House and Senate Pass Balanced FY12 Budget

I joined my colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature last week in passing a $30.59 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2012 aimed at increasing government efficiency, cutting costs and shielding essential services. The budget reduces the state’s FY12 Stabilization Fund draw by $15 million and closes a $1.9 billion budget gap with funding reductions, ongoing revenue initiatives and one-time revenues. 

I am pleased that we have finished a balanced, responsible budget that focuses on our priorities for the Commonwealth and includes many provisions important to the district. Through innovative reforms and cost saving measures, we were able to close the budget gap while still maintaining the services our residents rely on. 

The budget increases Chapter 70 funding by $140 million and SPED Circuit Breaker funding by $80 million over their FY11 appropriations. 

The budget includes a plan to reform municipal health insurance that provides savings for cities and towns while ensuring that employees and retirees have a strong voice without a veto. The conference report allows municipalities to alter co-payments, deductibles and other plan design features so long as such features are no greater in dollar amount that those offered by the Group Insurance Commission (GIC)  plan with the largest subscriber enrollment. The GIC provides health insurance to state workers and legislators. 

The municipal employee health reform plan does not alter collective bargaining rights associated with premium splits. Furthermore, as a local option proposal, cities and towns will not be required to implement plan design changes for employees. Rather, municipalities will have the option to implement or abstain from plan design changes. 

The spending plan also includes no new taxes while preserving services for some of the neediest residents of the Commonwealth by focusing limited resources for the Department of Mental Health, early intervention services and public safety initiatives.

Selected highlights of the budget of particular importance to the district include:

• $300,000 in bonus aid for school districts that recently regionalized, including the Ayer-Shirley district;
• $500,000 in mitigation aid for towns hosting prisons, including Shirley and Lancaster;
• $213 million for special education circuit breaker funding, an increase of $80 million over FY11;
• $43.52 million for regional school transportation, an increase of $3 million from FY11, allowing school districts to receive a reimbursement rate of 61%;
• $200,000 for Buy Local programs, encouraging relationships between local farms and communities;
• $6 million in funding for Regional Tourism Councils;
• A provision that would return up to $65 million in FY11 Budgetary Reversions for use as onetime, non-recurring local aid payments to close the gap left by painful but necessary cuts;

The Conference Report ends the year with a stabilization fund balance that exceeds $800 million, an amount greater than the stabilization fund balance entering FY11.  The budget plan also marks the smallest year to year spending increase in the past decade, creating a spending plan based on transparency, accountability, and performance. 

The bill is now on the Governor’s desk for his consideration.