Romney Used Fee Hikes To Balance Budget

The AP (8/29, Leblanc) reports when Mitt Romney "wanted to balance the Massachusetts budget, the blind, mentally retarded and gun owners were asked to help pay." Romney "managed to slash spending to eliminate a deficit pegged at $3 billion, but he also proposed or presided over a far-ranging series of fee hikes - a strategy that allowed him to maintain the no-new-taxes stance he now boasts about as he runs for president." In all, "then-Gov. Romney proposed creating 33 new fees and increasing 57 others - enough, he said, to pull in an extra $59 million for the cash-strapped state. Horseback riding instructors, prisoners, those seeking training to combat domestic violence and used car shoppers were asked to dig a little deeper." Romney "and Democratic lawmakers ended up approving hundreds of millions in higher fees and fines, making it more expensive to use an ice skating rink, register a boat, take the bar exam, get a duplicate driver's license, file a court case, install underground storage tanks, sell cigarettes or alcohol, comply with air quality rules and transport hazardous waste." A survey of states "by the National Conference of State Legislatures found Massachusetts led the nation during Romney's first year, raising fees and fines by $501 million."