Submitted by State Senator Michael Barrett (D-Lexington) and State Representative Ken Gordon (D-Bedford)
Spurred by State Rep. Ken Gordon and State Sen. Mike Barrett, the Legislature has set aside Gov. Patrick’s “recommendation” against permanent funding for Bedford of the costs of educating children living on Hanscom Air Force Base.
The effect is to put permanent reimbursement back on track. Still, the back-and-forth on the issue is not over.
“We knew we had to act fast — and we did,” Barrett said, adding that the legislative session ends in less than two weeks. “Still, the parliamentary situation remains complex. Now it’s back to the Governor. The ball is again in his court. If he again rejects permanent aid, the Legislature can rebut his action a second time and make aid for Bedford permanent.”
“As soon as we received word that the Governor had not agreed to permanent funding, Senator Barrett and I got to work,” said Rep. Gordon. “We convinced both branches of the Legislature that the difference between an annual appropriation and permanent funding was immense. The latter will provide predictability for the town, honor our military servicemen and veterans, and help keep the military base healthy and thriving.”
The budget just passed for this fiscal year includes $1.3 million to compensate towns for educating children of military families residing on bases. This is the second straight year Bedford’s legislative delegation has successfully added nonpermanent, one-year-at-a-time aid.
The town has accepted Hanscom students at Bedford High School for more than 50 years through an agreement with the Department of Defense, but the federal government reimburses for only a small portion of the educational costs involved. More than 100 Hanscom students attend high school at local expense.
Barrett and Gordon say they will continue to monitor the progress of the bill so that in the case of a veto, they will be prepared to call for an override.
“It will take more than a Governor’s amendment to keep Senator Barrett and me from pursuing our goals for our district,” said Gordon.
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No one should be surprised by this move by Governor Patrick. He has already stated that he is anticipating some major expense. The major expense may be money needed to take care of all the refugee children he has agreed to house here. Its important to note that he has raised the budget in this state to historic highs and added over 10,000 people to the state payroll since he has been in office and has also reduced local aid in this budget.