Don't blink, a 2017-18 state budget proposal is here

Here we go again. Today the House Ways and Means Committee will release its version of the 2017-18 state budget, ending the suspense over which tax Bacon Hill plans to increase, what new ones the legislators will create, and how much they will overspend. We will have 14 days — with seven of them being school vacation — to lobby our representatives to stop the tax and spending.

The first hurdle is getting amendments filed. House members have just until Thursday to review the budget and file amendments. This short time frame is to limit public scrutiny and input — and it’s one of the reasons why the Massachusetts Legislature gets a failing grade on transparency from the Sunshine Foundation.

Starting April 24, members will debate $41 billion in spending for three whole days. Actually, there will be very little discussion because amendments are consolidated. What does that mean? Hundreds of amendments on a variety of subjects will be combined into one giant amendment. These colossal amendments are created secretly behind closed doors. Once released to the House floor, members only have 30 minutes to review them before a vote is taken. Hence, there is no way for representatives to know what they are voting for or against — and absolutely no way for the public to have a clue.

As you can guess, consolidating amendments is the parliamentary gimmickry used by leadership to sneak things into the budget that would never be approved on their own merits.

For example, two years ago no one knew there was a commission to study legislative pay until that commission filed a report recommending astronomical raises. Members, who recently supported voting for the raises, have used this very report as justification.

Last week, Rep. Kevin Kuros (R-Uxbridge) tried to amend the budget rules to at least keep the consolidated amendments to one subject matter. He believes that public safety and elder affairs should not be lumped together. Just call him Common-Sense Kuros. Even this minor adjustment was rejected by the Democrats.

Now that these legislators are so highly paid, they should do the extra work instead of cliff-noting the budget. The practice of bundling amendments needs to end. And maybe they could debate the budget for seven days rather than just three. The extra time might result in a top-to-bottom analysis of the budget and, ultimately, find savings.

After $18 million in pay raises, we deserve better.