Monday, March 9, 2015

Governor Baker’s State Budget Plan

Last week Governor Baker released his version of the FY’16 state fiscal budget, which offers a glimpse of many of his priorities as governor. Governor Baker’s plan comes at a difficult time with the Commonwealth facing a $1.8 billion budget shortfall.

His budget calls for the doubling of the state’s earned income tax credit to provide an economic boost to certain low-income individuals (the Senate Republican Caucus has been advocating for a similar measure for the past few years).

The Governor’s budget also increases two major accounts; transportation and local aid, with the MBTA receiving a $64.5 million increase to assist with the many issues that were exposed during this winter.

Governor Baker’s budget is a commonsense, straight forward plan that avoids raising any broad-based taxes. It’s an excellent first step in the legislative process of passing a state fiscal budget, which must be signed into law prior to July 1st. In April the House will begin debate of its version of the spending bill, and in May the Senate will debate its version.

To review the Governor’s budget proposal, please click here to be directed to the administration’s FY’16 budget page.