By Bob Katzen
Gov. Maura Healy filed her second annual state budget, this one with a price tag of $58.15 billion. The package calls for about $2.07 billion or 3.7 percent more spending compared to the fiscal 2024 budget she signed in August 2023.
“We are tightening our belts,” Healey said. “I want to be clear about that, Our economy remains strong, but the revenue picture is changing. Pandemic-era funding relief has gone away, and nationally, the economic recovery has stabilized. So, in this environment, it is important that we manage spending in a way that is making strategic choices, examining the impact of every dollar we propose to spend and that we bring our budget in line with a rate of inflation and in line with the resources and the revenue that we have.”
“What Gov. Maura Healey is proposing is an irresponsible budget, coming in higher than last year which was already too high, while missing the much-needed reforms to curtail our immigration problems along with making our state more competitive,” said Paul Craney, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “The governor is continuing to spend taxpayer money on immigrants, while cutting spending on taxpayers, closing a state jail and shifting money away from dedicated savings. The governor describes this budget as fiscally responsible, but this budget reflects a state that is fiscally crumbling from the top down.”
“As a former mayor, and someone who has traveled around the state listening to our local officials, I’m proud of the way that this budget proposal responds to local needs,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “We’re fully funding the Student Opportunity Act to make sure our K-12 schools have equitable access to the resources their students and educators need. We’re also increasing the amount of local aid going to cities and towns and boosting Chapter 90 funding to improve roads and bridges, particularly in rural communities.”
“Gov. Healey has filed a fiscal year 2025 budget that calls for significantly increased spending across state government, but those aspirations need to be tempered by the fiscal realities facing the commonwealth,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading). “After six-plus months of tax revenues coming in lower than expected, Gov. Healey has already implemented hundreds of millions of dollars in mid-year cuts and downgraded projected revenues by $1 billion for fiscal year 2024. At the same time, funding for the migrant shelter crisis continues to drain much-needed revenues that would otherwise have been spent on other programs and services, with no end in sight.”
The budget now goes to the House which will craft and approve its own version and then it moves to the Senate which will offer a different plan. A House-Senate conference committee will eventually hammer out a compromise version that will be approved by both branches and sent to Gov. Healey who has the power to veto any spending and any other items. The House and Senate can then choose to override any of the governor’s vetoes.