BOSTON — Money for free community college, regional transportation and increased spending on housing and child care are among the highlights of the Senate’s version of next year’s budget, which was rolled out Tuesday.
The $59.7 billion Senate budget is slightly more than a spending plan approved by the House of Representatives about two weeks ago, and boosts local aid to communities in the next fiscal year by $38.1 million to nearly $1.3 billion.
Meanwhile, it increases Chapter 70 funding for schools by $316 million to more than $6.9 billion. That would fully fund the third year of the Student Opportunity Act, which was approved by the Legislature in 2019. The law calls for diverting $1.5 billion to schools over seven years.
The plan also proposes spending $1.3 billion in proceeds from the newly enacted “millionaires tax” by divvying up the money for a range of education and transportation programs and new initiatives.
The voter-approved law, which went into effect last year, set a 4% surtax on incomes above $1 million.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues said the plan makes targeted investments in higher education, transportation, and reflects the upper chamber’s efforts to make the state “more affordable, equitable and competitive.”
“It maximizes and continues to build on the progress we’ve made in key sectors of the state economy,” the Westport Democrat told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.
The Senate’s budget doesn’t call for raising taxes or new fees, and pumps more money into the state’s reserves or rainy day fund, which would bring the total to more than $9 billion by the end of the fiscal year.
A key provision of the Senate budget calls for spending $117.5 million to offer free community college for all Massachusetts residents, and another $28 million for stipends for low-income community college students to cover the cost of books, transportation and child care, among other expenses.
The plan would earmark $214 million for the state’s 15 regional transit authorities – including $40 million to provide bus service free of charge to passengers. Several RTAs, including the Merrimack Valley Transit Authority, have been offering free and discounted bus service under pilot programs.
Increased funding for expanding child care, health care, housing and mental health services also are part of the Senate’s proposal.
The House approved a nearly $58 billion budget that includes new spending on public transportation, public safety, environmental protection, health care and housing. Healey unveiled a $56.1 billion budget in January that calls for capping spending increases at 2.9% across the board, citing the state’s declining revenue collections.
Lawmakers are debating the spending plan amid concerns about the state’s finances, with taxes and other revenue coming in below benchmarks in recent months, and with federal pandemic aid drying up.
Healey wielded her executive powers in February to slash $375 million from the current fiscal year budget to close a gap between spending and revenue.
Senate President Karen Spilka said the spending plan calls for making “key investments,” but shows fiscal restraint as “prudent stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
“Revenues rise and fall, but this is not the time to take our foot off the pedal when it comes to making investments in our residents that will improve quality of life, build a world-class workforce and keep people in Massachusetts so they can live, work and raise a family,” the Ashland Democrat told reporters on Tuesday.
Senators are expected to file hundreds of proposed amendments to the budget ahead of debate on the spending bill next week, which could drive up the bill’s final price tag. The fiscal year begins July 1.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.