Colin A. Young
State House News Service
Two days before the start of fiscal year 2027, a budget is on the move in the House.
It's not the $63.4 billion fiscal year 2027 annual budget that's been in a conference committee for about a month, but rather the $7.7 billion interim budget (H 5534) that Gov. Maura Healey filed a week ago. She had requested lawmakers send it back to her by Friday, June 26 "to ensure that the Commonwealth will be able to meet its payment obligations without delays."
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the bill 30-0 Monday morning, ahead of an 11 a.m. House session where the bill seems likely to pass. The interim budget is also on the Senate's agenda for Monday.
The temporary budget extends capital accounts that would otherwise expire, allows advance local aid payments to be made in cases of emergency cash shortfalls, and "provides the spending authorization to maintain necessary services through July 31, 2026, pending the passage of the General Appropriation Act." Spending undertaken under the interim budget will be applied against the annual budget.
The House and Senate both plan to meet in formal sessions Wednesday, the first day of fiscal year 2027. The House has told representatives to prepare for possible formals each other day of the week, too, a sign that leadership thinks a deal on the full fiscal 2027 budget is close or a way to ratchet up the pressure on the six-lawmaker conference committee hashing out the compromise budget.
As of Monday morning, only 11 states had yet to enact a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. The last time a governor here was able to sign a budget into law before the fiscal year began was in 2010.