By Bob Katzen
The House 140-14, approved and sent to the Senate a $1.3 billion supplemental budget that uses funds generated from the recent surtax imposed on taxpayers’ earnings of more than $1 million annually, to fund $353 million for education-related projects and $828 million for transportation-related ones. It also includes non-surtax spending that pushes the combined bottom line to roughly $1.3 billion.
The surtax was created by voters in November 2022 when they voted for a constitutional amendment that allows a graduated income tax in Massachusetts and imposes an additional 4 percent income tax, in addition to the flat 5 percent one, on taxpayers’ earnings of more than $1 million annually. Language in the constitutional amendment requires that “subject to appropriation, the revenue will go to fund quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges and public transportation.”
A total of $818 million of the $828 million for transportation will be used for various MBTA projects while $10 million will fund unpaved roads.
The $353 million for education includes $190 million for Circuit Breaker reimbursements, which provide financial assistance to public school districts to offset the cost of delivering high-cost special education services to students; $50 million for capital improvements at vocational schools; $40 million for early education and care workforce; $10 million for universal school meals for all public-school students; and $10 million for Green SchoolWorks to decarbonize and increase efficiency in schools through green energy projects.
“Ensuring that every Massachusetts resident has access to a safe and reliable public transportation system, and that every student in the commonwealth receives a high-quality education, are two of the most fundamental responsibilities that we have as elected officials,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “The investments being made in this supplemental budget are representative of the House’s continued focus on meeting those responsibilities and were made possible as a result of years of fiscally responsible, consensus driven budgeting.”
“The use of these one-time surplus of funds are a unique opportunity for us to better strengthen the commonwealth in numerous ways,” said Rep. Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston), chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. “By further improving our educational and transportation sectors, we will build off the work we have done in the last several budget cycles with a judicious use of the Fair Share funds.”
“[The] session was dominated by votes that favored pork barrel spending and neglected support for cities and towns in transportation and education,” said Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) who voted against the package. “Instead of allocating critical funding for roads and bridges to benefit all communities, the bill was filled with pork spending for House leadership. Moreover, instead of fully funding special education costs that are straining municipal budgets, we allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to the MBTA. Overall, the bill failed to provide comprehensive financial support to communities across the commonwealth. Beacon Hill needs to do better.”
“While the education piece was strong, the transportation piece was not,” said Rep. Joe McKenna (R-Webster). “The stark disparity in funding between the MBTA getting nearly the entirety of funding while the 277 cities and towns without direct MBTA access were effectively left out, was too large a gap to support the bill.”
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Christine Barber Yes Rep. Mike Connolly Yes Rep. Paul Donato Yes Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven Yes