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EDITORIAL
OP-ED; Dems behind Mitt, way, way behind him
Thomas M. KEANE, Jr.

01/31/2003
Boston Herald
All Editions
027
(Copyright 2003)

I spent Wednesday night breathlessly waiting for Gov. Mitt Romney, Speaker Tom Finneran and Senate President Robert Travaglini to announce whether they'd be joining Boston's city councilors in their fast against the Iraq war. Would they, like some councilors, be pushing to have the commonwealth take on George Bush, casting their lot with poor, beleaguered Saddam?

Disappointingly, no. Instead the three spent their 15 minutes of fame (nine for Romney, about six for the two legislators) talking about budgets, spending and taxes. Unlike the City Council, apparently, they have better things to do.

This was the public's first opportunity to see Massachusetts' three most powerful men in action. All looked a bit like animals caught in the headlights (Romney, a deer; Travaglini, a koala; Finneran, a ferret). Moreover, the timing was terrible: They had to follow on the heels of Bush's masterful delivery of the State of the Union from the night before. It was kind of like watching a community theater production after having just seen the play on Broadway.

Romney - the best of the three - was oddly positioned, his body facing to one side while his head was turned to the camera, kind of like the setup at Sears when you go to do the family portrait. Travaglini, fresh off the streets of East Boston and on to the statewide stage, could have used a better shave and a voice with some modulation.

Finneran, bouncing and weaving on camera like a Nomar bobblehead, has an ability to sound sarcastic no matter what he says. "Governor Romney's election is not to be trivialized," was my favorite line. Until Finneran voiced that thought, I had been unaware anyone had been trivializing the election. So who is? Well, obviously, Finneran. He was using a denial to raise the notion that Romney should, in fact, be thought of as trivial.

Still, there was substance to these back-to-back speeches, and it boiled down to this: The state's budget shortfall is really bad. Romney is willing to take the hits for fixing it. And the Legislature, at least in the short term, will be happy to let him take those hits.

In other words, Mitt: We're behind ya. Way behind ya.

Here's the plan. The deficit for this fiscal year (which ends June 30) is roughly $450 million to $650 million. Romney will make cuts totaling $448 million (including one that has mayors and town managers going ballistic, a $114 million reduction in local aid). If the budget gap is higher than $448 million - as Romney fears - then the rest will come out of the state's reserve funds.

That may sound difficult but comparatively speaking, it's easy. Travaglini and Finneran both made it clear they're not stopping Romney on this round.

But with a projected shortfall of $3 billion, next year will be a different case.

Romney presents his budget in a month, and Travaglini and Finneran were sounding notes of caution.

Finneran, who despite his odd mannerisms and mocking undercurrents is clearly the most familiar with the challenges of a tough budget, laid down his gauntlet: education, public safety and health care. Those are his big three - the "essential services" that should be held sacrosanct.

Travaglini raised the prospect of new taxes. It was the only real clash of the evening. Romney earlier had forcefully rejected higher taxes. Travaglini agreed there would be no new taxes this fiscal year. That's an easy enough promise - only five months remain. And next year? Only as a "last resort."

Uh oh. Shannon O'Brien used the same formulation in her run for governor and voters understood the term "last resort" to mean "probably."

What should "last resort" really mean?

If Massachusetts raises taxes and the Quinn Bill (which boosts cops' salaries by millions in exchange for taking bogus classes) is still around, then taxes were not raised as a "last resort."

If we raise taxes and the Pacheco Bill (which prevents the government from using competition to deliver services more cheaply) is still law, taxes were not raised as a "last resort."

If we raise taxes and the Community Preservation Act (which gives state money to towns so they can stop land from being developed for housing) is still funded, then taxes were not raised as a "last resort."

The list can go on and on.

So, bottom line, the message is this: The next five months are Romney's to do with as he pleases. After that, it may very well be a free-for-all. Romney seems serious about "restructuring" government but, ultimately, that means getting rid of lots of programs that have lots of support. The measure of the Legislature will not be Wednesday evening's words of cooperation. Rather, it will be its willingness to hold to Finneran's essentials while staring down the special interests knocking at its door.

Tom Keane can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.