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Statement of Catherine Boudreau on Romney's call to cut taxes

Statement by MTA President Catherine A. Boudreau in response to Gov. Mitt Romney's call today to cut the income tax to 5 percent.

May 3, 2004

    Gov. Mitt Romney's call to cut the income tax to 5 percent at a time when the state has failed to restore funding to public schools and public higher education because of the current deficit is cynical and irresponsible.

 Just one week ago today, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Margot Botsford issued a compelling and carefully documented 358-page report in which she concluded that the plaintiff school districts are not receiving the funding they need to provide all students with the quality education to which they are constitutionally entitled. This decision has been forwarded to the Supreme Judicial Court, and it could lead to a mandate that the state provide significantly more funds to our public schools.

In the meantime, the House of Representatives just approved a budget last week that stops the free-fall in public education spending, but does not restore spending to programs that were slashed over the past two years. The cuts were so deep, in fact, that Massachusetts has the dubious distinction of having cut public education spending per student by more than any other state during that time. This year's House budget, while preferable to the Romney proposal, does not come close to guaranteeing children the level of education Judge Botsford's report concludes they must receive.

On public higher education, the House budget keeps the promise to employees by funding their duly negotiated contracts, but, here, too, the Legislature was unable to come up with enough money to restore funding to our public colleges and the University of Massachusetts --institutions that lost a quarter of their state aid (adjusted for inflation) over the past three years.

In light of these realities, it is unconscionable that Gov. Romney is willing to further jeopardize quality education in Massachusetts by proposing a deep reduction in the income tax. The Legislature should declare Romney’s proposal "dead on arrival" and instead should take the courageous stand of restoring  the income tax to its previous level so that the Commonwealth can meet its moral and constitutional obligations to our students.