“I think we're approaching it, I don't want to say conservatively, but cautiously. We experienced 30 consecutive months of exceeding our revenue projections during COVID. And sadly, we went through about eight consecutive months of failing to meet our revenue targets, although March was a good turnaround month for us. April, historically is an excellent month for us and so I hope that tide is turning in a very positive way. But I think we're proceeding cautiously," said Democratic 3rd Berkshire District state Representative Smitty Pignatelli, who is not seeking re-election this year after over two decades in office. “In any discussions I've had with the Ways and Means chairman, he says we'll get through this year, but if things don't turn around, ‘26 may be more of a challenging budget for us.”
Pignatelli says economic downturns are part of a regular cycle.
“When I came in with Mitt Romney back in ‘03, you know, we had a $3 billion budget deficit," he told WAMC. "We closed that gap, we rebounded beautifully. We dipped during Deval Patrick, we bought rebounded beautifully.”
One of the major issues in 2023 was an influx of migrants that filled Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system to the brim.
“The House has made a decision to allocate $500 million at this time for the emergency shelter system, which includes the hotels we have here in Pittsfield and in Berkshire County," said Democratic 2nd Berkshire District State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier represents Pittsfield in the House. "But something I'm particularly pleased with is the investment and the funding and the requirement for workforce access, specifically for the emergency shelters. So, how do we fund and really push MassHire to get people not just the work authorizations, which we've been pretty successful in getting those work authorizations from the federal government, but then getting them jobs is kind of a choke point.”
The House’s plan is in stark contrast with Governor Maura Healey’s projections that shoring up the system could cost closer to a billion dollars. Farley-Bouvier says she doesn’t see a disconnect between the executive and legislative branches, just different approaches.
“We're trying to put more accountability into how that money is spent, because when it was this emerging crisis, some money was being spent, and I don't want to say it's irresponsible spending, but some things were costing so much more, because we didn't have the opportunity to plan for it, right?" explained Farley-Bouvier. "And so now that we have months of this under our belt, we want to be sure that we're spending as efficiently as possible.”
Pignatelli drew a sharper distinction between Healey’s and the House’s competing plans.
“I think the disconnect is that I think we really don't have a good solid plan going forward," he told WAMC. "I still think we're holding out hope that the federal government- what's happening to the Massachusetts right now, is a safe shelter state is, this has become what I'll call an unfunded mandate from the federal government. We're obligated to take care of these folks with housing and food and transportation and education and health care, but yet the federal government didn't back it up with any money at all. So, I join my colleagues in hopes that the federal government would get its act together, but to figure out how to deal with the migrant issue across the country, and then back it up with some dollars, because we're dealing with a billion dollars this year, anticipating a billion plus possibly next year- This is not a sustainable model for Massachusetts, and without a good solid plan, not only of the housing needs, but of the financial needs of these folks, I think we're proceeding very cautiously. We want to just continue to work with the administration, but our dollar numbers are very different right now.”
Given revenue shortfalls, WAMC asked the legislators if they still stand by their decisions to back Healey’s controversial tax cuts from 2023, which progressives criticized as overly generous to the state’s wealthiest. Pignatelli said he had no regrets, and that moves made by Healey’s Republican predecessor were at fault.
“I think those tax cuts were very fair, broad and everybody impacted by them," said the state rep. "I think we're actually reeling more so from the $3 billion that we had to give back under Charlie Baker's administration that was built into our constitution, Chapter 62F, if our revenues exceeded a certain point, we had to give it back to the citizens. That was $3 billion. If we had that today, we may not be having this conversation this morning about cuts in the budget or conservative budgets going forward.”
Farley-Bouvier said she’s still analyzing the impact of the tax cuts.
“When we look at how our revenues are down, even people who are very, very well versed in this, experts in the field, they disagree about why revenue is down here versus there, and so I don't think we have a clear picture yet as to what's going on, whether this is a temporary dip, or what's happening here," she said. "So, I think it's too early to tell.”
