House Completes FY06 Budget

Eldridge fights for Local Aid, Hospitals, Public Safety and Environmental Protection

BOSTON – Rep. James B. Eldridge (D-Acton) announced the engrossment of the House budget proposal at 9:00 p.m. Friday night.  The $23.66 billion general appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2006 (FY 06) includes improved outlook for municipalities, the environment, schools and hospitals.

The House budget includes an increase of $105.6 million increase in Chapter 70 education aid, including an additional $28.4 million added on by members during the House debate.  Eldridge commented, “It became clear in the beginning of the week that the number one priority for legislators was finding a way to increase local aid.  Even more encouragingly, this increase came with a commitment from the Joint Committee on Education that the Chapter 70 formula would be reviewed and reformed.” 

Beyond Chapter 70, the House of Representatives’ budget included a 12% increase of Regional School Transportation funds to $42.5 million, full funding ($201.6 million) of the Special Education Circuit Breaker, a $300,000 pilot program for certain Special Education Transportation costs, an increase of $12.4 million in charter school reimbursement costs and $2.5 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program.

In an effort to raise revenues and make sure everyone pays their fair share of taxes, Rep. Eldridge co-sponsored an amendment to close corporate tax loopholes that could raise $170 million.  Although the amendment was not included in the budget, Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) made a commitment for the bill to receive a full hearing before the Joint Committee on Revenue, and indicated support for at least portions of the bill.  Eldridge emphasized, “I am greatly encouraged by the Speaker’s commitment to reducing the financial burdens of the property tax on homeowners including seniors, and making sure corporations do their part to support our communities.”

On the health care front, the House budget also includes $86 million in additional aid to subsidize the Free Care Pool for community hospitals like Emerson Hospital, Nashoba Valley Medical Center, the Clinton Hospital and Health Alliance in Leominster.  Prescription Advantage was fully-funded, including a proposal for another open enrollment period for the popular prescription drug program for seniors. 

The House added $6 million to its public higher education budget, including an additional $3 million for the five-campus University of Massachusetts and $1 million for other state and community colleges, including Mount Wachusett Community College and Fitchburg State.  “This commitment of increased funding shows that we are turning the corner, and that the Legislature will continue to build our institutions of public higher education,” said Eldridge.  “My hope is that this restoration is only the beginning on the way to restoring the 32.6% in cuts that higher education has seen since FY 2001.” 

The House budget includes an additional $200,000 for the administration of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), to increase environmental protection.  Rep. Eldridge had sponsored an amendment to return DEP funding to its 2001 levels.  “The increased revenues could not be found for all of our priorities; however, once again, this improvement in funding is a step toward protecting our vital resources.  Increases were also made to the state Riverways program, the Division of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Fish and Wildlife, and state recycling grants.  Finally, Eldridge led the successful effort to reject Governor Romney’s proposed raid on the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which provides communities money to protect open and recreational space.

In the area of public safety, Eldridge and other lawmakers helped defeat a proposal in the House Ways and Means budget that would have reduced the amount of money flowing to town police departments and District Attorneys’ offices from property seizures related to drug busts from 50/50 to 33/33/33, one third of those funds going to the state’s general fund.  Eldridge noted, “In a time when budget cuts have decreased state support for fire and police, we protected funding for local public safety efforts by holding the line on drug seizure revenues.”

Rep. Eldridge also voted for an unsuccessful amendment, sponsored by Rep. John F. Quinn (D-New Bedford) to update the formula for providing Chapter 90 money to towns to support local bridges and roads.  The proposal would have charged Mass. Highway with reviewing the number of miles of bridges and roads that exist in a community, so that communities that have grown in recent years would get a proportional share of highway funding.  “Although this effort was defeated on the House floor, a commitment was made by the House chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation to review the old formula, so that the Chapter 90 monies owed communities in the MetroWest/North Central Massachusetts region are fairly disbursed.” 

The budget now moves to the Senate for its consideration.  Senate offices have reported that a Senate Ways and Means budget is expected to be released in mid-May, after the House budget proposal has been reviewed.