Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will be debating a fiscal 2013 supplemental budget bill to bring this year’s state budget into balance after disappointing revenue collections helped to create a significant budget gap.
The budget bill, H. 55, was reported out of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and it is notable because the legislation protects cities and towns from a $9 million cut in unrestricted local aid that Gov. Deval Patrick proposed in December.
Two months ago, the governor announced that the state was facing a fiscal 2013 budget gap of $540 million. He used his “9C” emergency budget cutting powers to implement $225 million in mid-year cuts to the state budget, including eliminating $28.5 million from key municipal and school accounts, including $11.5 million from the Special Education Circuit Breaker, $5.25 million from McKinney-Vento reimbursements, $1 million from regional school transportation reimbursements, $1 million from charter school reimbursements, $6 million from municipal incentive grants, and $4 million from five other accounts.
In addition, the governor proposed legislation that would cut another $9 million from cities and towns by reducing unrestricted general government aid, and take other budget actions and revenue transfers to finish closing the gap.
Immediately after the governor’s announcement, the House and Senate Ways and Means chairs issued a joint statement saying that they would consult with the MMA regarding the proposed $9 million cut to unrestricted municipal aid.
Yesterday, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and House Ways and Means Chair Brian Dempsey released a revised version of the fiscal 2013 supplemental budget plan that would protect cities and towns from the $9 million cut.
The MMA’s discussions with Senate leaders, including Senate Ways and Means Chair Stephen Brewer, have been equally positive on this issue.
Today, the MMA wrote to the full House of Representatives, reminding legislators that cities and towns absorbed $28.75 million in mid-year cuts when the governor announced his 9C reductions in December, and applauding Speaker DeLeo, Chair Dempsey and the House Committee on Ways and Means for acting to protect municipalities from further mid-year reductions in aid.
The House is scheduled to vote on the bill on tomorrow, and Senate leaders have announced that they will consider the legislation on Feb. 12.