MA Senate Committee Prioritizes Education, Reproductive Health In Hefty 2023 Budget

MASSACHUSETTS — The Massachusetts Senate's Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday submitted its proposed budget for fiscal year 2023. The $49.68 billion budget prioritizes education and health care, with funds set aside expressly for reproductive and mental health.

Despite Governor Baker's proposed tax breaks, the Committee did not address tax cuts.

"We’re gonna focus on working families and what provides the greatest amount of money back into the pockets of our working families," Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues said.

The Senate Committee's budget allocates $1.13 billion overall to support early education and care, including $17.5 million for the Healthy Families program, which offers support to young, first-time parents.

The budget also calls for a total of $6 billion to Chapter 70 state aid to public elementary and secondary schools — an increase of $495 million from fiscal year 2022. The amount would fully fund the second year of the Student Opportunity Act, which aims to ensure access to high-quality learning opportunities for every student in the state.

Funding for free school meals would not continue, however, diverging from the House's proposed budget, Boston Business Journal reported.

The Committee's budget would fund a total of $18.56 billion for MassHealth, providing comprehensive health care to children, seniors and low-income residents of the state.

In an effort to preserve the reproductive rights of Massachusetts residents as the Supreme Court decides whether to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Senate Committee's budget would provide $2 million for grants to improve reproductive health access. Experts warn it won't be enough, Politico reported.

The prevalence of anxiety and depression increased 25 percent worldwide during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. Recognizing the growing need for mental health support, the MA Senate Committee's budget allocates nearly $1 billion in mental health services.

Emphasizing local community resources, the budget invests $36 million for libraries, with $14.5 million for regional library local aid, and $22 million to support local arts, culture and creative economy initiatives.

More affordable transit passes could be on the horizon, with the Committee's proposed investment of $2.5 million toward "innovative fare reduction initiatives" across the state. Overall, the budget sets aside $96.5 million for regional public transportation systems.

The Senate Committee's budget now moves to the full Massachusetts Senate, which will debate its contents before proposing a budget of its own. After that, the state House and Senate appoint three members each to a Conference Committee to create a final budget to be reviewed by Governor Baker.