Mike Berry Applauds Governor Baker’s Fiscally Responsible Budget

WALPOLE – July 21, 2017 – Candidate for Bristol & Norfolk State Senator Mike Berry today announced his support for Governor Baker’s recommendations to bring the Massachusetts Fiscal 2018 state budget into balance. Berry is joining a call by House Minority Leader Brad Jones to encourage Democrats to avoid overriding most or all of Governor Baker’s $320 million in recommended spending reductions.

"As a former Selectmen and School Committee member, I applaud Governor Baker's commitment to preserving local aid despite slower than expected revenue growth," said Mike Berry. "I challenge the Democratic leadership on Beacon Hill to exercise some fiscal restraint by supporting the Governor's actions to control spending."

Mike Berry is supporting a state budget that will help families in Bristol & Norfolk without raising taxes:

• A third year of increasing the unrestricted local aid for all city and town governments;

• More than doubles the Health and Human Services (HHS) budget for substance abuse since FY15;

• 450 new social workers for the Department of Children and Families (DCF); and

• A new $2,000 annual tax credit for companies with 100 or fewer employees that hire an unemployed veteran.

"I applaud the legislature's bipartisan effort to include a tax credit that will support the hiring of unemployed veterans,” said Berry. “This is a small but important way that the Commonwealth can demonstrate its commitment to taking care of our veterans when they return home."

Governor Baker’s budget recommendations now come before the House of Representatives, who will typically present a series of veto overrides to the State Senate before they are adopted into law. Veto overrides are so common that the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates that $813,000,000 out of $913,000,000 has been restored over the past six fiscal years. In part, this additional spending brings the state budget out of balance later in the year, leading to painful cuts.

Michael Berry is a former local official from the Town of Walpole and is seeking the Republican nomination for the Bristol & Norfolk State Senate election. The Committee to Elect Mike Berry encourages voters to learn more about his candidacy by visiting his website at www.Berry4Senate.com or following him on Facebook ahead of the Republican primary election on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.