Senate Passes $513 Million Supplemental Budget

Bill provides relief to fiscally stressed hospitals, reduces pension liability, assists special education obligations, and dedicates funding for farms and rural communities affected by natural disasters

(BOSTON – 07/26/2023) The Massachusetts State Senate on Thursday passed a $513 million supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). The legislation funds relief for hospitals, pension liabilities, special education costs, and flexible assistance for farms throughout the Commonwealth impacted by recent severe weather events. The bill also extends simulcast and harness horse racing, and extends reporting dates for several governmental agencies. In addition, the legislation ratifies several outstanding collective bargaining agreements.

 

“Investing in our people is vital to keeping the Commonwealth competitive, and that is precisely what this supplemental budget does,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “This budget invests in the services that people around the Commonwealth use every day – the hospitals where people receive critical care, the special education programs in our schools, and programs that improve quality of life for individuals and families who are low-income, among other state priorities. It also gives critical relief to farmers around the state who have been devastated by this year’s extreme weather. I would like to thank the dedicated team at Senate Ways and Means, especially Chair Rodrigues, for their hard work and contributions to this supplemental budget, and my Senate colleagues for approving this supplemental budget.”

 

“As we fully emerge from the pandemic, the Legislature has addressed several sectors of state government with crucial funding to continue to keep the economy of the Commonwealth on a firm footing. The passage of this supplemental budget today utilizes robust tax revenues to its fullest effect, making substantial investments in health care, special education, unemployment assistance, and disaster relief funding. Those investments will keep Massachusetts as a leader in the key economic sectors for decades to come,” said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “Thanks to the strong leadership of Senate President Spilka, and the commitment of my colleagues in the Senate, we sent a clear message to the people that we will always look to protect our marginalized communities, support our education and health care workforce, and invest in local infrastructure as the Commonwealth continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic.”

 

Appropriates $513M of fiscal year 2023 direct appropriations, including:

  • $180M for relief to fiscally strained hospitals

  • $100M for a supplemental transfer to the Pension Liability Fund

  • $75M to support school districts with extraordinary special education costs

  • $60.3M for staffing needs at the Department of Transitional Assistance

  • $40M for a reserve to support costs related to Tatum vs. Commonwealth of Massachusetts

  • $26.2M for collective bargaining agreement costs

  • $20M for natural disaster relief for farms and affected areas

  • $10.7M for public health hospitals

  • $506k for interstate flood compact costs

  • $200k for EEC contingency contract costs

 

Policy impacts:

 

  • Clarifies an internal citation for large building energy reporting.

  • Extends simulcast wagering and live horse racing in the Commonwealth until July 31, 2024.

  • Extends the reserve to meet the costs of oversight functions in the Office of the State Auditor, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Comptroller related to the expenditure of federal 2019 pandemic-related funding to July 30, 2027.

  • Increases the maximum allowable amount for the Department of Early Education and Care contingency contracts from $320,000 to $520,000.

  • Extends for 12 months the reporting date for the intergovernmental coordinating council’s initial analysis of electric vehicle charging infrastructure deployment.

  • Extends the reporting date for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation analysis of the operation of electric charging stations to October 1, 2024.

  • Ratifies several collective bargaining agreements.

  • Authorizes the Department of Public Utilities to allow electric distribution companies to recover expenditures and payments associated with the construction delay of certain clean energy generation power purchase agreements.

  • Authorizes the Commissioner of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to convey certain parcels of land to the city of Framingham.

  • Allows a city or town to amortize, over fiscal years 2025 to 2027, the amount of its 2024 major disaster related deficit.

 

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Sarah Blodgett