Monthly Archives: June 2011

FY2012 Budget Still Not Finished, Governor to File Interim Budget

With less than a week before the new fiscal year begins, the six-member conference committee that is tasked with reconciling the House and Senate versions of the FY2012 $30.5 billion state budget still have not reached an agreement. Although the Senate held a Friday session in the event that an agreement was reached and filed with the Legislature by Thursday night, the House on Thursday adjourned for the week, precluding any chance of the Legislature passing a budget before the weekend. Under the Massachusetts Constitution, the Governor is granted 10 days to review a bill after the Legislature passes a bill and sends it to him for consideration. Although details of the negotiations have not been made public, the House and Senate budgets differed significantly on issues such as municipal health care reform, pharmaceutical gift ban repeal, the use of electro-shock therapy on disabled children and illegal immigration.  Larger issues are also being debated such as adding money to the rainy day fund and whether to include an automatic rollback of the state’s income tax.

While the budget conference committee continues its deliberations, Governor Patrick intends to file a temporary $1.25 billion 10-day budget. According to Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzales, the interim budget will be filed today in order to avoid payment disruptions after July 1^st assuming a full year budget is not in place.

Governor Patrick Signs Storm Relief Bill

On Tuesday, Governor Patrick signed a $54 million tornado relief bill. The bill allocates $15 million to pay for emergency response, cleanup, shelter expenditures and other assistance related to the tornadoes. It also allows Western Massachusetts municipalities to execute short-term borrowing for emergencies without legislative approval and enables cities and towns to assess FY2012 property taxes based on the damaged conditions of properties.

Massachusetts Unemployment Rates Up in Parts of State, Down in Others

The unadjusted unemployment figures for labor markets across the state were released this week. The data showed that the unemployment rate increased in eight areas, decreased in another eight, and were unchanged in the remaining six labor markets. The new statistics show that the jobless rate was up geographic areas including Boston, Cambridge and Quincy. Lawrence-Methuen-Salem and Fall River had the highest unemployment rates in the state, at 11.4%.

Tax Collection Figures For First Half of June Up 9.3%

This week the Massachusetts Department of Revenue released the tax collection figures for the first 17 days of June. Tax revenues for this period were $54 million above state budget benchmarks. The state collected $1.2 billion in taxes during the month, a 9.3% increase compared to the same period in June 2010. According to Navjeet Bal, the state revenue commissioner, the gains were due to estimated payments that residents paid with their income tax returns and increased sales tax revenue.

John Nunnari, Assoc AIA
Executive Director, AIA MA
jnunnari@architects.org
617-951-1433 x263
617-951-0845 (fax)

MA Chapter of American Institute of Architects
The Architects Building
52 Broad Street, Boston MA 02109-4301
www.architects.org

Week Ending June 17, 2011 Former House Speaker DiMasi Convicted On Wednesday, a jury convicted former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi of using his office to rig software contracts in exchange for kickbacks. DiMasi, who was Speaker of the Massachusetts House from 2004 to 2009, was convicted on seven counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and extortion. The trial lasted six weeks and featured testimony from Governor Deval Patrick, current and former Massachusetts State Representatives and former House staffers. On Thursday, Judge Mark Wolf scheduled DiMasi’s sentencing hearing for September 8th. House and Senate Pass Storm Relief Bills This week the House and Senate passed a supplemental budget aimed at providing funding for relief from the June 1st tornadoes that hit Western Massachusetts. Both bills would allocate $15 million to pay for emergency response, cleanup, shelter expenditures and other assistance related to the tornadoes. In keeping with the version filed last week by Governor Patrick, both bills would allow Western Massachusetts municipalities to execute short-term borrowing for emergencies without legislative approval and enable cities and towns to assess FY2012 property taxes based on the damaged conditions of properties. The different versions will have to be reconciled before going to the Governor for his signature. Last Saturday the Governor filed a request with FEMA for a Presidential declaration of an emergency in parts of Western Massachusetts. Indication of Potential Gambling Compromise Last week House Speaker DeLeo (D – Winthrop) signaled that he hoped to pass an expanded gambling bill before the end of July. On Monday, after meeting with Speaker DeLeo and Senate President Murray (D – Plymouth), the Governor indicated his flexibility on the issue and referred to a potential compromise of three destination resort casinos and one competitively bid slot parlor license that he could support. Although the House and Senate and the Governor were generally in agreement about authorizing casinos in the state before the end of last session, the issue of whether slot machines should be allowed at the state racetracks ultimately derailed the bill’s final passage. Pension Reform Could Be Taken Up Before August Recess At the end of January, Governor Patrick filed legislation to increase the minimum retirement age for state workers from 55 to 60. His legislation would also require state employees to work until 67 in order to receive their maximum pension benefit. According to Governor Patrick, he received assurances from Speaker DeLeo and Senate President Murray this week that his pension bill could be brought to the floor during the summer. Massachusetts’ current retirement system supports 56,000 retirees and has 86,000 actively contributing employees. Massachusetts Unemployment Falls .2% in May Unemployment in the state was down .2% in May to 7.6%, according to a Patrick Administration jobs report. Although Massachusetts lost 4,000 jobs last month, the unemployment rate has stayed below 8% for the last two months, the first time it has done so since 2009. The highest job gains in the state this month were in professional services, construction and manufacturing industries. John Nunnari, Assoc AIA Executive Director, AIA MA jnunnari@architects.org 617-951-1433 x263 617-951-0845 (fax) MA Chapter of American Institute of Architects The Architects Building 52 Broad Street, Boston MA 02109-4301 http://www.architects.org