The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 34

B6 City Region Boston Sunday Globe APRIL 18, 2004 In Finneran's district, questions abound Peaks Valleys BJ. Roche Milk prices a boon for dairy farms pass judgment until the federal investigation concludes. "I believe a person is innocent until proven guilty," Baublitz said, -although he added of the investigation, "Certainly, that's of interest tome." Planting flowers in her front garden, Moira Connolly, another soon-to-be constituent of Finneran's, said that as a Catholic, she appreciates his staunch defense of the Catholic Church's charitable work during the priest abuse scandal. Although her husband, an attorney, said he finds Finneran smart and capable, she is more hesitant "I'm curious about his motives a lot of the time: Are they for the greater good, or for other purposes?" said Connolly, a 33-year-old high school teacher. "He seems to abuse power to a certain extent.

There are some times I think, thank God, someone so bright is in that position, but, then again, whafs his agenda? He has to show me." By Michael Levenson GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Residents of House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran's 12th Suffolk District already know him as an outspoken social and fiscal conservative with a reputation as one of the most controversial figures in state politics. Now, constituents are grappling with a report that Finneran's name appears on a subpoena seeking documents that would demonstrate his involvement in the 2001 House redistrict-ing process. On the streets of his racially and economically diverse district, which covers parts of Mattapan, Milton, and Dorchester, the news has caused a buzz with polarizing results. Some constituents are rushing to the speaker's defense, saying the Democratic leader appears to have done nothing wrong, or at least should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Others, including some voters who support Finneran, say they have been shaken by the news and are paying closer attention to the longtime speaker. Playing with his 4-year-old son at a Mattapan tot lot, Stanley McConnell, a 36-year-old supervisor for an electrical company, said he has had a generally positive impression of Finneran "up until this point anyway." "I'm waiting to see how this plays out and how much is really underneath the surface," McConnell said. "It seems like if picking up steam." Finneran, who has served in the House since 1979 and has been speaker since 1996, was cited recently in a subpoena issued by federal prosecutors who are investigating the House's 2001 redis-tricting process, according to a lawyer who has seen the document. The news is sparking talk about Finneran's testimony last year in a federal trial about the Legislature's 2001 redistricting plan. "It looks like he had a mental lapse," McConnell said, referring to the speaker's courtroom testimony, when Finneran could not recall that his district was named the 12th Suffolk.

"Something's wrong either he's going to get a pass because he's so powerful or they're going to find something out." Just paces away at the tot lot, Helen McAfee, a 39-year-old state worker and Dorchester resident who has met and likes the speaker, said she does not think Finneran committed perjury. "Maybe he didn't speak the truth, but I dont feel like he lied," McAfee said. "I just feel like he basically answered their questions and didnt volunteer any more information. I cant downright say he lied. I just think he didnt tell mem everything." On Friday, a panel of federal judges ordered the Legislature to draw a new, more racially equitable legislative map.

Under the plan, Finneran is to pick up one new district in Milton and lose two in the town, as well as add one and lose one precinct in Boston. The black voting age population in his district will rise from 52 percent to just over 60 percent Near Blue Hill Terrace in Mil ton, where Finneran will become the new state representative, reaction was also mixed, although most voters in the neighborhood said they are pleased to be gaining such a powerful ally in the State House. "You have to respect somebody that can gain that kind of power," said Kelly Clarke, a registered Republican and cafe owner, relaxing on her front porch with her son. Watching his three children in front of their house, Doug Carpenter, 36, a computer help-desk manager, said he is not persuaded that Finneran will use his power to benefit the neighborhood. Carpenter said he will pay closer attention to the news in light of Fin-neran's involvement in the redistricting probe.

"If some of that turns out to be true, that would lead me to question him," Carpenter said. A few streets away, Millard Baublitz, a registered Democrat and physicist, said he respected Finneran's fiscal conservatism even when it proved politically unpopular. And he said he will not IIMIIIIIIIIIHMIIItHMHHIIIIintlHIiimillllHtHHIIinmHIHflllllllMimmiHIIIIIIIHIIIHIIHMMMIMIIU LIVING REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY 4 rmm. GLOBE STAFF PHOTOSWENDY MAEDA During a reenactment at the Hartwell Tavern in Lincoln yesterday, Brad Matthews (above), portraying a member of the Colonial militia, napped while children marched with those performing as members of the British 16th Light Dragoons. fl fr-'" Ha ilk prices are up, which is bad news for butter lovers on a budget, but a i rare piece of good news for the region's dairy farmers, who are coming off 28 months of milk prices that often didnt even cover their production costs.

