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Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Senate today approved a fiscal 2013 state budget bill that would increase payments for the main municipal and school aid accounts by $278 million over the fiscal 2012 level of funding and $132 million over the amount proposed by the governor in January.
In his budget message, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Stephen Brewer wrote that the hallmark of the committee recommendation “is the commitment to fulfilling promises to our cities, towns and school districts. This commitment is reflected in major sources of local aid, such as special education, Chapter 70 and Unrestricted General Government Aid, as well as smaller grant programs that give our communities the tools they need to meet their unique challenges.”
Key features of the Senate’s budget bill include $900 million in funding for Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA), adding $66 million to the base Cherry Sheet distribution from last year; $4.17 billion for the Chapter 70 education aid program, an increase of $180 million over the fiscal 2012 amount and $35 million more than the governor’s recommendation; and $242 million to fully fund the special education “circuit breaker” reimbursements.
During debate, Senate members added almost $2 million to the budget committee recommendation for reimbursements to regional school districts for student transportation costs, bringing the total to $43.5 million, the same as the House. Senate members also added funding for the METCO program and the state’s signature anti-gang program.
The Senate rejected amendments opposed by the MMA that would have changed state collective bargaining law to weakened certain basic municipal management rights and would have diverted municipal aid to cover the state’s share of the Police Incentive Pay Program (Quinn Bill).
While the Senate budget bill and the spending plan approved by the House in April would appropriate very similar amounts for the UGGA municipal aid account, there are some significant differences in funding for education accounts that will have to be resolved by a budget conference committee.
One key difference is the addition of $16.5 million by the Senate for Chapter 70 education aid in order to make a measure of progress on the equity-related “target share” provisions of the law. While both branches included sufficient funding to ensure a “foundation” level of school spending and an increase of at least $40 per student for all districts, the House did not include the target share feature.
The House and Senate also took different approaches to two other education aid accounts.
The Senate appropriation of $242 million for the special education “circuit breaker” program, to fully fund the state’s 75 percent share of eligible costs, is $21 million more than was included in the House budget.
The House included $11.3 million to reimburse cities and towns for the cost of transporting homeless students due to the state’s adoption of the federal McKinney-Vento Act, something that the state auditor determined is an unfunded state mandate. The Senate budget bill would require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to determine actual student transportation costs. Sen. Brewer said during debate on an amendment to fund the program that once costs have been certified, it would be the committee’s intent to recommend funding based on stable state finances.
A House-Senate conference committee will now work out the differences between the budget bills passed by each branch. A final legislative budget is scheduled to be sent to the governor in time for the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.