Senator Stan Rosenberg The Rosenberg Report

Volume VII
August 8, 2002

Hello,

The budget for fiscal '03 is now law and for most of us, I would guess, it reads like a bad horror novel. Plunging state revenues forced the Legislature and the governor to make painful cuts in many popular programs, cuts that would have been far deeper had the people of this Commonwealth lacked the courage and the discipline to accept just over a billion dollars in new taxes. Although it is much too early to start talking about specifics, it is reasonable to assume that we will need just as much courage and discipline to face the challenges that await us in the fiscal '04 budget. We are in a serious situation -- it would be dishonest to try and tell you otherwise. At least 39 other states are facing similar budget situations, and many of them met their shortfalls the same way we did -- through a combination of cuts, new taxes and reserves. Our goal is to preserve, as best we can, the progress we made during the last decade so that when the recovery finally arrives we can restore some of what we've lost.

But until then, we can't lose heart.
 

Yours,                   

Stan

Fiscal '03 budget briefing

Here are some links that will give you the most up-to-date information on the fiscal '03 budget, including the latest revenue estimates from the Department of Revenue, local aid figures and the governor's vetoes and subsequent overrides.

Department of Revenue

http://www.dor.state.ma.us/pressrel/July02Rev.htm

Local aid figures

http://www.dls.state.ma.us/cherry/index.htm

Conference Report

(go to middle of the page)

http://www.state.ma.us/legis/

Governor's veto message

http://www.state.ma.us/bb/downloads/fy2003/fy03veto.htm

Overrides

http://www.state.ma.us/legis/03budget/FY03overrides.htm


August Focus

Economic Development

You might think it strange for me to focus on economic development this month, but there are some good local stories that deserve attention.

1) Northampton State Hospital

Finally, after many years of work and planning, the re-development of the Northampton State Hospital is starting to happen. One of the biggest breakthroughs came when Kollmorgen announced that it intends to move its current operation on King Street in Northampton to the State Hospital site. This would make Kollmorgen the site's largest industrial/commercial tenant. It also means that approximately 300 jobs will remain in the city.

Also, plans for the first housing development on the site have been approved by the city for an area known as the ice ponds, and more plans for converting the hospital's nursing quarters into housing are almost complete.

I don't think any of this would be happening without the dedication of Clare Higgins, her Citizens Advisory Committee, the local legislative delegation and the Northampton City Council. Mayor Higgins has been the head of the Advisory Committee since the mid-90s and she has done a great job making sure the developers and people in the neighborhood stay in close contact, especially on such issues as traffic flow on Rt. 66. All the players have held a vision for redeveloping the Northampton State Hospital site and it's great to see it beginning to come to fruition.

2) Cains Pickles

The local farmers did it! With the support of the Deerfield Selectboard, state and federal legislators and agencies, and critical grants, they were able to buy the Cains Pickle plant. This means that approximately 130 jobs have been retained and more than 2,000 acres in the Pioneer Valley will continue to be used to grow cucumbers and peppers to be used at their processing facility. In addition, the Department of Resource Economics at UMass-Amherst estimates that if the plant had closed, the region would have lost approximately $31 million in economic activity. This is a big win for everybody!

3) Belchertown State School

I've been involved in a number of meetings recently that are critical to future redevelopment of the State School and I have been impressed by the progress the community has made, especially on two projects that are considered anchor pieces for the entire redevelopment effort -- the courthouse and the intermodal transportation center on the State School site. I'm pleased that State Representative Tom Petrolati (D-Ludlow) and I were able to secure $1 million for the intermodal transportation center in the transportation bond, and that I was able to secure in the same bond commitments for bridge replacement projects totaling approximately $1 million that will aid development by improving traffic flow. (see below) All in all it's good news for Belchertown and I'm looking forward to continuing to work on these projects.


Noteworthy

Transportation Bond
  • The following projects were included in the Legislature's Transportation Bond, which is now on the governor's desk:
  • $1 million for an intermodal transportation center in Belchertown;
  • Language authorizing the Massachusetts Highway Department to design and construct the Route 181 and River Street bridge replacement projects in Belchertown, projects totaling approximately $1 million;
  • $100,000 for additional signalization on Route 202 at the public safety complex in Belchertown;
  • $300,000 for the Nielson Road relocation project in New Salem;
  • $50,000 for drainage improvements on Bernache Street off Route 9 in Northampton;
  • $55,000 for the additional work necessary to complete the Smith Road rehabilitation project in Chesterfield;
  • $1 million for improvements to the sidewalks and pedestrian walkways on Route 5/10 in Northfield; and,
  • Language authorizing the Massachusetts Highway Department to work with the Department of Environmental Management to improve Laurel Lake Road in Erving.