"Keep in mind that in 2002 and 2003, farmers were getting the same prices for their milk that they were getting 25 years ago. Farmers were being crushed financially," says Bob Wellington, an economist for Agri-Mark, the cooperative of 1,350 Northeast farmers that owns Cabot Creamery, which produces much of the region's cheese and butter. Wellington says those financial pressures put many New England farms out of business, so supplies are down: "We're down 6 percent over last year in terms of milk supply." Even with the higher prices, nobody's flush: "A lot of fanners have been juggling vendors, and hopefully these prices will give them a chance to start to get caught up," says Julie Marie Bick-ford, head of the Maine Dairy Industry Association, who notes that farmers are also contending with higher grain and fuel prices. "We're not going out and buying Cadillacs with this money," says Warren Facey executive director of the Massachusetts Dairy Farmers Association. Facey says farmers worry about the so-called ratchet effect: Price increases get quickly passed along to the consumer, but decreases take awhile.

"The retailers hold onto it," Facey says. HAVE FUN, JUST DON'T BREATHE: The Environmental Protection Agency ordered 39 counties in New England to take action to reduce smog-causing pollution. Those found in tion of clean-air regulations included two of our most popular "great outdoor" summer destinations: Acadia National Park in Maine and the Cape Cod National Seashore. Only Vermont was found in compliance. PUTTING ON THE HEAT: State treasurers from Maine, Vermont, and Connecticut are among those who last week asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to require companies to disclose the financial risks of global warming.

Environmentalists have been warning for years about the financial costs of climate change, but now money managers are catching on: "We lost a boatload of money in the corporate scandals from the lack of transparency," says Dale McCormick, treasurer of Maine, whose retirement system has $7 billion in assets. "I consider climate risk as a subset of corporate responsibility and something we as fiduciaries need to look at to ensure the value of our portfolios does not go down." LEAN CUISINE? We have seen the next diet guru, and it is Soso Whaley. Whaley called from the road last week; she had just polished off a McDonald's Big and Tasty, and was proud of it: "It really was big and tasty," she noted. The Kensington, N.H., filmmaker is halfway through her latest project: a 30-day diet consisting of McDonald's meals. (So far, she says, she's lost 5 pounds.) Whaley started the project in response to the documentary "Super Size Me," in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock gains 30 pounds after eating under the golden arches for a month.

"I was a little offended because he won best director at Sundance," Whaley says. "I thought, for what? Directing himself to eat a lot of food?" Whaley, who contributes to "Camo Country Outdoors" on the New England Sports Network, eats three meals, totaling 1,800 calories per day; her food ruminations are available on the Competitive Enterprise Institute website (cei.org). "So many people are telling us what to eat and how to eat it, no wonder we're confused," she says. "I'm just saying that personal responsibility is what it's all about." BJ. Roche, who writes from Western Massachusetts, can be reached at peaksglobe.com Despite encouraging signs, budget woes seen continuing Father assails Vt.

police in teen search ASSOCIATED PRESS MONTPELIER The father of a Sheldon teenager missing since last month is criticizing the way Vermont State Police are investigating her disappearance. In a letter to Governor James Douglas, Bruce Maitland said the investigation has not been aggressive enough and that his family had been kept in the dark about what police are doing. Jason Gibbs, the governor's spokesman, said Douglas had not received the letter Friday afternoon but had been assured by Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper that police were working hard on the case. Brianna Maitland, 17, has been missing since March 19 after she left her job at the Black Lantern Inn in Montgomery. Her car was found the next day a mile outside town.

Bruce Maitland said police did not tell him about the car until five days after her disappearance when he and his wife filed a missing person's report Brianna was living at a family friend's house at the time of her disappearance. up this year but spending on taking a bigger slice of the budget. 2004 Health care will be 31.7 of total budget $23. 4b I si ft li '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 10.2 '93 '95 '97 "99 '01 '03 '05 Consensus rewnue forecast GLOBE STAFF GRAPHICHWEI WEN FOO broad-based tax increase, and legislative leaders have ruled out a tax hike this year. Both Romney and the Legislature are looking into ways to save money on Medicaid, which is the single largest factor In the structural deficit But the state has already enacted cost-saving measures over the past two years including cutting benefits and limiting enrollment and without a federal waiver It won't be able to go much further.

The federal government reimburses Massachusetts for about half of its Medicaid costs. 'i i. 5b 18 lilUMI Balancing act State tax revenue is expected to go health care is expected to increase, BIGGEST TICKET Health care spending has consumed ever-larger portions of the state budget over the last two decades. $20 billion $15 1982 Health care was 17 of total budget i '82 '84 '88 '90 mm 3 $5 unk i si 86 I i. a.

