Do they really have to slap a tax on candy at supermarket checkout counters? After all the stimulus and millionaire-tax revenue that has streamed into state coffers in recent years? … Apparently so. … Hey, I’d rather have a candy tax than the mental-health cuts (BBJ) outlined in Gov. Healey’s proposed $62 billion state budget. But we all know it doesn’t come down to such a dire, simplistic choice. The legislature needs to find a way to avert both proposals. … And, yes, the mention of the shelter program in the headline above is sort of cheap shot, since Healey is proposing reforms that should reduce its costs next fiscal year. But lawmakers still have to find hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for this fiscal year’s shelter costs, so the headline above sort of isn’t a cheap shot.