Let’s cut right to it: Don’t expect the government of Massachusetts to break its 14-year streak of delivering a budget past the new fiscal year deadline.
“I'd be surprised if the state budget is signed into law by July 1st," Democratic State Senator Paul Mark of the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Hampshire District told WAMC. “This is a year that I can only hearken back to 2020 with the COVID pandemic and the uncertainty. We're watching what's happening down in Washington, we're watching what's happening with economic activity, and we're trying to predict as best we can stability, because the budget in Massachusetts has to be in balance, and so we don't want any mid-year cuts or anything like that.”
Mark expects the roughly $62 billion budget, currently in legislative-compromise limbo, to come in by mid-July. In the meantime, Mark says a temporary budget will keep state programs in place as leaders sort out implications of federal spending cuts proposed and implemented by the Trump administration.
“As a very local example, the AmeriCorps program had some cuts, and that trickled down even into the Berkshires," he continued. "And a program like the Greenagers, that, you have local students and young people out doing good work for the environment, doing good work for our local open space- And I was able to pivot like very last minute in the Senate budget to get them a $50,000 earmark. They came to me not in desperation, but certainly with worry.”
Democratic leaders say the uncertainty at the federal level hangs over every aspect of the commonwealth’s fiscal planning.
“Massachusetts is an excellent financial condition right now, and we have a lot of money in reserve, close to $8 billion in reserve. The problem is, is that if we lose any portion of that $15 billion that we've received from the federal government, that could all be wiped out," said Democratic State Representative John Barrett of the 1st Berkshire State House District. “We're talking obviously about making sure healthcare costs remain under control, we have to deal with the problems that we have with electricity, dealing with that- And of course, education is in there, but healthcare is one of the big ones, especially as far as the Mass House plan goes. That's the area we're worried about that's going to be cut or be impacted greatly with cuts that are coming through from Washington.”
Democratic 3rd Berkshire District State Representative Leigh Davis says those most in need of support in Massachusetts are likely to bear the brunt of federal cuts.
“A lot of us are very worried about how that's going to affect the most vulnerable, particularly with healthcare, with SNAP benefits, veterans, seniors," she told WAMC. "So, there's so many things that we are holding our breath for.”
In the meantime, Massachusetts lawmakers have sent Democratic Governor Maura Healey a $1.3 billion plan for how to use money generated by the so-called “Millionaire’s Tax” passed by voters in 2022.
“We have money there that we can spend for education and transportation," Davis explained. "This has been such a really, really positive development to have this money that we could target for much needed transportation and education initiatives.”
For Western Mass legislators, statewide transportation spending is another arena to fight for regional equity.
“One of the issues that's particularly important to me is the disparity between the funding of the regional transportation authorities and the MBTA," said Democrat Tricia Farley Bouvier, who represents the 2nd Berkshire District on Beacon Hill. "I'm looking to bring more equity to our RTAs, and that includes microtransit. So, microtransit is a way, whether it's through the RTA or other entities, to be able to provide services to places within the Berkshires. It's different within the Berkshires, as opposed to in Boston, about how we're going to provide transportation, and microtransit could be a big part of that solution.”
For now, the Massachusetts budget remains on the bargaining table with big questions out of Washington yet answered.
“That's the uncertainty of putting this budget together this year- It's like doing it in quicksand," Barrett told WAMC. "We just don't know what's going to happen. The bottom can fall out of it. We don't know.”
