Patrick asks legislators to kick in $22m for budget

Patrick asks legislators to kick in $22m for budget
Seeks reallocation of reserve fund
By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent
June 8, 2009

With Massachusetts revenues dropping by the day, Governor Deval Patrick has been looking in every corner to fund the cash-strapped state.

Last week, he called on the Legislature to turn over its piggy bank.

As the House and Senate began meeting last week to hammer out the joint version of the budget they will submit for the governor’s signature, Patrick sent the Legislature his revised budget with new cuts - including one that calls for moving $22 million from the Legislature’s “prior appropriations continued” account, a reserve fund, to the state’s general fund.

The maneuver could heighten tensions between Patrick and top lawmakers, who have been at loggerheads in recent weeks.

Patrick has criticized the Legislature for not being ambitious enough in overhauling state ethics, pension, and transportation laws, and top lawmakers have accused the governor of mounting a reelection campaign by using them as his foil.

Legislative leaders in the past have defended the reserve funds, and Patrick’s efforts to zero them out could lead to further hostility.

The state “lawmakers’ PAC,” as the account is better known, is used most often to fund renovations and upkeep of the State House, a responsibility of the Legislature.

The executive branch has moved its own PAC, worth $1.1 million, to the state’s general fund, said Joe Landolfi, Patrick’s spokesman.

“When the economy is strong and revenues are coming in, it’s a savings tool you can use for unexpected expenses,” Landolfi said. “Given the dire economic climate we’re in right now, we zeroed out our PAC and, in a spirit of shared responsibility, we’re recommending that the Legislature does the same.”

The next fiscal year begins July 1, leaving lawmakers only a few weeks to pass a budget.

“That proposal will be looked at at conference committee,” said Seth Gitell, spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. He declined to comment further. A spokesman for Senate President Therese Murray did not respond to calls for comment.

If Patrick receives a budget that includes the $22 million PAC, he could use his line-item veto and move the money to the general fund. But Landolfi declined to speculate on any action Patrick might take.

“We’ll wait and see on what the conference committee gives us,” Landolfi said.