Everyone likes to spend more, and no one likes budget cuts.
So there was certain anguish and teeth-gnashing at the end of the fiscal year in June when, at the last minute, the state government’s projected income went over a small but significant cliff. It was $750 million off.
To its credit, the Legislature, knowing that bond rating agencies like swift fixes to fiscal problems, shrunk its budget for the fiscal year that just began.
The House and Senate approved a $39.1 billion budget under what Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, called “extraordinarily unusual” circumstances. They managed to cut $413 million in spending and to cover the rest of the imbalance through an assortment of bookkeeping sleight of hand intended to be less harmful to recipients of state services than tripling the spending cuts.
That preserved spending for several things that our rural towns in western Mass. rely on.
The last-minute budget managed to increase unrestricted aid to cities and towns by $42 million, as promised, and also boost Chapter 70 school aid by $116 million — reflecting $40 million more than the governor’s recommendation. It also increased regional school transportation funding by $2 million. These are all areas that local selectmen and finance committee members continually seek to increase so we can meet our close-to-home obligations to serve residents where they live.
The University of Massachusetts will see a 1.4 percent increase in its budget, which will be seen as bad news in higher ed circles.
The budget is built on $1.1 billion in expected new revenues but had to reflect two downgrades in revenue projections, primarily because of reduced capital gains revenues.
The bulk of expected revenue loss was made up by budgetary maneuvering, such as canceling a projected $200 million deposit into the state’s rainy day funds.
The new budget, still up 2 percent over last year, is built on $677 million in new revenues instead of the $1.1 billion, says Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, who as vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee was part of the conference committee that shaped the final budget.
“The real winners were the local aid accounts: unrestricted local aid, Chapter 70 school aid and regional school transportation,” said Kulik.
Unfortunately, wrangling over the budget continues as Gov. Charlie Baker issued $256 million through spending vetoes, cuts that Rosenberg called “too many.”
As we probably have Rosenberg and Kulik to thank in large part for shielding that important local aid, as they hold key roles in the Senate and House when it comes to shaping spending priorities, we suspect they’ll be in the thick of it as the Legislature comes up with a response to the vetoes.
And if things get stickier as this new fiscal year progresses, we hope they will continue to preserve those gains.