A state budget proposing more than $61 billion in spending passed the Massachusetts House Wednesday, with six out of the 25 Republicans voting in opposition.
The budget is built around a revenue estimate that includes $16 billion in federal funding. Two months before the start of the fiscal year, state lawmakers are still unsure how much of that federal money will ultimately materialize amid Trump administration policy shifts.
While acknowledging that uncertainty, lawmakers described their bill as responsible and felt comfortable adding more than $80 million to the bottom line across three days of debate.
Much of the added spending is earmarked for specific organizations and local projects, like $1.7 million for the Boston Fire Department training academy and $325,000 for maintenance and improvements at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
“With investments to strengthen public education, promote economic and workforce development, and support public education, this budget reinforces our long-term competitiveness and works to make sure that Massachusetts remains a place where families and businesses can grow and thrive,” Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, a Gloucester Democrat who serves as vice chair on the House’s budget-writing committee, said in a statement.
The bill does not raise taxes to support its 6% spending boost over this year’s budget. It includes $7 billion in aid to local school districts, $687 million for the MBTA, $838 million for the University of Massachusetts system, and $275 million for the state’s emergency shelters for homeless families.
The House budget would put a pause on the Healey administration’s plan to shift admissions at vocational high schools to a lottery system and, through an amendment adopted Wednesday, create a commission to explore why residents and businesses leave Massachusetts.
Republican Reps. Nicholas Boldyga of Southwick, John Gaskey of Carver, Marc Lombardo of Billerica, Alyson Sullivan-Almeida of Abington, Kenneth Sweezey of Duxbury and Justin Thurber of Somerset voted against the budget.
Lombardo said the vote was an “easy 'no’” for him because of the $5 million it dedicates to create an immigration legal assistance fund.
“Beacon Hill Democrats have gone so far left that they simply don’t represent the hardworking taxpayers anymore,” he said in a statement sent out by the state’s Republican Party.
The budget says the $5 million would be distributed by the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants “to designated non-profit organizations to increase access to legal representation for immigrants and refugees in the commonwealth.” Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said earlier this month that the fund would “help those with immigration cases accused of non-violent acts.”
Rep. Judith Garcia, a Chelsea Democrat, expressed her support for the legal assistance program in a speech on the House floor Wednesday. She said the country’s immigration system is “deeply nuanced and too often unforgiving.”
“And while the challenges are vast, one thing is clear,” Garcia said. “Access to legal representation should not be determined by your paycheck or your profession.”
Rep. Chris Flanagan, a Dennis Democrat arrested earlier this month on federal fraud charges, did not vote on the budget or file any amendments to it.
The state Senate is expected to debate and pass its own version of the budget next month, and lawmakers from both chambers will then work to develop a compromise bill to send to Gov. Maura Healey.
Those closed-door negotiations typically drag on past the July 1 start of the fiscal year, requiring the passage of interim budgets to keep state government running.
