BOSTON — Lawmakers yesterday said they will work to undo tens of millions of dollars of cuts by Gov. Deval Patrick in pet projects and local expenditures.
The cuts ranged from Haverhill debt relief, youth services and food distribution programs in Andover, Lawrence and Newburyport, to a maritime heritage center in Gloucester.
Patrick cut in half the $2.4 million the Legislature proposed to help pay down the $7 million a year debt owed by the city of Haverhill for the former Hale Hospital.
"We as a community need continued state assistance," said Rep. Brian Dempsey, D-Haverhill.
Override votes begin in the House, where Dempsey hopes to use his influence with Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and House Ways and Means Chairman Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, to get the funding restored.
The House takes up overrides before the Senate. Victoria Bonney, a spokeswoman for DiMasi, said votes have not been scheduled.
Rep. Barry R. Finegold, D-Andover, criticized the governor for stripping out $150,000 for Andover Youth Services, and said he'd lobby to get an override vote.
The youth program, he said, was borne of a rash of suicides a decade ago, and it helps keep local youngsters engaged in productive activities.
"It's a major mistake for the governor to veto," Finegold said. "It was never cut under (former Gov. Mitt) Romney. It's surprising a Democrat would do it."
Rep. Michael A. Costello, D-Newburyport, questioned why Patrick cut $75,000 for Pettengill House, a human services agency that runs food pantries and programs for children.
"A lot (of earmarks) are critical," Costello said. "This is an earmark that impacts people directly."
Patrick eliminated $115,000 for Food for the World Pantry in Lawrence. Rep. William Lantigua, D-Lawrence, said it hurts the neediest in his already poor city.
"Any Wednesday from 6 to 11 a.m., you'll see people in line who are not proud and need to be in line (for food)," Lantigua said. "I'll do all I can to restore that cut."
On Cape Ann, Patrick rejected plans to spend $100,000 on the Maritime Heritage Center in Gloucester. He also eliminated $50,000 for the North Shore Housing trust.
Perhaps critically, though, he reduced by $5 million a $20 million earmark for a fund Gloucester and other cities rely upon to help defray the cost of sewer infrastructure. That, said Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, R-Gloucester, is bad news.
"Gloucester is facing incredibly high sewer rates," Tarr said, "and it's not getting enough (help) as it is."
Other local spending requests the governor nixed included:
r $100,000 for the Newburyport YWCA.
r $200,000 for improvements to downtown Methuen.
r $75,000 for improvements to Eugene Lovely Field in Andover.
r $100,000 for a Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce program to boost business in the area.
r $40,000 for Newburyport to attract new businesses.
r $50,000 for an economic development director for Salisbury.
r $150,000 for a job training program at Lazarus House in Lawrence.
In all, Patrick cut $122.5 million in proposed spending from the budget lawmakers sent him. He also asked for the power to make sweeping, emergency midyear cuts.
"I believe we've got to prepare now for economic trouble ahead," Patrick said Sunday.
Budget watchdogs, like Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said Patrick should have cut twice as much.
Along with the cuts, Patrick asked lawmakers to give him powers to make sweeping spending cuts in the event the economy tanks and the state can't afford what he didn't trim.
Sen. Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat who saw some of his proposals cut, said he expects many of the vetoes to be overridden.
Part of the thinking is that the earmarks are necessary spending and, if there's trouble ahead, giving the governor the power to make so-called 9c emergency spending cuts is an adequate safety net.
Widmer said that's the wrong attitude.
"I don't think that's responsible," Widmer said. "The state has a huge fiscal problem. Doing overrides for pet projects is simply not responsible."
Lawmakers are up against the clock. The Legislature recesses for the year July 31. After that, lawmakers would have to agree to a special formal session to take up overrides.
