BOSTON — Revised revenue projections that have forced the Baker administration and legislative leaders to reconsider spending priorities in the weeks before the start of the new budget year may not be pessimistic enough, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said on Monday.
Rosenberg, in remarks to a nonprofit group and later elaborated upon to the News Service, said the Baker administration’s disclosure earlier this month of a $450 million to $750 million shortfall in projected tax revenues used by the House and Senate this spring to craft their fiscal 2017 budgets “could get higher.”
The Senate leader said his comments were based on conversations late last week between the Department of Revenue, the Executive Office of Administration and Finance and House and Senate Ways and Means officials.
“They think the number may eke up a little bit,” Rosenberg said.
Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Rosenberg plan to meet Monday afternoon for their usual sit-down where the ongoing budget negotiations will be a topic of conversation.
The new fiscal year begins Friday, and time is running down on the Legislature’s window to produce a balanced, one-time budget.
Baker on Monday signed a $5.3 billion interim budget to keep government operating through July in the absence of an approved annual spending bill.
The vote last week by Great Britain to exit the European Union has only added to the uncertainty of revenue and volatility in the stock market that could further erode revenue collections into next year.
“I want to make sure we have enough time to do it right,” Rosenberg said about the prospects for an on-time budget.
Legislative budget writers on June 10 began meeting to iron out differences between conflicting House and Senate budgets for the full 2017 fiscal year, both with bottom lines of around $39.5 billion. Four days later, the Baker administration disclosed that next year’s revenues could fall $450 million to $750 million below expectations, pushing lawmakers and the administration to find ways to address the gap.