Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday unveiled a $62 billion budget proposal that includes dedicating millions for the MBTA, education costs and infrastructure, while making some healthcare cuts.
The governor billed the proposal as “fiscally sustainable” and said this budget, like those she’s signed in past years, addresses some major challenges.
“There are issues like housing costs, transportation, infrastructure [that] for far too many years have been neglected and allowed to grow worse. But we’ve refused to kick the can down the road,” Healey said during a State House press briefing.
She said her goal is to get the most out of taxpayer dollars as costs increase across a number of sectors.
“We’re controlling spending and tightening our belts just as any other family or business has to do,” Healey said.
The plan increases spending by 2.6% over the current fiscal year, which Healey and her aides noted is below the rate of inflation.
The budget will tap just over a billion dollars collected from the Fair Share Amendment, aka the millionaire’s tax, which will be filed in a separate supplemental spending proposal. Much of that is slated for the MBTA, and the agency will also get another half a billion dollars from the regular budget.
The budget will continue to fund several education initiatives including the Student Opportunity Act, free school lunch and free community college.
The governor proposed the same $325 million in spending for emergency shelters, which previously put a strain on state funding and resources.
MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, has ballooned to a caseload about a quarter of a million cases above pre-pandemic levels, and will need to be reined in, according to the budget.
Some tools will include cutting administrative costs and adjusting rates charged by providers. There are more than two million MassHealth members, including 45% of Massachusetts children.
The Department of Mental Health will also be impacted by cuts with proposed case manager layoffs or reassignments. Some department programming will be consolidated as Pappas Rehabilitation Center for Children is slated to close and move services out to western Massachusetts.
“Deep cuts to mental health services and our state’s hospitals would be incredibly harmful at a time when those systems are already understaffed and overstretched,” Raise Up Massachusetts said in a statement. “Massachusetts families cannot afford these budget cuts, but as a state, we can afford to stop them.”
Healey said it’s her intent that services won’t be disrupted.
“There’s a reason that Massachusetts is number one in health care. We prioritize health care and we prioritize human services,” she said.
Other highlights from Healey’s proposed budget are sections that would allow the use of speed cameras and make candy subject to the sales tax.
Under Healey’s proposal, the Department of Transportation would be allowed to work with cities and towns to establish traffic camera systems, with locations approved by local officials. The cameras would automatically issue warnings or fines to drivers who are going at least 11 mph over the posted limit, or at least 6 mph over the limit in a school zone. A driver would receive a warning on first offense, but Healey proposed fines of $25 for subsequent violations and $100 for drivers who are going 25 mph or more over the limit.
As for candy, Healey wants to remove an existing sales tax exemption.
“What this is doing is simply saying you go to the grocery store instead of having candy treated like a purchase of bread and eggs and milk — you know, essential groceries — that candy is now going to be treated in the same way as when you go to the bakery in the back of the grocery store and pick up cupcakes for your kids,” Healey said.
When asked if she feared a loss in federal funding under the new Trump administration, Healey said, “We’re full steam ahead.”
The budget proposal will now head to the Legislature. Historically, the process takes months, with lawmakers proposing their changes and then going back to the governor.
