Governor Healey filed her administration’s FY 2023 closeout supplemental budget on September 13th, and versions of the spending bill were passed by the House and Senate on November 8th and 14th, respectively.
On October 19th, the Healey administration announced its plan to pursue the federal funding opportunities available through the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act (CHIPS). The proposal would establish a new trust fund – capitalized through interest earnings on the Stabilization Fund – that can be leveraged to draw down on federal funding opportunities, fund PAYGO capital projects, and support debt management strategies.
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget was signed into law on August 9th, but four months into the new fiscal year, work remains for administrative and legislative budget writers to close the books on FY 2023. This work – typically marked by the passage of a closeout supplemental budget – is completed every year; however, a number of factors impacting FY 2023 make this year’s task more challenging.
Over the last two years, the federal government has made unprecedented investments in transportation, climate resiliency, and economic development infrastructure through three pieces of legislation: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act (CHIPS). Combined, these three bills include over $2 trillion in spending, nearly half of which will be made available to states through competitive grant programs and formula allocations over the next five to ten years.
On August 9th, Governor Healey signed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget; sending back $272 million in gross spending vetoes ($205 million net), amending 8 outside policy sections, and vetoing one policy section. The Governor’s vetoes eliminate the budget’s reliance on $205 million in one-time resources, which MTF highlighted as a fiscal concern in our Conference Summary. Thirty-three budget accounts are impacted by spending vetoes, with most funding levels being reduced to what was originally proposed in the Governor’s budget.
The House and Senate are set to enact a Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget, totaling $56.2 billion. The conference committee report was filed on July 30th, one month after the start of the new fiscal year. This year, separate tax bill negotiations, the new income surtax, and an uncertain FY 2023 revenue picture imposed additional complications on the budget negotiation process.
After four days of debate, the Senate finalized its $55.9 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget; adding $82.2 million in new spending and 34 outside policy sections.
The Senate took action on 1,049 amendments through a combination of standalone votes and amendment ‘bundles,’ which categorically approve or reject many amendments at once. In total, 478 amendments were adopted, 415 were rejected, and 156 were withdrawn from consideration. This brief summarizes Senate debate action and assesses the new spending and policy proposals.
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget process reached another milestone today with the release of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means (SWM) budget proposal. The $55.9 billion SWM spending plan differs from earlier proposals as it was not released in conjuncture with a tax reform bill. However, the SWM budget does set aside $575 million for the first-year costs of a tax policy bill the Senate plans to take up later this session.
The House finalized its $54.9 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget this week after adding $129.7 million in spending over the course of three days of debate.
The House took action on 1,566 amendments through a combination of 7 consolidated amendments and 3 separate votes. Some form of at least 773 amendments were adopted; 745 added new spending, 25 added or amended policy sections or budget language, and 3 included a combination of both. This brief summarizes the House debate action and assesses the new spending and policy proposals.
