Rep. Miceli, Ways and Means Committee Steam Ahead on FY17 Budget

TEWKSBURY, MA - The Ways and Means Committee is rapidly making up for lost time in developing the Fiscal Year 2017 budget for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the programs that stem from the state government.

Meeting in Medford, Norton, and the Massachusetts State House numerous agencies including the Department of Corrections, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and the Department of Public Health have all stepped forward to testify on their budget needs, revenue projections, and improvements to programs over the last fiscal year.

“This is a great opportunity for us in the legislature to hear what these groups have and have not accomplished over the past year,” said Representative Miceli upon the conclusion of the Medford hearing, which focused on the topics of health and human services. “Today I was able to hear about how programs are helping to end to the opiate crisis, and then I was also able to inquire about how Masshealth is preventing fraudulent claims before asking about how our Department of Public Health is ensuring restaurants are abiding by the health code. These meetings are more than budget projections; it gives us a venue to ask a wide variety of questions to the commissioners themselves.”

Several topics have been inquired by lawmakers before numerous agencies, as the complexity of the issues have required a multi-faceted approach. These included the joint efforts between the Department of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, and the judicial branch in seeking addiction treatment for those suffering from the opiate crisis, and the partnership between the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Department of Veterans Services in helping to place the last of the homeless veterans into stable housing. Topics and departments highly anticipated and scheduled in the coming weeks include education, rail and road transportation, and aid for local libraries.