I I1 a li I Romney on the other hand wants to borrow money for the school projects for a 40-year term, instead of the current 20 years, a step that he says would free up $150 million to help clear the backlog. But Rogers says Rom-ney proposal for school-building assistance would burden future generations by adding a total of $2.48 billion in interest payments. As for the overall budget, a long-term solution is harder to come by. Eric Kriss, Romney's budget chief, said the governor's plan starts down that road by proposing changes such as the Turnpike-Highway Department merger, that will save the state money every year. That change, the administration says, will generate $20 million a year.

Kriss also argued that Romney's proposals to alter construction rules and allow the state to use more private contractors will create more competition, diminish union power, and yield additional savings. "We have proposed many, many changes that will get at the core cost structure of government" said Kriss. Osborne, who worked with former vice president Al Gore on his "reinventing government" initiative, agreed that Massachusetts and other states could "make a ton" by eliminating what he called "bureaucratic" purchasing and hiring rules. But Widmer says Romney greatly overestimates the savings his proposals will produce. "We cant reform our way out of the structural deficit," Widmer said.

"Reforms can help on the margins, but they are not the answer to our long-term fiscal dilemma." So what is the answer? Many health and human services advocates and local officials would like I -A -1 i a ill "All in all, it's very hard to see where we go back to real flush times," he said. In an article he coauthored this month in Commonwealth magazine, Osborne said Massachusetts is one of many states facing a "permanent fiscal crisis." It may be cold comfort to Beacon Hill budget writers, but Massachusetts is not alone. "All states are essentially in the same boat on this one," said Corina Eckl, fiscal program director at the National Conference of State Legislatures. There is some stabilizing of their economies, but they're far from being out of the woods." In the short term, both Rogers and Romney, who proposed his own budget plan last January, are using "one-time revenue," or money the state can't rely on every year, to close next year's budget gap, which Romney projects to be $1 billion and Rogers pegs at $1.5 billion. Rogers takes most of his $640 million from rainy-day reserves and a pot of money the federal government gave to states to help them through the fiscal crisis.

Romney, in contrast, relies on projected savings of about $190 million from his proposed Massachusetts Turnpike-Highway Department merger, $140 million from the federal relief fund and $150 million from refinancing the school-building assistance program. Both Romney and the Democrats want to spend more money to refurbish decrepit schools around the state, but even those initiatives complicate the state's future budgets. Both parties want to add to the state's borrowing to clear the waiting list of projects. The Democrats also want to dedicate one penny of the state's 5-cent sales tax to back the bonds. fi 1 a NOTE: Health care spending includes Medicaid, a discount drug program for seniors started in the late 1990s, and health care coverage for state workers.

FALLING REVENUE The state's "baseline revenue" jumped in the boom years of the 1980s, but has slowed during economic downturns. Baseline taxes 20 16.7 9.5 H.7 3.8 BUDGET Continued from Page Bl nities for significant restoration of the cuts of the last several years." With state tax revenue expected to be up more than 3 percent this year, a far cry from the gut-wrenching 10 percent plunge of two years ago, the mood among many lawmakers had brightened after three years of tight budgets and $3 billion in cuts. But the new revenue isn't enough to keep up with fast-rising expenses. On average, the state can count on annual revenue growth of 4 to 5 percent, with each percentage point representing about $150 million. But the cost of Medicaid and other health care programs has increased by more than $2 billion, or 40 percent, since 2001.

Another problem is the state's heavy debt load. Governor Mitt Romney says it is the highest in the nation. The cost of the state's debt has increased by $400 million, or 25 percent, since 2001, and is likely to go up by at least $100 million a year for the foreseeable future, according to the Taxpayers Foundation. In 2000, revenue was up J0.2 percent and up 9.2 percent in 2001. But nobody expects that kind of growth, which was driven by the surging stock market, to return anytime soon.

In any case, it merely masked the state's fundamental budget dilemma. "It would take a remarkable economic boom to repeat the 1990s. You look back at revenue growth in the '90s and youH see years where it was 10 percent," said David Osborne, a consultant and coauthor of 'The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis." -10 '81 '83 '85 '87 '89 '91 .7 nau NOTE: This measure of revenue does not take into account tax cuts or increases, so economists can udge the annual impact of economic growth on state revenues. SOURCE: Massachusetts Taxpayer foundation Beacon Hill to raise income taxes. A report late last year by an economist at the University of Mass-achusetts-Amherst asserted that the state lost $5.5 billion in revenue by cutting personal income, capital gains, corporate and sales taxes between 1996 and 2002.

But other economists say that analysis ignores the stimulative effect of lower taxes. Thanks to the tax cuts, Massachusetts is now in a better position to compete with other states for businesses and workers, and a thriving economy fills the state's coffers. In any case, Romney has vowed to veto any.