Editorial
Whose and where?

The debate seems to be, whose money is it? But the better question is, what will it go to?

For weeks, and maybe even months, local leaders have discussed whether or not to support a bill pending in the House of Representatives that would distribute more than $450 million to the cities and towns across the state.

The money was collected as part of the state lottery and was not distributed as part of state aid. The money was not distributed as part of state aid for local communities because the Legislature had set a cap in the amount of the lottery money that would be distributed.

The measure would return $386,044 to Westminster and $419,000 to Ashburnham.

Now, both the Ashburnham and the Westminster selectmen (along with other boards across the state), and state Rep. Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden), have voted to request the money be returned in a one lump sum to the towns.

Some state officials are warning of the sluggish state economy, and warn that the $450 million maybe needed to balance the state's economy.

The decision that we, as voters, have to make is whether we want the money to be distributed and then spent in our local communities in one-time expenses, or whether we want the money to be spent on a state level and distributed to us through state services.

If your answer is you want the money to be distributed to the towns and the cities, then you must call or write to your local legislators and tell them that.

If the legislators don't change their minds about wanting to keep the money as part of the state budget, then the local governments will never see it. The view of most of the state legislators is that the general public doesn't care where this money is spent.

If you care, you have to speak up, or the money will just stay where it is.