Senate budget bill makes key investments in municipal and school aid

The Senate Ways and Means Committee today reported out a $38 billion fiscal 2016 state budget plan that would increase overall state expenditures by about 3 percent, as the state seeks to close a projected $1.8 billion structural budget deficit by restraining spending and eliminating up to 5,000 state jobs through an early retirement program.
 
The Senate Ways and Means budget would make strong progress on many local aid priorities, including a $34 million increase in Unrestricted General Government Aid (to $979.8 million), which Gov. Charlie Baker and the House have also supported and communities are counting on.
 
The UGGA account would increase by 3.6 percent, which is 75 percent of the projected 4.8 percent rate of increase in state tax collections next year. Every city and town would see a 3.6 percent increase in UGGA funding, the largest increase in discretionary municipal aid in nearly a decade.
 
Chapter 70
The Senate budget committee is proposing a $111.2 million increase in Chapter 70 education aid, with a provision providing every city, town and school district an increase of at least $25 per student. The House also adopted minimum aid at $25 per student, which means both the House and Senate leaders support higher minimum aid than the $20-per-student amount proposed by the governor.
 
The Senate bill’s Chapter 70 appropriation is $3 million more than the House budget and $5.9 million more than the recommendation made in the governor’s budget. The increase over the House proposal would be used to slightly accelerate the implementation of the target share provisions enacted in 2007, which is why several districts may see a somewhat higher Chapter 70 aid level in the Senate proposal. Because most cities and towns only receive minimum aid (245 operating districts in cities, towns and regions), the MMA will work to build on this progress and will continue to advocate for higher funding.
 
• Link to Section 3 – local aid amounts for cities, towns and regional school districts (PDF)
 
Special Education Circuit Breaker
Senate leaders announced that they support full funding for the Special Education Circuit Breaker program. Their budget plan would provide $271.6 million, an $18.2 million increase above fiscal 2015, and $9.9 million more than the House budget. House leaders have also stated their intention to fully fund the account, but Senate leaders predict that full funding would require an $18.2 million increase for next year, not the $8.3 million increase approved by the House. This is a vital program that every city, town and school district relies on to fund state-mandated services.
 
Regional School Transportation
Last November, former Gov. Deval Patrick used his Section 9C emergency budget-cutting powers to eliminate the $18.7 million increase in regional school transportation reimbursements that the Legislature had enacted for fiscal 2015, reducing the final amount to $51.5 million. Gov. Baker proposed level-funding the program for fiscal 2016 at $51.5 million. The Senate budget bill would restore $5 million to bring regional transportation reimbursements up to $56.5 million, the same amount passed by the House. The MMA will work to continue building on this increase.
 
McKinney-Vento Reimbursements
The Senate Ways and Means Committee budget would level-fund reimbursements for the transportation of homeless students at $7.4 million. This is $1 million less than the funding proposed in the governor’s and House budget bills. The state auditor recently released a report calling on the state to fully fund this mandate at close to $20 million. The MMA will advocate for additional funding during the Senate budget debate.
 
Kindergarten Development Grants
The Senate Ways and Means budget would provide only $1 million for the Kindergarten Development Grant program, far below the current funding level of $18.6 million. The governor’s budget would have eliminated all funding, and the Senate proposal would eliminate nearly all grant funds.
 
The House level-funded the program at $18.6 million, recognizing that ending the program with no warning would present major problems for those communities that depend on the grants to maintain their full-day kindergarten programs. Restoring these funds will be a top MMA priority during the Senate budget debate.
 
Charter School Reimbursements
Under state law, cities and towns that host or send students to charter schools are entitled to be reimbursed for a portion of their lost Chapter 70 aid. The state fully funded the reimbursement program in fiscal 2013 and 2014, but is underfunding reimbursements by approximately $34 million this year.
 
The governor and House have proposed level-funding charter school reimbursements at $76.8 million, which would guarantee another major shortfall in fiscal 2016 and result in cutbacks for the majority of students who remain in the traditional school setting. The Senate budget committee is supporting a $3.2 million increase, up to $80 million, which is appreciated, but the account is still dramatically underfunded. Increasing charter school reimbursements will be an MMA priority during the budget debate.
 
PILOT, Library Aid, METCO and Shannon Anti-Gang Grants
The Senate budget committee’s proposal would level-fund payments-in-lieu-of-taxes at $26.77 million, fund library grant programs at $18.7 million ($200,000 more than the House), fund METCO at $17.9 million ($2.25 million less than the House), and provide $6 million for Shannon Anti-Gang Grants (same as the House).
 
The overall bottom line of the Senate Ways and Means budget is very close to the budget filed by Gov. Charlie Baker in March and the plan passed by the House in April.
 
Budget amendments are due Thursday, and the full Senate is scheduled to begin its budget debate next Tuesday.
 
Once the Senate passes a state budget bill, representatives of the House and Senate will hash out their differences in a conference committee before the Legislature sends a final budget to Gov. Charlie Baker, typically by the July 1 start of the fiscal year.