By Bob Katzen
The House 154-3, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey a $58 billion fiscal 2025 state budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, 2024. The price tag represents a 1.97 billion or 3.5 percent increase over last year’s fiscal 2024 budget.
The package uses more than $1 billion in one-time revenues to support the spending bill. Aside from the spending, the package makes policy changes including authorizing free community college, free rides on regional transit agencies, allowing the Massachusetts Lottery to sell its products online. A portion of the new revenue collected from online Lottery sales, estimated to be $100 million in in fiscal year 2025, would fund a permanent Commonwealth Cares for Children grant program which provides long-term stability for high-quality and affordable care for families.
Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) said, “This budget is a vote of confidence in every Massachusetts resident going to school, raising a family and working to make ends meet—as well as a strong blueprint for bringing equity and opportunity to every region and resident of our state.”
“This budget takes a fiscally responsible approach to making meaningful investments in areas of significant need,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “I’m proud of the fact that the … budget allocates key funding to better support Massachusetts students and families, to increase access to affordable health care and to provide for a safer and more reliable public transportation system.”
“This year’s budget includes a $2 billion spending hike with $208 million less in tax revenues,” said Rep. Nick Boldyga (R-Southwick) one of only three members to vote against the budget. “So Democrats dug into reserve funds to balance this budget boondoggle. Even the Massachusetts Municipal Association said this year’s budget wasn’t based in reality. The budget ‘freebies’ include free school meals, free tuition at community colleges and no-charge rides on the state’s 15 regional transit authorities. The people stuck footing the bill are the working-class and from what I’ve seen they’re struggling to pay their bills and buy groceries. I’m not sure they can withstand more tax increases when these bloated budgets eventually go belly up.”
“Once again, the Massachusetts Legislature is the last state in the country to pass its annual budget, and once again it is the largest budget in state history,” said Paul Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “Legislators are already putting their thumb on the scale when determining the spending ratio for the income surtax funds, in which education spending is 17 percent greater than transportation, a ratio that was included in neither chamber’s original budget. House and Senate leaders also included multiple new and costly programs at a time when state revenue collections have been underperforming and a new billion dollar migrant crisis is growing. Long term, this will be very difficult to fix unless these same big government spenders decide to cut the spending priorities they are passing in this budget.”
(A “Yes” vote is for the budget. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Christine Barber Yes Rep. Mike Connolly Yes Rep. Paul Donato Yes Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven Yes Sen. Patricia Jehlen Yes