Baker Orders State Agencies To Improve Records Access

Baker vetoed a total of $162 million in spending.

But at least there is a reasonable, education-related defense for that override, as well as for the one to restore $5.2 million in funding for the University of Massachusetts.

Formal legislative sessions will resume in September.

A bill authorizing a sales tax holiday for the weekend of Aug. 15 and Aug. 16 is also on deck for the House on Wednesday as DeLeo said his concerns about forfeiting as much as $25 million in tax revenue to the state were outweighed by the benefits shared with him by local retailers and consumers.

In a letter to lawmakers explaining his vetoes, Baker said he reduced the kindergarten grants appropriation to $1 million because that was the level needed for the program. Supporters of the funding had cast the veto as a heartless strike by the Republican governor against innocent 5-year-olds, rather than the effort it was to get local school districts – most of which already offer full-day programs – to begin funding the cost of doing so on their own. Spilka said 48 other states have a climatologist.

Senate President Stan Rosenberg indicated shortly after Baker signed the budget that an override was likely.

DeLeo said he views those earmarks as an another form of local aid. Baker announced on Thursday that while advocates wait to see what happens in the Legislature over the coming weeks all secretariats and state agencies will designate a public records officer to coordinate requests for information, and will notify requesters within five days if the records sought will take longer than 10 days to assemble or cost more than $10 to produce.

Dempsey, however, said he was “very confident” the state could afford to restore funding for some key priorities without jeopardizing the budget’s bottom line. Members of the House and Senate seem blissfully unconcerned. Overrides must start in the House, and the Senate this week plans to consider any overrides referred by the lower chamber.

The Senate also recessed Thursday before taking up some vetoes made by Baker to outside policy sections in the budget that were overridden in the House.