MASS. LEGISLATURE NOT BOWING TO KRAFT'S DEMANDS

     MA legislative leaders say they "won't be pressured" by
Patriots Owner Robert Kraft into financing projects to keep the
team from leaving the state.  Gov. William Weld is expected to
file a legislative package worth "something less than" $100M to
help Kraft build a training camp and improve access to Foxboro
Stadium.  But the BOSTON GLOBE's Scot Lehigh writes, "At a time
when some states and cities are bending over backward to keep
their professional teams happy, and others have wooed NFL teams
with huge revenue guarantees, the prevailing attitude among
Beacon Hill legislative leaders is that it is inappropriate to
use public resources to help a private enterprise."  Thomas
Finneran, MA House Ways and Means chair, says Kraft's image as a
"local savior" for buying the team should not give him the "right
to expect the state to bail him out of a bad business deal."
House Speaker Charles Flaherty: "The last time I checked Rome,
London, Paris or Tokyo, none of them had an NBA, NFL, NHL or
major league baseball franchise, and I think anybody would list
them in the top 10 world-class cities" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/6).