Responding to House lawmakers’ scheduled vote on Speaker Robert DeLeo’s billion dollar “GreenWorks” bill, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance released the following statement.

“You wouldn’t take out a mortgage without purchasing a home in return. Speaker DeLeo is leading his legislative flock off of a fiscal cliff with this bill.  They’re borrowing over a billion dollars without any collateral.  Massachusetts taxpayers are already some of the most in-debt in the country, with the average person owing over $4,000 to fund the spending addiction on Beacon Hill. Legislative leaders are gorging on spending bills and taxation schemes this legislative session, without considering the consequences it will have beyond the next several months,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “The truth is, we are finally seeing revenue coming in over projection and the responsible thing to do with these unanticipated funds is to address our current out of control debt rather than adding on to it. If we don’t address it in prosperous economic times, what will we do in a recession?”

According to the Mass High Tech Council’s MATTERS index, Massachusetts ranks #50 for state debt level. The nationally recognized Mercatus Institute gives Massachusetts a Fiscal ranking of 47 out of 50, noting our general obligation bonds at $21.67B while the national average is about a quarter of that at $5.85B. Massachusetts’ total primary debt per capita is listed as $4,341, close to the highest in the nation. Mercatus’s study concludes “In the long run, Massachusetts’s negative net asset ratio of 1.93, points to the use of debt and unfunded obligations. Long-term liabilities are higher than the national average, at 275 percent of total assets, or $11,518 per capita.”

“Today’s vote will only add an economic burden to our children and grandchildren. Adding future debt is not a suitable solution for any problems our Commonwealth might be facing today,” concluded Craney.