Happy Budget Season, friend!
It’s that special time of year when, for three whole months, your legislators get to say “I’m just really busy with the budget” when you ask them for anything. Given that our state budget is almost always late (13 years running!), often the latest in the country, you’d think that they’d at least be able to squeeze you in for a quick phone call.
But we’ll get to the budget below. In the meantime, I actually want to celebrate some of the good news from the past few weeks – all of them testaments to prolonged grassroots organizing. In other words, here are some sprinkles on top of this Scoop:
- Holyoke Public Schools are poised to end their nine-year receivership by the state, allowing the community to finally regain control over the district
- There have been a number of successful unionization bids recently, including Smith College Librarians, five Blue Bottle Coffee locations, and non-tenure track faculty at Harvard
- The House passed a bill to remove outdated and offensive terms like the “r-word” from current MA laws (shout out to Senator Eldridge staffer Melissa Reilly for her advocacy on this!)
And the cherry on top: those marijuana pardons we wrote about a few weeks ago? They passed the Governor’s Council unanimously. (And no, we did not time this announcement on 4/20 on purpose. It’s called fate.)
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State House Scoop
House releases FY2025 budget proposal, debate queued up for next week
Last year, our lawmakers were swimming in a revenue surplus (remember those 62f tax rebates?). In fact, they were so rich with our tax dollars (plus remaining ARPA money from the federal government) that they decided to pass permanent tax cuts and give $1 billion of it away annually, mostly to the top 1% wealthiest Bay Staters.
The theme of this year’s budget season? Tightening our belts. With tax revenues lower than expectations most of the year and prices going up, we’re seeing a fair amount of level-funding and cuts to goods and services. House leaders have also hinted that earmarks for local funding will be limited.
It’s almost as if, and bear with me, we shouldn’t have just cut $1 billion in annual revenue. Radical, I know…
So, what’s the deal with this budget anyways? It totals $57.9 billion — a skosh ($150 million) less than Healey’s proposal, but it does increase spending in some key areas; it allocates a little more for universal free school meals, MassHealth’s Personal Care Attendant program, and emergency shelter services than Healey’s proposal. Mainly, however, the big increase in spending over Healey’s proposal is for transit. And can I just say: it’s about Coddamn time. The House budget proposes $555 million for the MBTA and another $184 million for regional transit authorities. This funding includes earmarks for recruiting and training, safety upgrades, and climate adaptation — none of which were in Healey’s original budget.
Now that we’ve lulled you into a false sense of security, an unfortunate reality check: neither budget proposal allocates nearly enough to make a dent in the MBTA’s widening budget gap. It’s ALMOST as if we shouldn’t have just cut $1 billion… *sigh*
And neither of these proposals are the final draft; the House will vote on the budget next week, wading through nearly 1,500 amendments (read: consolidating and voting unanimously on a few mega-amendments rewritten by leadership… but I’m getting ahead of myself). After that, it’s up to the Senate to draft, debate, and pass their proposal. And then the most powerful conference committee of the year will negotiate a compromise behind closed doors.
Empowering, isn’t it? But don’t worry, your good pals at Act on Mass will keep you abreast of the budget process as it continues on its journey. Well, with whatever is publicly available, that is.
Lawmakers dally while shelter funding runs dry
Despite the fact that funding for the state’s emergency shelter system is set to run out as soon as this week, there seems to be a lack of urgency among lawmakers on Beacon Hill. Senate Ways & Means Chair Michael Rodrigues even downplayed the imminent need to pass the spending bill by saying “there are other flexible funds that [the administration] can use.” What other funds? He couldn’t clarify when pressed.
Both chambers passed their respective versions of this supplemental budget bill, which includes $245 million for the state’s emergency shelter system, last month. But alongside that dire funding needed to keep a roof over the heads of the most vulnerable new Bay Staters was, naturally, an inhumane policy provision: a nine month time limit on shelter stays. Meanwhile, the current average stay time for a family in these shelters is closer to 14 months.
The differences between the versions passed by the House and Senate mostly relate to where that shelter funding comes from; the Governor and Senate proposed using the Transitional Escrow Fund whereas the House wants to dip into the auxiliary rainy day stash. Those differences are currently being hashed out behind closed doors among a group of six legislators. They have not indicated any sort of timeline in response to the imminent threat of existing funds running out.
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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog.
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Well into construction season, road funding bill finally has gas in the tank
With just three months and change left to conduct major business on Beacon Hill before the session ends on July 31st, the race to get critical bills across the finish line is heating up. This is when the rubber meets the road. Our lawmakers need to put the pedal to the metal to pass urgent bills, lest they end up in the breakdown lane. You see where I’m going with this: one of the most anticipated bills the Legislature has yet to enact this year is the annual road and bridge funding bill to fund this year’s municipal construction and repairs.
Known as the Chapter 90 bill, this legislation was passed by both chambers earlier this month and only needs one final vote in each chamber to be sent to Healey’s desk for enactment. Both versions of the bill would allocate $375 million: $200 million to maintain local roads and bridges, and $175 million for other infrastructure-related grants to improve public transportation, sidewalks, and more. This is all well and good, but Chapter 90 (the law that calculates state funding for local road improvements) could use a tune-up; the Massachusetts Municipal Association noted that Chapter 90 funding has been $200 million per year since 2012. With the sharp rise in construction costs (and everything costs…), by level-funding Chapter 90 Beacon Hill has effectively been defunding local transportation infrastructure for over a decade. Talk about value depreciation.
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Housekeeping
Thank you to everyone who came to our First Annual Spring Fundraiser!
And a very special thank you to Senator Jamie Eldridge and Dr. Raul Fernandez for participating in the panel discussion about the democratic dysfunction on Beacon Hill! Your insights were illuminating, infuriating, and invaluable.
Finally, thank you to everyone who bought a ticket or donated in lieu of a ticket – your contribution goes directly towards our campaign for the Sunlight Act, our flagship bill for transparency and accountability on Beacon Hill. Because of your generosity, we’re closer than ever to getting this bill passed in the Senate. Help us get it over the finish line by calling your Senator and voicing your support for the bill:
FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR'S PHONE NUMBER >>
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That's all for this week! Until next time, enjoy these April showers, and get ready for those May flowers.
Onward,
Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass