NATION : Dukakis’ Budget Cuts Stir Outcries
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BOSTON — Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, who campaigned for President last year touting his so-called “Massachusetts Miracle” and his managerial and budget-balancing ability, today slashed a half-billion dollars in state spending in a move that brought outcries from the poor and the infirm.
The decision, after a yearlong feud with a Democratic-controlled Legislature, is expected to eliminate more than 3,000 state jobs and generate mass layoffs in local governments dependent on state funds.
“I am today doing the worst thing I have ever had to do in my political life,” Dukakis said in signing a $12.15-billion budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. The total represents $491 million less than the budget sent him by the Legislature on June 30.
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