MA Legislature Set To Debate Baker's $46 Billion Budget Proposal

MASSACHUSETTS — The state legislature's Joint Ways and Means Committee will begin debating Gov. Charlie Baker's $45.5 billion budget proposal during a hearing Wednesday, but lawmakers have yet to say whether they will release their own spending blueprint.

"After last week’s virtual economic roundtable and the Governor’s revised FY2021 budget filing yesterday, it is clear we have a lot of new information to process," House Ways and Means chair Aaron Michlewitz and Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues said in a joint statement Thursday.

Baker's budget calls for reduced transportation spending and a cut in state aide to local school districts while increasing overall spending by $1 billion from the proposal he submitted in January, before the coronavirus pandemic hit Massachusetts. The new proposal is also 3.8 percent higher than the budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Baker's proposal projects a $3.2 million decrease in tax revenues, and makes up most of the difference by pulling $1.35 billion from the state's "rainy day" fund. Most of the remainder of the increase comes from existing federal funding.

The new budget proposal calls for a $108 million increase in funding for local school districts, down from $300 million in his January proposal. Baker said the cut stems from the amount of money school districts received in COVID-19 funding from the state and federal governments.

Baker's new budget calls for $1.27 billion to go to the MBTA as the agency looks to implement big service cuts during the ongoing pandemic. That number is $64 million more than the agency received in fiscal year 2020, but $107 million less than it would have received in the January spending proposal.

Administration and Finance Secretary Michael Heffernan said the governor's plan avoids any broad-based tax increases, layoffs, or cuts to social and health safety net programs, and level funds local aid, consistent with an agreement announced with the Legislature in July.

The new budget does include a 15 percent tax increase on companies that make opioids, which is projected to add $14 million in revenue. Baker's budget also calls increasing fees on Uber, Lyft and other transportation networks to $1 from 20 cents per trip.

Massachusetts is one of four states yet to pass a budget for fiscal 2021. Since the start of the fiscal year on July 1, the Legislature has authorized more than $21.7 billion in spending through two interim budgets, the second of which expires at the end of the month. The governor has set a deadline of Thanksgiving for the legislature to finish work on the budget.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).