I had a chance to visit Beacon Hill today to talk budgets and health care, and had a chance to sit and talk with Senate President Therese Murray about issues of concern. I was joined by Mayor Thatcher Kezer of Amesbury and the Executive Director of the Merrimack Valley Planning Agency, Dennis DiZoglio. We talked municipal health care, and we were able to make our case to the Senate President, as well as Senator Susan Tucker, Senator Bruce Tarr, Senator Stan Rosenberg, and Senator Steve Baddour. There is a lot more to post about, and I will try to do so tommorow, which will bring the unveiling of the House Ways and Means Budget. I know that people think they realize that it will be a “bad budget”, but we are talking about much more than bad. Without even dealing with the wholesale decimation of local aid the cuts that will be made against state level programs that serve our neediest citizens will likely be shocking. The Ways and Means Budget will include no new revenue, and the Rosenberg/Donato Commission will not make its municipal report until next week. And tensions continue to rise between the Governor and the Legislature, making political settlements of the complex issues all the more difficult. Look out below, and gird for a major political donneybrook after Charlie Murphy unveils the House budget tommorow.