Monthly Archives: May 2012

John Nunnari forwarded the following article from the State House News Service about the state Senate’s actions on the state budget.  What struck me was the figure that 40% of the state budget now goes for medical care.  I had heard Lida Harkins speak of it being about 33%, mainly for Medicaid (and of that mainly for nursing home care).  Approaching half our state budget for medical care certainly seems to squeeze out the many other needs.  Not how I would expect to allocate the state budget if I was creating it from scratch.

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MURRAY: SENATE BUDGET FEATURES MORE DIRECT LOCAL AID THAN HOUSE

By Michael Norton
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 16, 2012……There’s more direct local aid to cities and towns in the fiscal 2013 budget the Senate unveiled Wednesday than the $32.4 billion budget that cleared the House last month, according to Senate President Therese Murray.

The Senate budget will not lead to a reduction in municipal jobs, Murray said, and will dole out $900 million in unrestricted local aid, which she said should prevent any layoffs being contemplated.

During an appearance on WBZ-AM as the Senate Ways and Means Committee was unveiling its budget at the capitol, Murray touted investments in education and said the $32.275 billion Senate budget uses less money from the state’s rainy day fund than the House budget.

Committee members said the bill increases overall state spending 3.7 percent.

Because the constitution requires the House to initiate tax hikes and since the House did not embrace any, including candy, soda and tobacco taxes proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick, the Senate budget also does not include any new taxes. “We can’t add taxes to our budget so that will not be in there,” Murray said.

Murray voluntarily added that she would still buy a Snickers bar if its cost rose by a nickel. “I’m buying it,” she said, adding that she favors a “broader discussion” of taxes.

The budget addresses a $1.4 billion budget gap, she said, without detailing the steps proposed to close it.

The Senate budget will also keep 45 beds for people with mental illnesses open at Taunton Hospital, which the Patrick administration has targeted for closure as it opens a new hospital in Worcester.

Murray said about 40 percent of the spending in the budget is for health care, either for the poor, state employees or for prisoners, and said that big chunk of spending is one of the reasons why lawmakers are separately advancing legislation aimed at reducing the escalation in health care spending.

Explaining the increase in local aid, Murray said cities and towns are facing a spike in special education costs.  Murray also said the local aid, which totals in the billions of dollars, is not accompanied by state-imposed accountability checks but noted municipalities each have their own auditing procedures.

The Senate budget was built based on assessments of what is needed to maintain services, rather than on performance-based measures, but Murray expressed hope that the state will move closer to performance-based budgeting by adopting measures being negotiated by a six-member conference committee.

Murray said the budget will spend more on a State Police task force and take other steps to prevent welfare fraud. Murray said there will “always” be individuals who try to abuse public benefits, but said members of the Senate are “absolutely” as outraged as members of the public about reports of people taking advantage of the system.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association this afternoon issued the following alert related to the Senate’s proposed budget.

SENATE BUDGET PANEL RELEASES FY 2013 BUDGET
Proposed Senate Budget Sets Local Aid as a Top Priority

Senate Plan Supports Key Local Aid Accounts:

• Guarantees Funding for Unrestricted Municipal Aid at $900 Million, Adding $65 Million to the Base Cherry Sheet Distribution 

• Adds $34.7 Million to Chapter 70 (above the Governor’s budget) to Guarantee $40 Per Student Minimum Aid for All Cities, Towns and School Districts, and Fund Target Share Aid

ʉۢ Fully Funds SPED Circuit Breaker by Adding $29 Million

The Senate Ways and Means Committee today released its proposed state budget for fiscal 2013, embracing most of the local aid increases adopted by the House of Representatives last month, and adding additional funds to major accounts.  Senate President Therese Murray, SW&M Chairman Stephen Brewer and all members of the Senate budget committee have proposed a strong budget for cities and towns that provides approximately $130 million more in local aid than the budget proposed by the Governor in January.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee’s proposed budget significantly improves funding for local aid when compared with the Governor’s budget submitted in January.

Please click here to download a copy of the MMA’s statement on the Senate’s proposed budget.

You can link to an on-line copy of the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s budget by clicking http://www.malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2013/Senate

Specific Unrestricted General Government Aid and Chapter 70 aid distributions by community can be found in Section 3 of the budget in the “Local Aid” tab.

