naturegirl
Gold Member
I'd say he's pretty good at reducing deficits, seems like he did a lot of work in Massachusetts on generating income to get government under control.
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Governorship of Mitt Romney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Upon entering office, Romney faced an immediate budget shortfall for the current fiscal year and a deficit for the following year initially projected to be $3 billion, although outside analysts and the state Department of Revenue said that that projection was too high, as it was based on faulty revenue predictions.[7] (Massachusetts' fiscal year begins July 1 of the preceding calendar year.) To close the deficits, he asked for, and was granted by the state legislature, emergency powers (under the existing Section "9C" authority in state law) to make cuts in the fiscal year 2003 budget. Romney cut spending and restructured state government.[8] Romney, in concert with the legislature, doubled fees for court filings, professional regulations, marriage licenses and firearm licenses, increased fees for many other state licenses and services as well as creating new fees. In all 33 new fees were created and 57 fees were increased, including some that had not been adjusted in over a decade. Some of these were service fees, such as charging businesses more to put up signs. Opponents said the reliance on fees imposed a hardship on those who could least afford them.[9] The state of Massachusetts thereby raised $501 million in new income in Romneys' first year, more than any other state in the nation (New York was second with $367 million). Nine other states raised fees and fines by more than $100 million.[10][11] He also increased a state gasoline fee originally intended for cleanup of contamination around underground fuel storage tanks.[3] This two cents per gallon increase made for a total effective state gasoline tax of 23.5 cents per gallon, generating about $60 million per year in additional revenue and surpluses of $40 million over the costs of the cleanup program.[3]
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Romney stated that Massachusetts finished fiscal 2004 with a $700 million surplus.[20] Official state figures said that fiscal 2005 finished with a $594.4 million surplus.[3][21] For fiscal 2006, the surplus was $720.9 million according to official figures.[21] The state's "rainy day fund", more formally known as the Stabilization Fund, was replenished through government consolidation and reform. At the close of fiscal year 2006, the fund enjoyed a $2.155 billion balance.[21]
Governorship of Mitt Romney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia