top labor leader in Massachusetts lashed out at the governor over Question 4 yesterday, asking Paul Cellucci to pledge that he would not lay off teachers or reduce spending on human services if the $1.2 billion reduction in the income tax passes next Tuesday.
''I want him to pledge that there won't be any cuts in programs, there won't be any cuts in teachers' jobs or human services,'' said the state AFL-CIO president, Robert Haynes.
The governor, who was travelling outside the State House late yesterday, could not be reached for comment. But Massachusetts Republican Party executive director John Brockelman said Cellucci has consistently supported education and does not plan cuts.
''What rock has Bobby Haynes been living under for the last decade? Across the state, 20,000 new teachers were hired when we cut taxes. The only time we cut teachers was when we raised taxes in the late 1980s. And the governor signs that pledge every year when he files and signs his budget,'' Brockelman said. ''He signs his pledge to increase support for health care or teachers and education every year.''
The challenge comes a day after Cellucci asked Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham to take a no-new-taxes pledge. Birmingham, a Chelsea Democrat who is considering running for governor, opposes Question 4, which would reduce the state's income tax rate from 5.85 percent to 5 percent, because he believes the revenue loss would strain the state budget at a time when more money should be spent on education and other programs.
Birmingham refused to make any promises during a live televised debate on the tax cut on WCVB-Channel 5 Monday night.
Also, the Globe reported yesterday that the governor's preliminary budget for next year calls for increasing spending by an amount equal to the tax cut, devoting much of the increased funding to education and health care. The governor's budget chief, Administration and Finance Secretary Stephen Crosby, said there would be ''no material cuts'' in spending during fiscal 2002, which begins July 1.
The news surprised Democrats, who, in turn, tried to push Cellucci to a promise that there will be no spending cuts in education and human service areas.
''The problem we have with this whole tax cut is nobody knows what is going to happen down the line,'' Haynes said. ''He has to take the pledge. He's saying, `We're not going to cut any program, and nothing's going to happen.'''
There were 16,000 public-sector jobs lost between 1988 and 1992 due to the recession and reductions in state and local budgets. Meanwhile, taxes jumped, including the income tax rate, which went from 5 percent to 6.25 percent in an effort to raise revenue as the state sank deeper into debt.
At the time, lawmakers said the tax rate increase would be temporary, which is one of Cellucci's arguments for passing Question 4 and lowering the rate from the current 5.85 percent to 5 percent.
Haynes and others are also concerned about the impact of Question 6, a $700 million measure that would give tax credits for tolls and auto excise taxes.
Together, Questions 4 and 6 would cut $2 billion, or about 10 percent, from the state budget.
