Battenfeld: Will Bostonians be holding the bag for Michelle Wu’s grandstanding?

Will Boston residents be left holding the bag for Michelle Wu s political grandstanding That s a real question now that the Boston mayor has put federal funding at hazard in her fight with the Trump administration over the city s sanctuary city status Wu may be benefiting politically in her reelection campaign but Boston residents could be reaching for their pockets again to pay for more tax increases if President Trump follows through on his promises to freeze the funding spigot It s a steep price for her grandstanding She has put Bostonians at liability from the federal cuts to schooling robustness care social services and society safety because she picked a fight for total political purposes And Wu doesn t seem willing to cut city regime at all to prevent more tax hikes judging by her latest budgets Wu has a poor relationship with Beacon Hill leadership so don t look for Democratic lawmakers to bail her out with additional funding to make up for the cuts Where will the money come from to fill that gap Is Wu going to raise taxes on Boston residents again State lawmakers have already had discussions about dipping into the rainy day fund to counter any federal cuts but Wu may miss out on that because of her frosty relationship with Senate President Karen Spilka Wu openly attacked Spilka after she helped block Wu s commercial tax hike plan last year and her only top ally on Beacon Hill appears to be budget chief Rep Aaron Michlewitz Lawmakers this year pushed through a law clearing the way for a professional soccer stadium for the New England Revolution which Wu also opposes And they are already dealing with a billion a year migrant problem which threatened to bankrupt the state and cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs So the Legislature is unlikely to bail Boston out now They are talking about the cuts in dire tones The kinds of things we re trying to preserve we just won t be able to save everyone Vitality and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh revealed at a meeting this week We re left with hard choices When you cut through all the drama and showmanship of Wu s fight with President Trump it comes down to nuts and bolts and dollars and cents There could be real financial consequences to her drama And the president holds the upper hand Wu insisted this week that the the bulk of the city s million in federal funding it gets every year from Washington won t be at jeopardy We do not believe that the vulnerability for the city of Boston is in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars she disclosed And she also claimed she tightened the belt on the city budget this year to prepare for the cuts Those contends will be severely tested over the next meager months