Spending deficiencies expected later in the year
When Gov. Charlie Baker filed a $279 million supplemental budget bill on July 8, he told lawmakers in a letter that the bill contained "urgent matters" and asked that they pass it promptly.
The House referred the bill to its Ways and Means Committee where it has remained since. Asked this week if any spending accounts had run dry or whether the administration faced near-term problems because of inaction on the bill, a Baker administration budget spokesman didn't address pressing needs.
"We filed a FY17 supplemental budget in July to address known deficiencies in several accounts and $5 million in additional spending we believe is necessary for opioid-related programs. We continue to communicate with the legislature about the funding contained within that bill.” Garrett Quinn, spokesman for Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore, wrote in an emailed response.
Most of the requested spending in the bill (H 4506) is for accounts that are expected to run short of money later in fiscal 2017, which started July 1 and ends on June 30, 2017, according to an administration official who agreed to communicate on background only.
Paying those expected bills, which range from nearly $113 for MassHealth to $42 million in indigent defense costs and $28 million for county sheriffs, is complicated by two facts. Since Baker asked for the funding, the Legislature reversed $231.6 million in Baker budget vetoes, packing spending on an array of priorities back into the budget, and tax collections continue to trail even downgraded benchmarks.
Also, the administration is closely monitoring withholding and sales tax collections because those categories have shown poor performance so far this fiscal year. "For the last couple of months we've seen some weakness in withholding growth and general sales tax growth," Administration and Finance chief of staff Dominick Ianno told local officials Tuesday. "We're growing, just not as quickly as anticipated. So we're keeping a close eye on that."
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