The prime finances author within the Massachusetts Senate stated Wednesday he was “not surprised” when he realized Gov. Maura Healey’s administration predicted it could spend almost $1 billion on the emergency shelter system in fiscal yr 2025.
Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, who’s tasked with shaping lots of the main monetary payments within the chamber, stated there have been discussions “a few months ago” that made clear the system housing homeless households with kids and pregnant folks would wish extra money.
But the huge spend in fiscal yr 2025, and a projected finances hole of $224 million this fiscal yr, come as state tax revenues within the first months of fiscal yr 2024 have are available under expectation.
Rodrigues stated he understands there are monetary challenges forward for Massachusetts however the state is in “good fiscal shape.”
“We’ve been very responsible through the years that we’ve received an amazing amount of revenue increases, a lot of it as a result of hundreds of billions of federal dollars that have flowed into the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” he stated whereas ticking off numerous funds lawmakers have constructed up, together with the roughly $8 billion wet day account.
Two studies up to now two weeks have outlined the monetary challenges of the emergency help shelter system, which is housing each native homeless households and newly arrived migrants who had been lawfully allowed into the United States by the federal authorities.
In the primary report back to the Legislature’s two budget-writing committees, Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz and Housing Secretary Ed Augustus proposed utilizing leftover surplus revenues from the COVID-19 pandemic to cowl the shelter system’s finances deficit this fiscal yr and pay down some prices within the subsequent.
It is a proposal that has drawn hesitant remarks from legislative Republicans, who forged doubt on a plan to empty a $700 million transitional escrow account on the shelter system.
Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat, stated the Senate will take into account the thought from the administration — which Healey stated will likely be formally filed as laws someday early this yr — however stopped wanting providing an opinion on it.
“We protect our reserve funds, whether it’s transitional escrow or the state fund,” Rodrigues stated. “We work very hard, we’ve been very responsible in building up these reserve funds and we’re going to think long and hard about how we expend any of those reserve funds.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”