As the House begins to debate the state budget Shawn Craig, Republican candidate for State Representative and Iraq war veteran, called the prohibition on local aid and welfare amendments ludicrous.
“As a member of the Upton Finance Committee, I know how important local aid is to our community. At a time when the state has a surplus for a second year in a row, I strongly believe that amendments on local aid should be allowed,” said Craig.
Two weeks ago the Democrat leadership forced through a budget order to prohibit any amendments on local aid, school aid and welfare to the state budget. This order took 26% off the table.
“Just last week we learned that revenue for the month is $180 million above collections at this time last year. We know that the Democrat leadership will never consider a tax refund, so those tax dollars should be sent back the towns instead ending up in the general fund—black hole,” said Craig. “Local aid helps take the pressure off of home owners via property taxes.”
“All expenditures should be considered in the budget. Limiting the amendments just consolidates the power with one person,” said Craig. “I will always put the interest of the district first.”
Craig is a member of the Upton Finance Committee and is the liaison to the Mendon Upton Regional School District. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Mendon-Upton Multi-Board Task Force. In addition, he is a member of the VFW and Upton Men’s Club.
Professionally, Craig has 18 years of private sector experience with the majority spent within the financial services industry. He worked for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) for 8.5 years where he investigated broker-dealers for compliance with federal securities laws and FINRA rules and regulations. One investigation of which he was the team leadresulted in the discovery of fraud and misrepresentation at a firm located in Braintree, MA. Craig drafted a referral whereby the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission became engaged along with the FBI. The firm’s owner was detained October 2, 2012 and sentenced in April 2013 to 17 years in federal prison plus 3 years supervised probation and $9 million in restitution. Craig left FINRA in 2013 to start a consulting business focused on helping small broker-dealers.
Craig earned his B.A. from Roanoke College, where he double majored in International Relations and Business, and an M.S. in Finance from Suffolk University in Boston.
UPTON DAILY 