Friday, November 6, 2020

House Ways and Means releases budget as FY 2021 process resumes

 From the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA)

With first quarter revenue numbers in hand and a new forecast for the year, the House and Senate Ways and Means committees on Oct. 21 held a joint hearing on the revised fiscal 2021 budget submitted by the governor earlier in the month.

Legislative leaders have not announced a schedule for taking up a budget bill for the year that started on July 1. Gov. Charlie Baker asked that a final spending plan be sent to him by Thanksgiving.

So far this fiscal year, the state has been operating under a series of interim budgets approved by the Legislature, with the most recent providing funding through the end of November.

 
 

From CommonWealth Magazine we share:

"MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE budget writers on Thursday released a $46 billion spending proposal for the rest of the fiscal year, which includes no sweeping changes to tax or fiscal policy and adopts some increased protections for tenants applying for rental assistance.

The budget, which adopts part of Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal to accelerate the collection of sales taxes from large businesses, seems designed to avoid controversy with an eye toward achieving relatively quick consensus with the Senate and governor. The full House will debate and vote on the budget next week, after which it will go to the Senate.

House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, a Boston Democrat, said he has been working closely with Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat, on the framework for the budget – although the budget was not pre-negotiated or released jointly. “I think we’re both under the understanding…that time is of the essence relative to the need to get this done in a relatively quick manner, just because of the circumstances that were put on us this year,” Michlewitz said."

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