Senate Amendments May Bring Budget Battle
Last Friday, the Senate released their 1,051 amendments to the 2024 Fiscal Year budget. These amendments encompassed everything from free tuition, to an online lottery, to transportation improvements. While the House budget had 500 more amendments than the Senate’s version, they were not nearly as controversial as many of those the Senate just released. With the debate on these amendments beginning the week of May 22nd, we can expect to see longer and more complex discussions than we did in the House budget debate last April. The debate will likely center around higher education as well as transportation and tax revenue.
Education is always one of the most debated and talked about sectors during budget season. This year is no different, with approximately $500 million going to education in the House, Senate, and Governor’s versions of the bill. They differ, however, on what exactly this money should go towards. Governor Healey’s budget includes the MassReconnect program, and the proposed program funding in the House & Senate budgets is $20 million. This program would provide free community college tuition to Massachusetts residents over the age of 25 who don’t have above a high school degree. On a similar note, the Governor’s budget had proposed $59 million to lock tuition prices for Massachusetts state schools, starting with the academic year 2024. This, however, was not included in either the House or Senate budgets. Tuition was again looked at with the recent Senate amendments, which includes a proposal of in-state tuition prices for undocumented immigrants who have lived in the Commonwealth for the past 3 years. If passed, this makes Massachusetts the 24th state to do so.
On top of looking at tuition, the Senate and House have both respectively been focused on boosting higher education enrollment rates. The House plan included funding for high-demand industry scholarships. The Senate plan, on the other hand, puts $55 million towards Senate President Spilka’s goal of free community college for fall of 2024. Other debates include funding for free school meals and early education programs. With higher education a primary focus for the Commonwealth, it is not surprising that a large percentage of the budget is reserved for it. These upcoming weeks will see debates about the best way to make higher education affordable and accessible for all.
As per usual, another important topic of discussion is the amendments involving transportation in the Senate budget. Included in now both the House and the Senate budget is $5 million towards studying means-tested MBTA fares. This study would lay the groundwork for the MBTA to adopt means-tested fares, meaning people that fall below a certain line of income would pay a reduced fee to access all MBTA transit services. Implementing this study has long been a topic of conversation in the Commonwealth. Along with this, the Senate added an additional $15 million to be put towards a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) six-month long fare-free pilot program. This program would be similar to the already existing MBTA fare-free bus pilot program involving routes 23, 28, and 29 that was started in 2021, and later expanded in 2022.
Also up in question is the future of the Chapter 62F Taxpayer Refunds, which states that should tax revenue collections exceed a set cap, the excess revenue is returned to taxpayers. This was triggered last year by an excess of $2.941 billion. This fiscal year also includes revenue from the so-called ‘millionaire’s tax,’ an additional tax of 4% on households exceeding $1 million in income, on top of the existing tax rate. All three versions of the budget do not want the revenue gained from this tax to be included in the calculations that would trigger Chapter 62F. They disagree, however, with the House's desire to change the rebates from income-based to equal for all taxpayers, which they argue would distribute the excess more equitably.
Finally, the lottery is an incredibly important industry for raising municipal funds, being the largest source of revenue for local aid. The lottery’s net profit returned to the Commonwealth has been over $1 billion for the past two years in unrestricted local aid. There has been a recent push for online lottery sales, citing a need to keep the industry relevant. Though Governor Healey and the House are in favor, the Senate is more hesitant, citing a need for more vetting.
With all of the Senate amendments now released, the budget debate is set to begin the week of May 22nd. The length of the debate will depend on how many of the amendments they feel actually need to be debated on. Even though the Senate budget has 500 less amendments than the House budget, their debate is likely to be much more in depth. The Senate has a history of taking their time when it comes to debating the budget. Once the debate is finished, the budget will then make its way to the Conference Committee. This committee is made up of six members, three from the House and three from the Senate (including one minority party member from each chamber), with the sole purpose being to settle the differences between the House budget and the Senate budget. Once these differences have been reconciled, the budget then moves to both chamber floors for a final vote. After the budget has been approved, it is given to the Governor for approval or veto.
Keeping track of the status of the budget seems daunting, but InstaTrac makes it easy. With each bill’s outlined history and a status bar, the progress of each bill is easily seen and kept track of. Additionally, with daily bill and amendment alerts, InstaTrac does the hard work of tracking for you! Never miss a blog post - and stay on top of what’s happening on Beacon Hill! Follow us on Twitter,Linkedin, Youtube, or Instagram!