Legislature agrees to spending bill
The House and Senate, facing a Halloween deadline for a signed spending bill, passed legislation Wednesday allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to close out accounts for the budget year that ended in July and directed millions more into substance abuse prevention, addiction recovery beds and university contracts.
The bill allocates $328 million for a variety of programs and departments, the largest portion of which - $203 million - will go to MassHealth to account for increased caseloads connected with the technology failures that required thousands of residents to be temporarily enrolled in Medicaid coverage.
The budget bill also socks away $120 million into the state's "rainy day" savings account and puts $113 million toward paying down debt in the current year, sums House and Senate leaders did not count toward the bottom line. Both items push the overall value of the bill, before federal reimbursements, to $561 million.
"We need to replenish that fund," House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey said during floor remarks about the rainy day fund. Noting the fund had a balance of $2.3 billion before the "global meltdown" in 2008, Dempsey said the deposit will boost the balance to over $1.2 billion and solidify the state's position as one of six states with more than $1 billion in reserve.
The spending bill now moves to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk. If a budget is not signed by Halloween, according to Comptroller Thomas Shack, the money to support planned appropriations will instead be swept into the rainy day fund.
Asked whether the administration would have sufficient time to review and sign the bill before Sunday, a spokesman for Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore said the office planned to review the bill once it had been received, and would have more to say about the timing and substance later in the week. Much of the new spending on substance abuse prevention had been requested by Baker.
The bills also allocates $31 million to pay snow and ice removal bills from last winter; $22 million for sheriffs; $27.8 million for substance abuse services, including school screenings for signs of drug addiction; $15 million for recovery beds; and $5.8 million to pay for women civilly committed for substance addiction to be referred to a state hospital rather than Framingham state prison.
"We believe that this is a very solid financial package that builds on the work we've done over the last few years," Dempsey said.
After a disagreement over whether to hold the state primary election next September on a Tuesday or a Thursday, the branches agreed to set the election for Thursday, Sept. 8.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg was among those concerned about holding an election on a Thursday, stating earlier this month, "Oh my gosh, yeah, I really worry about doing them on Thursday because our pattern and our habit is Tuesday, and it's really hard enough to engage people and get them to turn out, and then I just can't imagine how many people say, 'Oh, I thought it was going to be on Tuesday, and I missed it.'"
House leaders and Secretary of State William Galvin, however, had raised concerns that holding an election on Tuesday, Sept. 6 would require municipal workers to come in over the Labor Day weekend and be paid overtime to prep polling locations.
The budget bill also includes language calling for a study of aspects of a 2014 gun control law, and allocates $250,000 for grants to municipalities for a police body camera pilot program.
"With the relative stability of our current economy, we need to prepare for future uncertainty by building up the Rainy Day Fund. This budget is a balancing act of paying our current obligations, planning for the future, and addressing priorities such as funding for substance abuse and (the Department of Children and Families," Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said in a statement.
The passage of the final fiscal 2015 close-out budget bill comes a little more than month before lawmakers will have to turn their attention in earnest to preparing a fiscal 2017 budget, starting with hearings on revenue in December.
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