I have encouraged the governor to sign these into law.

Capital Improvements Bond

The following projects were included in the Legislature's Capital Improvements Bond, which is also now on the governor's desk:

  • $9 million for the Franklin County House of Corrections;
  • $75 million for a program of grants for approved library construction projects;
  • $77 million for planning, studies, etc. at the University of Massachusetts; and,
  • $1.5 million for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

I have also encouraged the governor to sign these into law.


Roundup

Department of Transitional Assistance

After a long struggle, I can report that a full-time DTA regional office will remain in Northampton.

On Aug. 1st, DTA Commissioner John Wagner agreed to keeping one DTA staff person to work full-time, five days a week, at the Department of Employment and Training office on King Street in Northampton. This DTA staff person will have full access to the department's computer system, and will be able to provide a range of services.

Although we wished we could have kept the office in Florence, under the current financial circumstances maintaining a full-time presence in Hampshire County was a priority. This was a total team effort on the part of the Hampshire County delegation -- Senators Andrea Nuciforo (D-Pittsfield), Steve Brewer (D-Barre) and Michael Knapik (R-Westfield), Representatives Peter Kocot (D-Northampton), Ellen Story (D-Amherst), Steve Kulik (D-Worthington) and Nancy Flavin (D-Easthampton) -- Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins and local social service agency leaders, and I'm pleased that we were able to get this done. This shows what we can accomplish when we work together in a spirit of cooperation.

South Hadley Water District

On July 23rd, the governor signed into law a bill I sponsored with State Representative Nancy Flavin (D-Easthampton) that allows the South Hadley Water District to sell 615 acres of the Lithia Springs Reservoir Area to the state Department of Environmental Management.

Now the water district will be able to sell the land, which is adjacent to Skinner State Park, to the DEM for an estimated $600,000. The DEM would then preserve the area, while the water district would use the money for capital improvement projects.

For the text of the law, click here
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/seslaw02/sl020168.htm

Amherst Home Rule

On July 31st, the governor signed into law a bill I supported with State Representative Ellen Story (D-Amherst) that validates actions the town of Amherst took during its annual Town Meeting in 2000.

For the text of the law, click here
http://www.state.ma.us/legis/bills/house/ht04890.htm

State Grants

Congratulations to the Gill-Montague Regional School District for receiving a $500,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for its Green School project. This grant is on top of the $130,000 the school received earlier this year. The school is planning to install a 30-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array on the roof of the pool building, a high-efficiency boiler, heat recovery equipment and a monitoring system that will allow teachers and students to track the electrical energy produced by the photovoltaic array.

Congratulations to Rural Development Inc., an affiliate of the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority, for receiving a $20,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to study ways to include green energy technologies in its standard home designs.

Stan's favorites

I hope some of you got to try that barbecue sauce recipe I shared last month. If so, I'd like to know how it turned out. Drop me a line if you get a chance -- www.stanrosenberg.com/form.html. I'm going through some of my cookbooks and I'm planning to share some more recipes around the holidays.

Trivia

The answer to last month's question -- Name the composer of the official state folk song -- is Arlo Guthrie. This one might have been unintentionally confusing because we have an official state song and an official state folk song. Arthur J. Marsh's "All Hail to Massachusetts" is the state song, but Arlo gets the nod for the state folk song, "Massachusetts." Here are a few links so you can find out what Arlo is up to these days.

Arlo's Home Page

http://www.arlo.net/


The Guthrie Center

http://www.guthriecenter.org/main.shtml


Arlo's Touring Schedule

(click here and type in Arlo Guthrie in the search engine)

http://www.pollstar.com/

Thanks to everybody who played along. And now the winner of the lunch and State House tour, chosen at random from the thousands (just kidding!) of correct answers is Robert B. from somewhere in cyberspace. We'll send him information on who to contact in my Boston office and we'll look forward to seeing him at the State House. Congratulations Robert!

Now to this month's question and another chance to win lunch and a State House tour. Since it's the last month of summer, and, hopefully, a lot of you will be enjoying the outdoors,

Name the state's highest mountain.

Submit your answer to tumitch@sprynet.com and watch this space for the correct answer and the prize winner.

Links

Here are a few links. Until next time, happy surfing!

Stan Rosenburg

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