Brian Shortsleeve for Massachusetts Says Governor’s Refusal to Fund Local Aid Is Causing “Perfect Storm” of Tax Hikes, Overrides, and Service Cuts
BOSTON, MA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve today blasted Governor Maura Healey for refusing to increase unrestricted local aid and dared her to justify that failure to municipal leaders attending the MMA CONNECT 351 event.
“Cities and towns are drowning, and Maura Healey is nowhere to be found,” said Shortsleeve. “Communities are cutting schools, police, EMS, and public works or hammering residents with property tax overrides because Beacon Hill is hoarding money while local budgets collapse.”
This past fall the MMA warned that a "perfect storm" was coming due to inadequate local aid. Shortsleeve said Healey’s record on local aid is part of a broader pattern of ignoring cities and towns while expanding state government.
“Under Maura Healey, the state budget has exploded by tens of billions of dollars, yet unrestricted local aid has barely moved,” Shortsleeve said. “That is not an accident. It is a deliberate decision to shift costs from Beacon Hill onto homeowners and renters.”
Shortsleeve warned that Healey has compounded the damage by weaponizing state funding to force compliance with costly mandates.
“Instead of helping communities stay afloat, Maura Healey is withholding funding from cities and towns that refuse to bow to one-size-fits-all mandates like the MBTA Communities Act,” Shortsleeve said. “That is government by extortion.”
“Local leaders are being told to choose between surrendering local control or raising taxes on families who are already stretched thin,” he added. “That is unacceptable.”
Shortsleeve said the result of Healey’s policies is a vicious cycle of overrides, tax hikes, and service cuts.
“Every flat local aid budget means another override vote, another property tax hike, or another cut to essential services,” Shortsleeve said. “This governor created the crisis, and now she is pretending it does not exist.”
Shortsleeve contrasted Healey’s approach with his own plan to put cities, towns, and taxpayers first.
“As governor, I will audit every executive branch agency, rip out waste and fraud, and redirect $1 billion back to cities and towns,” Shortsleeve said. “That money belongs to taxpayers, not a bloated Beacon Hill bureaucracy.”
Shortsleeve challenged Healey to stop dodging accountability and come clean with municipal leaders.
“If Governor Healey is serious about ‘partnership,’ she should commit today to real, unrestricted local aid increases,” Shortsleeve said. “And if she will not, she owes cities and towns the honesty to admit she has no plan to stop the override treadmill she put them on.”
“Massachusetts cannot afford more excuses,” Shortsleeve added. “We need a governor who backs cities and towns with action, not talking points.”