Representative Don Humason



UNSUSTAINABLE By State Representative Don Humason, Jr. March 1, 2008 Imagine you’re sitting around your kitchen table late one night, surrounded by your bills, your checkbook, and a calculator. You’re looking over receipts and credit card statements. It’s tax time so this may not be too hard to imagine. You’re trying to figure out where your money has gone. Your income has gone up a little every year but you’ve been spending the money as fast as it comes in. Sure, you probably shouldn’t have bought that big flat screen TV, and the new boat and trailer. The vacation to Aruba was awesome. But you’ve noticed that your roof is starting to sag and leak a bit. The driveway and your foundation are cracked. The windows are letting the winter breezes in. Your car is spending a lot of time in the shop. You’ve got a small savings set aside, a rainy day fund, for emergencies, but now it’s looking like you may have to begin to dip into the reserves to pay your weekly bills. You can’t figure out why you don’t have enough money to pay your expenses. What can you do? Well, you could always ask your boss for a raise. If the boss increases your pay then you might be able to keep up with your expenses. But that may not be an option, and with this shaky economy, a raise is not guaranteed. Then there’s that savings account you could tap. But the piggy bank is supposed to be for emergencies or special occasions, not to meet your household budget. When you’re doing your kitchen table budget, you know that you need to live within your means. I took a Personal Finance class way back in Westfield High School, but it was my parents who taught me that you don’t spend what you don’t have. If you can’t increase your income, you need to trim your expenses. You need to prioritize. I fear that our representatives in government have forgotten the simple lessons of kitchen table economics. In the name of trying to help our constituents we are growing the budget, increasing the size and reach of government, to a level that is unaffordable and unsustainable. Government has expanded at a much faster rate than inflation, and far faster than most household incomes. Local city government, state government, and federal government; all three combine to create quite a considerable burden on beleaguered taxpayers. Taxpayers who see their household incomes shrinking while government budgets increase. Unsustainable. The Boston Herald this week had an article on February 27 called “Lurching into Quagmire.” The writer, Jay Fitzgerald, reported that jobs were stagnating as inflation was on the rise. He noted that in Massachusetts the cost of living is going up across all sectors. “Heating oil up 42.7%, gasoline up 28.4%, medical costs up 5.1%, food and beverages up 4%, housing costs up 1.8%, clothes up by 1.3%.” I would note that other costs continue to rise as well. Local utilities costs are up, cable and phone rates are up, and property taxes are up. It’s unsustainable. An article in the State House News Service reported on February 17 that Bay State consumer confidence hit a 16 year low. When I began working in state government back in 1991, as a Legislative Aide to then-Representative Mike Knapik, the annual state budget was around $11 billion. Seventeen years later, Governor Patrick has proposed a FY ’09 budget of over $28 billion. It’s more than doubled in less than two decades. Unsustainable! As a legislator, and a member of the Minority Party in the House, I don’t think that government gets it. I believe legislators have to get back to kitchen table economics: don’t spend more than we take in, make priorities, don’t spend rainy day reserves unless it’s raining, don’t run up the peoples’ credit card, and live within our means. What do you think? Representative Don Humason and his new aide Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Their Boston address is State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us
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UNSUSTAINABLE

By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.

March 1, 2008

Imagine you’re sitting around your kitchen table late one night, surrounded by your bills, your checkbook, and a calculator. You’re looking over receipts and credit card statements. It’s tax time so this may not be too hard to imagine.

You’re trying to figure out where your money has gone. Your income has gone up a little every year but you’ve been spending the money as fast as it comes in.

Sure, you probably shouldn’t have bought that big flat screen TV, and the new boat and trailer. The vacation to Aruba was awesome. But you’ve noticed that your roof is starting to sag and leak a bit. The driveway and your foundation are cracked. The windows are letting the winter breezes in. Your car is spending a lot of time in the shop.

You’ve got a small savings set aside, a rainy day fund, for emergencies, but now it’s looking like you may have to begin to dip into the reserves to pay your weekly bills. You can’t figure out why you don’t have enough money to pay your expenses.

What can you do?

Well, you could always ask your boss for a raise. If the boss increases your pay then you might be able to keep up with your expenses. But that may not be an option, and with this shaky economy, a raise is not guaranteed. Then there’s that savings account you could tap. But the piggy bank is supposed to be for emergencies or special occasions, not to meet your household budget.

When you’re doing your kitchen table budget, you know that you need to live within your means. I took a Personal Finance class way back in Westfield High School, but it was my parents who taught me that you don’t spend what you don’t have. If you can’t increase your income, you need to trim your expenses. You need to prioritize.

I fear that our representatives in government have forgotten the simple lessons of kitchen table economics. In the name of trying to help our constituents we are growing the budget, increasing the size and reach of government, to a level that is unaffordable and unsustainable.

Government has expanded at a much faster rate than inflation, and far faster than most household incomes. Local city government, state government, and federal government; all three combine to create quite a considerable burden on beleaguered taxpayers.
Taxpayers who see their household incomes shrinking while government budgets increase. Unsustainable.

The Boston Herald this week had an article on February 27 called “Lurching into Quagmire.” The writer, Jay Fitzgerald, reported that jobs were stagnating as inflation was on the rise. He noted that in Massachusetts the cost of living is going up across all sectors. “Heating oil up 42.7%, gasoline up 28.4%, medical costs up 5.1%, food and beverages up 4%, housing costs up 1.8%, clothes up by 1.3%.”

I would note that other costs continue to rise as well. Local utilities costs are up, cable and phone rates are up, and property taxes are up. It’s unsustainable.

An article in the State House News Service reported on February 17 that Bay State consumer confidence hit a 16 year low. When I began working in state government back in 1991, as a Legislative Aide to then-Representative Mike Knapik, the annual state budget was around $11 billion. Seventeen years later, Governor Patrick has proposed a FY ’09 budget of over $28 billion. It’s more than doubled in less than two decades. Unsustainable!

As a legislator, and a member of the Minority Party in the House, I don’t think that government gets it. I believe legislators have to get back to kitchen table economics: don’t spend more than we take in, make priorities, don’t spend rainy day reserves unless it’s raining, don’t run up the peoples’ credit card, and live within our means. What do you think?

Representative Don Humason and his new aide Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Their Boston address is State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us

This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group