Here are the highlights:

• Guaranteeing the $65 Million Unrestricted General Government Aid Distribution in the Base for Fiscal 2013 – The Senate Ways and Means Committee budget funds the UGGA account at $900 million, increasing the up-front appropriation on the Cherry Sheet by $66 million.  The Governor proposed level-funding UGGA at $834 million, and providing a later supplemental distribution of $65 million if the state ends fiscal 2012 with a surplus.  But with fiscal 2012 state revenues coming in below expectations, the $65 million is not guaranteed, and communities wouldn’t know what funding, if any, would result until October, making it impossible to include the funds in fiscal 2013 operating budgets.  Senate leaders want to make the $65 million permanent and add it to the base so that cities and towns can make full use of the funds for ongoing operations in their fiscal 2013 budgets.  In writing the budget, the Senate budget committee rounded the account up from $899 million to $900 million, a $1 million increase above the amount approved by the House last month, which will explain why the distribution amount in Section 3 will be slightly higher in the Senate’s proposed budget than in the House.  Overall, both the House and Senate have heard local officials, and have fully embraced the need to guarantee the full municipal aid distribution in the budget.

• Fully Funds the Special Education Circuit Breaker at $242.2 Million, an Increase of $29 Million – The SW&M budget would fully fund the SPED Circuit Breaker at $242.2 million, an increase of $29 million above fiscal 2012 and the Governor’s proposal for fiscal 2013.  This is a major step, and a core aspect of the Senate committee’s local aid proposals.  The Governor had proposed level-funding the account at $213 million, and the House provided an $8.5 million increase.

• Increases Chapter 70 by $37.4 Million (above the Governor’s budget) to Guarantee Each Community and School District a Minimum Increase of $40 Per Student – The Senate budget committee’s plan would provide $37.4 million above the Governor’s proposed $145.6 million increase in Chapter 70 in order to guarantee that all cities, towns and school districts would receive an increase of at least $40 per student above fiscal 2012 Chapter 70 aid levels Under the Governor’s budget, nearly two-thirds of communities would have been level-funded, and the Senate plan would guarantee that every district would receive an increase of at least $40 per student, which is what the House is proposing as well.  The Senate plan is also providing additional funds for a distribution of “target share aid” that was suspended in 2008, directing those funds to “communities that receive a smaller share of their foundation budget from the state than should be the case given their property and income wealth.”  This should explain the difference between the distribution in the House-passed budget and the Senate Ways and Means proposal.

In addition to these highlights, the Senate budget committee would maintain funding for other key accounts at the same level as proposed by the Governor, including as Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) at $26.3 million, Library Aid at $16 million, Charter School Reimbursements at $71.5 million, and Regional School Transportation at $43.5 million. The Senate would fund Shannon Grants at $6 million, slightly higher than the House’s $5.5 million.  Both and Senate and House would provide funds for the new community incentive challenge grant program.

The proposed Senate budget does not include any funding for the transportation of homeless students due to the mandated McKinney-Vento requirements.  The House funded a new account to provide $11.3 million for the program, and the MMA will be working hard to incorporate those funds in the final state budget.

PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATORS AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT THE LOCAL AID INCREASES IN THE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS BUDGET, AND THANK THEM FOR THE FOLLOWING:

• Please tell your Senator(s) that you sincerely appreciate the Senate’s commitment to funding unrestricted municipal aid (UGGA) at $900 million, guaranteeing that cities and towns will receive the full $65 million that came back this year as supplemental aid.  This will allow cities and towns to use the funds in fiscal 2013 to balance their budgets, reduce reliance on the property tax, and fund essential services, including police, fire, public works and schools.

• The Senate budget plan would provide every school district a Chapter 70 increase of at least $40 per student, a significant improvement over the Governor’s proposal, and provide Target Share Aid to scores of school districts across the state.

• The Senate plan would fully fund the Special Education Circuit-Breaker – a major priority for cities and towns.

Members of the Senate will have until Friday, May 18 to file amendments to the budget, and full debate on the measure will begin on Wednesday, May 23.  The MMA will be analyzing the full budget and all amendments, and will be providing updates throughout the process.  Please monitor all MMA budget updates on the MMA website, http://www.mma.org

From John Nunnari –

Senate budget numbers for local aide. $1391 higher than what was passed in the House, and $90,042 higher than what was proposed by the Governor.

John

John Nunnari, Assoc AIA
Executive Director, AIA MA