Friday, April 15, 2011
Senate Adopts Early Local Aid Resolution
Yesterday, the Massachusetts State Senate acted on an order I filed with my Republican colleagues to provide cities and towns with a set of preliminary Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12) local aid figures. On a unanimous vote of 36-0, the Senate endorsed a resolution setting the minimum amount of Chapter 70 education aid and general government assistance communities can expect to receive from the state for the new fiscal year that begins on July 1st.
This resolution addresses two critical factors – timing and reliability. Through its adoption, municipal and school officials can have the information they need to make timely decisions about their budgets, and they can count on specific amounts of aid, at a minimum, to be there when they need them.
The timing of the resolution is critical, since municipal and school budgets must be acted upon and approved by local legislative bodies well in advance of the July 1st deadline for the implementation of the state budget for the coming fiscal year.
