Governor Signs Supplemental Budget, Preserves Funding for Appellate Tax Board, AGO's Fair Labor Division
August 10, 2009
It was a mixed bag of good news and bad news Friday as the governor signed the supplemental budget bill (House 4181), vetoing huge swaths of funding for agencies across the state (including decimating the Trial Court budget), but preserving critical monies for NAGE members employed by the Appellate Tax Board and the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division.
"I was very happy to learn that Governor Patrick did not veto the supplemental budget funding for AGO FLD or the ATB; without the funding we would have surely faced layoffs and involuntary furloughs," said Local 207 President Theresa McGoldrick. "NAGE appreciates the governor's decision to heed our earlier letter urging him to preserve this funding. We sincerely thank him for that."
The Trial Court fared less well, as Governor Patrick cut $6 million of the $9.4 million the legislature had allocated in its supplemental budget.
The fight for Trial Court funding is not over, however. Although the legislature is in recess until early to mid-September, once it's back in session, debate and voting on the governor's vetoes will begin, with the possibility for overrides in many instances. Updates will be provided here as news becomes available.