The town proposed to spend $172,000 installing storm drains in front of Mitt and Ann Romney’s house on Marsh Street and connecting them to pipes down the road. The project was driven by Ann Romney’s repeated complaints about water pouring over their yard after construction of a nearby house.
The proposal prompted complaints of favoritism because it was the only specially designated project - or earmark - in an overall $1.1 million capital roadways line item in the town budget.
And those concerns took on legitimacy when a town selectwoman told the Boston Herald that Belmont had a responsibility to pay attention to Romney because he was then the governor of Massachusetts.
Ultimately, Romney put an end to the dispute by asking that the project be delayed until after he left office in 2007.
After House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he would not support Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to include $260 million in new taxes and fees in the state’s fiscal year 2013 budget, it prompted a natural question: How will the speaker and the House fill the gap?
Of course, they could make more cuts, but the governor is already arguing that programs have been pared back. Another alternative is a different stream of money.
That prompted chatter that the House might include some revenue gained under the state’s new expanded gambling law, which will license up to three casinos and a slots parlor.
Not so, says House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey.
“It would be very challenging to have all the pieces fall into place,’’ said the Haverhill Democrat. He noted that a new gambling commission has to be staffed, requests for casino proposals must be issued, and the winners and losers determined.
“That doesn’t seem to fit with what we would want our budget timeline to be,’’ said Dempsey. The next fiscal year runs from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.
He said the House will instead focus on spending and figure out where more cuts are possible.
