It’s become a Massachusetts tradition: start the new fiscal year without a final state budget in place.
Lawmakers are keeping the streak alive for the 13th year in a row, with a roughly $56 billion bill to fund all facets of state government still locked up in closed-door negotiations as fiscal 2024 dawns Saturday.
Aside from the yearslong pattern of missed deadlines, a few other factors complicate the process this year. The House and Senate are simultaneously trying to find a path forward on a long-awaited package of tax breaks, and the two branches also have significant differences on policy points like whether to authorize online Lottery sales.
This week’s host Katie Lannan discusses the holdup and its implications with Doug Howgate, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, and Lisa Kashinsky, author of Politico’s Massachusetts Playbook.
What keeps Beacon Hill from being able to meet its own deadlines? Send us a message at TalkingPolitics@wgbh.org, or share your thoughts via the Talking Politics page.
You can watch the discussion below right now, or catch the full show at 7 p.m. on GBH 2. Subscribe to the GBH News’ YouTube channel to get alerted to future episodes.
