Hello Westfield! Hope you are all doing well and had a wonderful week. As I mentioned in my update a few weeks ago, budget season is in full swing, and this week we finally received the House’s version of the budget for fiscal year 2020. This is the second major step in the budget process and builds upon the budget put out by the Governor in January. Since I wrote last month about the budget process, I thought this week I would focus a little more on what is actually in this year’s budget proposal.
First and foremost, the budget for FY2020 includes a top-line number of $42.7 billion in spending, which is a 3% increase over the proposed spending in this fiscal year’s budget. About $133 million of revenue is expected from sales tax on Marijuana sales and $294 million from gambling revenues. The only notable new source of revenue, about $42 million, will be sales tax from online retailers that didn’t previously collect it.
When it comes to spending, it will come as no surprise to anyone that the largest category is healthcare spending, predicted to be about $16.57 billion. MassHealth has been the largest chunk of the state budget for decades and will likely be for many years to come. With that in mind, this year’s budget includes a new proposal that will hopefully help to cut costs for the program. Starting in FY20, should this part of the budget pass, MassHealth will be allowed to directly negotiate with drug manufacturers in order to keep costs down and provide prescription drugs to MassHealth members at a much lower cost, saving the Commonwealth’s taxpayers potentially millions of dollars. The healthcare section of the budget also includes $9.4 million more in spending for developmental services for people with Autism and a $20 million increase in spending on substance abuse and mental health prevention and treatment to help battle the opioid crisis.
One of the more substantial changes to the budget over last year is in education spending. There has been an ongoing conversation in the state regarding per-pupil funding and funding for special education. While the Committee on Education debates the Foundation Budget Formula that determines how much local aid schools receive from the state under Chapter 70, they will have about $235 million more dollars than last year to work with, should the House’s number stand up through the budget process. This represents a huge increase in one of the most important local aid programs in the budget and could make a sizable impact on schools wrestling with underfunding.
Obviously, with over $42 billion in spending, there are many other areas of the budget I haven’t touched on. We will be convening at the State House the week after next to debate amendments to the budget- always one of the busiest weeks of the year. Should you have any questions, concerns or suggestions about the budget, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office at (413) 572-3920 or [email protected]. Have a great weekend, and for those lucky enough to be enjoying school vacation week, have a wonderful break!
