Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Senator Baddour Hosts Round Table Discussion

Contact: Jeevan Ramapriya

(617) 722-1604

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Senator Baddour Hosts Round Table Discussion with Budget Experts

for Local Leaders and Interested Citizens

May 5, 2009, Boston, MA - State Senator Steven A. Baddour (D-Methuen) today announced that he is hosting an open forum on the "State of the Economy and the Massachusetts Budget". This event will be held on Tuesday, May 12th, at Northern Essex Community College's Technology Center in Room 103A from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Haverhill. The discussion will be a lively, crossfire-type debate among some of the State's foremost budget authorities including:

State Treasurer Timothy Cahill

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Prof. Alan Clayton-Matthews

University of Massachusetts at Boston

Michael Widmer, President

Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation

Understanding the Commonwealth is in a fiscal crisis due to global recession, Senator Baddour has committed not to increase the state budget through additional local earmarks. "We're in a fiscal crisis, and we must to act appropriately. Tough times call for tough decisions," Baddour said. "Since everyone will be affected in some way by the budget crisis, it is important that local leaders and concerned citizens learn as much as possible about the difficult decisions that we as a community are facing right now," said Senator Baddour. "I hope that this forum will provide the public an opportunity to learn more about our options and ask some tough questions."

The event is open to the public. Anyone with questions can call Senator Baddour's office at 617-722-1604.

2 comments:

Dick Monahan said...

Did it happen? Did anyone attend? Did any newspaper cover it? I haven't seen a word anywhere.

James Shanley said...

Mayor John Moak and Councilors Shanley and Holaday were in attendance. The bulk of the audience were police officers who were there to express their displeasure with cuts to the Quinn Bill.

In a nutshell, the news is that the Senate budget will be about $2 billion less than the House, which means pain all around. The sadder news is that this situation is going to take about four more years to work out.