# State of the State



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS
*'*

*Not the time to lose either our will or our way'*

*Patrick gently warns of layoffs, urges ethics cleanup*








Governor Deval Patrick was greeted last night by legislators, with whom his relationship has improved. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

By Matt Viser and Frank Phillips

Globe Staff / January 16, 2009

Governor Deval Patrick urged Massachusetts residents last night in his State of the State speech not to despair, even as he acknowledged the heavy toll the economic crisis is taking on the state and warned that looming budget cuts will be deep and painful.

DiscussCOMMENTS (6)

In an address that was sober yet hopeful, Patrick sought to lay the groundwork for a variety of initiatives including ethics reform, fixing the state's ailing transportation network, and helping cities and towns find new ways to raise money. He gave few specifics, however, leaving the policy details for the coming weeks.
"This is not the time to let up or give up," Patrick said. "This is not the time to lose either our will or our way, the grim economic forecasts notwithstanding."
The annual address was delivered in a packed House chamber, with state lawmakers crowded in, showing respect to Patrick and the power of his office with long applause. Following decades-old political choreography, a group of lawmakers walked down the hall to retrieve the governor from his office and formally invite him to enter the legislative chamber.
Patrick criticized the Legislature last year during his State of the State address for being slow to act on his proposals, wagging his finger, raising his voice, and declaring himself an impatient man. His voice this year was calmer, more soothing. His relationship with state lawmakers also has improved, and Patrick thanked the Legislature for approving many items in his agenda in what he called "one of the most productive legislative sessions in a generation."
The House floor was filled with Cabinet members, lawmakers, and top state officials. Supporters crowded the gallery above, including Patrick's wife, Diane, and their daughter Katherine, as well as Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his wife, Myra. Aides said the Krafts are close friends with the governor.
With the state grappling with a $1.1 billion budget gap, Patrick has been forced to shift dramatically away from the visionary rhetoric that helped him get elected in a landslide in 2006. Instead, he is calling on Massachusetts citizens to sacrifice in the face of the fiscal crisis. But unlike the previous Republican governors who talked in tough partisan tones of budget-cutting, Patrick used a tone of liberal compassion to deliver the dire news of pending budget cuts and their impacts on those who depend on government programs.
"Some think that cutting government is always good," he said. "But they see only abstractions. Behind every one of those budget line items, I see somebody's best chance or only chance. And I will do my best to make the decisions I have to make with the impact of them clearly in mind."
He also told an anecdote of his grandmother, and her message to a family who lived in a two-bedroom tenement on Chicago's South Side.
"We were forbidden from calling ourselves poor," Patrick said. "My grandmother taught us to say we were broke, because broke, she said, is temporary. We will cycle out of this downturn eventually and start to expand opportunity again."
Patrick avoided any mention of some of the most controversial items on the Beacon Hill agenda.
He did not discuss raising the gas tax, a proposal by House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi that Patrick has slowly come to accept as a possible alternative to increasing tolls along the Massachusetts Turnpike. Transportation financing did not go unnoticed, however. A group stood outside the State House before the speech to protest higher tolls, with one person dressed in a pig suit holding a sign that read, "Government Pork is not Kosher."
Patrick also did not say how much he will cut from the budgeted $5.3 billion distribution of state aid to cities and towns, but he was clear that pain would be felt.
"No one's priorities will be spared," he said. "Local services will be cut, and in many cases police, firefighters, and teachers will face layoffs."
He returned to his campaign theme of "Together We Can," but with a slightly different message for tough economic times.
"Take the coat your kids have outgrown over to a family shelter for a child it might fit just fine," he said. "Recycle everything you can. Give your time, your energy, your heart to someone, somewhere. And above all, for the adults, show a young person how to look up rather than down."
The governor called on the Legislature to help reform the state's ethics laws, an area that many expect could face resistance from the House. DiMasi, who sat behind the governor and is under fire because of several ethics probes into his close associates, has given only a lukewarm reception to the governor's recent proposals to toughen the state's laws on lobbying and ethics. But last night he applauded and nodded as the governor delivered the lines about ethics reform.
Patrick also said he would work for pension reform and an overhaul of the state's correctional system. He renewed a push to give municipalities the power to impose a meals tax, as well as collect property taxes from telecommunications companies for poles and wires.
In an unfortunate twist of timing for the governor, Patrick's opportunity to speak directly to Massachusetts residents, in a high-profile address televised at 7:30, was squeezed by President George W. Bush's farewell speech from the White House, which began at 8. Some television producers urged Patrick to wrap it up quickly so they wouldn't have to cut away to video feeds from Washington. His 22-minute address finished seconds before the networks cut to the president.
Response to the speech was generally positive, although Republicans criticized the governor for being heavy on words and light on action.
"The governor excels at the rhetorical," House Minority Leader Bradley Jones said after the speech. "But we've had years for reform and we haven't seen a lot."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma..._the_time_to_lose_either_our_will_or_our_way/


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## dcs2244 (Jan 29, 2004)

Yet he'll be re-elected...because "he cares."


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## GeepNutt (Aug 10, 2005)

I love the part about ethics reform... to me you are either "Ethical" or you are not.. 

What's to reform?


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## 7costanza (Aug 29, 2006)

> What's to reform?


The entire Democratic Party..


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## Kem25 (Aug 7, 2007)

120K a year to a neighbor on a new position created during a hiring freeze sounds ethical to me!


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## fra444 (Nov 23, 2008)

Sadly I missed the whole thing! Decided it was better for my blood pressure level if I watched the Bruins game and continued to live in denial!!

< Keeps head in sand hoping it will end soon!!


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## BB-59 (Oct 19, 2005)

The amazing thing is he has not kept one promise or delivered on anything except pure BS.

Yet like our President elect "we can"!


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## Big.G (Nov 28, 2006)

He kept the promise of rescinding the measure that Romney implemented to allow some Troopers to have immigration enforcement powers.


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## fra444 (Nov 23, 2008)

resqjyw0 said:


> _He kept the promise_ of rescinding the measure that Romney implemented to allow some Troopers to have immigration enforcement powers.


He kept a PROMISE?! Oh! Wait that was sarcasm wasn't it?!


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## SinePari (Aug 15, 2004)

Yet, there was no mention of freezing the legislature's pay raise that they just voted for themselves...


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## lofu (Feb 25, 2006)

How come no mention of sweeping Welfare or MassHealth reform? Oh, that's right the deadbeats are his biggest supporters.


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## cj3441 (Oct 14, 2004)

lofu said:


> How come no mention of sweeping Welfare or MassHealth reform? Oh, that's right the deadbeats are his biggest supporters.


There would be nobody left to pander to. The Democratic party is sponsored by the welfare state.


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