Representative Don Humason



CONSENSUS REVENUE HEARING By Representative Don Humason, Jr. December 15, 2007 Last week I tried something new and did an unscientific constituent survey with 10 questions about hot topics in the state. The response was excellent. Thank you to the many readers who mailed or emailed me their opinions on the questions. Obviously, the more people who respond, the better the representative sample will be. If you would like to respond but didn’t see the column last Saturday you can still find it at my website www.donhumason.org. Go to the Columns tab and look for Constituent Survey 12.08.07. Perhaps I will tabulate the responses and give the results in a future column. My wife and I went to Washington, DC last week and visited the United States Capitol. We met with Congressmen Richard Neal and John Olver during their House session. We went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. It was amazing to see the charters of freedom in person. The highlight of the trip for me was attending the wreath laying ceremony on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, at the Navy Memorial. We also went to the World War II memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery where we observed the changing of the guards ceremony. Well, the official Massachusetts Christmas tree is finally lit. Tuesday night was the tree lighting ceremony on the front lawn of the State House. Ed & Joyce Mead, the donors of the tree, and their family came down to Beacon Hill for the event. I gave them a tour of the State House and they met Governor Deval Patrick at a reception in Nurse’s Hall prior to the tree lighting. The tree is a huge Colorado blue spruce tree from Westfield, the second tree to come from the Whip City in two years, and is lit by energy efficient LED lights. The bulbs are pure white but they look blue on the tree. It’s very pretty. On Thursday, there was a hearing by Administration and Finance officials, Ways and Means staff, and legislators to try to come up with the consensus revenue estimate upon which the Governor, House, and Senate will base their budgets for the next fiscal year. The budget process has begun! The first step, after the consensus revenue estimate, is for the Governor and his A&F Secretary to draft his version of the budget, called House 1 that he will release in January. Speaking of hearings, the House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets will hold a public hearing on casino gaming next Tuesday, 12/18, from 11 AM-5 PM in Gardner Auditorium at the State House. The public is welcome to testify. I taped the next installment of my cable show, “From the State House to Your House,” this week. My guest is George Koller from Noble Hospital and we are talking about the impact of Noble on the greater Westfield community. Tune in to Channel 15, the Community Programming Channel on Comcast. My show airs on Sundays at 4:30 PM, Wednesday at 8:30 PM, and Thursdays at 10:30 AM and 10:30 PM. Only 10 shopping days to Christmas. Have a great week! 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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CONSENSUS REVENUE HEARING

By Representative Don Humason, Jr.

December 15, 2007

Last week I tried something new and did an unscientific constituent survey with 10 questions about hot topics in the state. The response was excellent. Thank you to the many readers who mailed or emailed me their opinions on the questions.

Obviously, the more people who respond, the better the representative sample will be. If you would like to respond but didn’t see the column last Saturday you can still find it at my website www.donhumason.org. Go to the Columns tab and look for Constituent Survey 12.08.07. Perhaps I will tabulate the responses and give the results in a future column.

My wife and I went to Washington, DC last week and visited the United States Capitol. We met with Congressmen Richard Neal and John Olver during their House session. We went to the National Archives and saw the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. It was amazing to see the charters of freedom in person.

The highlight of the trip for me was attending the wreath laying ceremony on Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, at the Navy Memorial. We also went to the World War II memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery where we observed the changing of the guards ceremony.

Well, the official Massachusetts Christmas tree is finally lit. Tuesday night was the tree lighting ceremony on the front lawn of the State House. Ed & Joyce Mead, the donors of the tree, and their family came down to Beacon Hill for the event. I gave them a tour of the State House and they met Governor Deval Patrick at a reception in Nurse’s Hall prior to the tree lighting.

The tree is a huge Colorado blue spruce tree from Westfield, the second tree to come from the Whip City in two years, and is lit by energy efficient LED lights. The bulbs are pure white but they look blue on the tree. It’s very pretty.

On Thursday, there was a hearing by Administration and Finance officials, Ways and Means staff, and legislators to try to come up with the consensus revenue estimate upon which the Governor, House, and Senate will base their budgets for the next fiscal year.

The budget process has begun! The first step, after the consensus revenue estimate, is for the Governor and his A&F Secretary to draft his version of the budget, called House 1 that he will release in January.

Speaking of hearings, the House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets will hold a public hearing on casino gaming next Tuesday, 12/18, from 11 AM-5 PM in Gardner Auditorium at the State House. The public is welcome to testify.

I taped the next installment of my cable show, “From the State House to Your House,” this week. My guest is George Koller from Noble Hospital and we are talking about the impact of Noble on the greater Westfield community. Tune in to Channel 15, the Community Programming Channel on Comcast. My show airs on Sundays at 4:30 PM, Wednesday at 8:30 PM, and Thursdays at 10:30 AM and 10:30 PM.

Only 10 shopping days to Christmas. Have a great week!

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