Gov. Charlie Baker's budget plan for the fiscal year that begins in July would spend slightly less, 0.7%, than Massachusetts is now spending. But at $45.6 billion, it's still a hefty chunk of the taxpayers' change. Here are some highlights that Beacon Hill budget-watchers have fixed on.
1. Sports Betting, Again
Baker's budget calls on lawmakers to legalize online sports gambling apps like DraftKings so Massachusetts can join the growing number of states placing legal bets on professional sports. Baker said neighboring states and bigger players like New Jersey have already opened up online sports books since the Supreme Court decided it was constitutional in 2018. The governor wants the state to be competitive.
"I do think this thing is starting to mature, and I think it just makes sense to give our people the same chance to play that people have in other states," Baker said.
Previous attempts to allow sports betting have failed. The state House of Representatives has been pushing for the new law for some time, but state senators have remained steadfast that they want a more focused legislative process before opening the door to more gambling.
2. Tapping Into Savings
October's revised FY2021 budget used $1.3 billion from the state's "rainy day" stabilization savings fund to balance the books, and Baker's new proposal would use a further $1.6 billion to make ends meet. The governor's budget writers estimate that will leave the fund at a mere $1.1 billion — which Baker was quick to point out at Wednesday's budget press conference is the same balance the fund had when he took office in 2015.
3. Double Funds For Emergencies
Baker wants to more than double the budget allocation for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates the state's response to natural disasters, man-made catastrophes or just really bad snowstorms. According to Finance Secretary Mike Heffernan, raising the agency's budget from $1.9 billion to $4.2 billion would allow MEMA to be more flexible, and quicker, with resources instead of asking the Legislature for funds or waiting for federal reimbursements. File this under smart managment, the governor's team will argue.
4. School Funding
Baker touted an additional $246 million for local schools as the new budget's top accomplishment, saying the allocation will fund the first year of the Student Opportunity Act that rewrote the state's school funding formula but was shelved last year. Still, education funding advocates weren't happy with Baker's proposal. They called, instead, for him to retroactively fund last year's, as well as this year's, portions of the seven-year, $1.5 billion plan.
The Massachusetts Teachers Association called the SOA a promise to address the structural racism of underfunding public schools.
"The governor’s FY 2022 budget marks a breaking of that promise, as it moves the goal posts by pushing out the funding shortfall yet another year," MTA president Merrie Najimy wrote in a statement.
5. There Are Proposed Cuts
While Baker's budget writers said most of the spending decreases in the new budget come from lower costs at MassHealth, advocates were quick to point out some spending cuts in the document. Community activist Lew Finfer wrote in an email that Baker had cut $6.3 million from youth at risk programs and another $3.76 million from a youth jobs program.
The Coalition for Homeless Individuals also found new cuts to supports for the homeless in Baker's budget.
"A $3 million, 5% budget cut jeopardizes the safety and wellness of the most vulnerable among us in addition to the frontline staff supporting them," coalition spokesperson Cayenne Isaksen wrote in a statement.
