, I’m thrilled with the work on Chapter 70. This budget reflects a full commitment, the year three of six, of the implementation of the Student Opportunity Act. And over the course of my tenure here as a state rep, the Chapter 70 number has risen substantially.
WAMC Now, as far as criticisms, where do you see the budget falling short? What are areas that you would do differently or change entirely?
We're still digging into those things. We want to look a little bit closer into the housing numbers, particularly into the RAFT. The amount of money given to RAFT is more, but the amount of benefit per household has gone down significantly. And we'd like to keep a close eye on that.
There's been a lot of conversation about the tax relief package that Healey's put forward. It's significantly larger than her Republican predecessor Charlie Baker’s, and it's been criticized by some folks as maybe offering too many tax cuts to the wealthy, especially after the Fair Share Amendment was passed in 2022. What are your thoughts on that massive tax relief package? And what are your thoughts on criticisms of it?
What we don't want to do is after all the work of getting the Fair Share Amendment through, then to undo that work. And I'm concerned that putting together all the provisions of her tax package is doing just that. I am open to conversations about raising the estate tax. The previous governor had doubled it. I'm open to conversations about removing what they call the cliff. I think going to $3 million is too far. I'm also concerned about the short-term capital raise decrease. I think we need to keep a very close eye on that. You asked about my thoughts on the criticisms- So, when the governor's budget comes out, this is the beginning of a conversation. Right? So, getting people's opinions about where her suggested budget stands is all part of a process, and I'm happy to hear from the many different voices out there, and we really encourage as much dialogue as possible. It is really the legislature that sets the budget for the commonwealth.
I spoke with your colleague State Senator Paul Mark, who talked about wanting to see more regional equity and investment in local projects ranging from regional transit authorities to public facilities. Talk to me- When it comes to the granular on the ground stuff in say, Pittsfield, do you want to see more state aid being directed towards those kinds of local projects?
So, I think that the Pittsfield station track is a great example of how the governor is suggesting we spend money to bring a regional approach. But when it comes to public buildings, we know well in Pittsfield how there has been that disinvestment in the state in those. And so, there's no more glaring example than that of our police stations. And that is true in North County as well as in Pittsfield. And so, we- I'm actually working with Senator Mark to create a mechanism where the state can invest in our public safety building similarly, or, not exactly the same, but in a similar manner, in which we invest in our school buildings. That is the kind of work we need to do to bring regional equity.
When it comes to local earmarks, do you have a sense of what you might try to get into the budget for Pittsfield as it goes through the lengthy process of being debated in the house?
So, my natural inclination right now is to work on food insecurity as there's such a great need out there, especially, as you know, Josh, the SNAP benefits, the pandemic bonus on the SNAP benefits has just ended at the exact same time that food prices are so high, putting a lot of families at risk. That being said, this is a time where I open it up to the community for their ideas about local earmarks. So we're working through that process right now.
