Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

Below, please find the local aid numbers released in today’s Senate Ways and Means FY13 budget proposal.  The Senate will debate the budget next week. For more background on local aid issues, please follow this link. Anne Johnson, Committee Counsel and Policy Advisor Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger

I’m glad the local aid is being increased, but I’m very concerned about the cuts being made to other services that need to be funded at a state level, like gang violence prevention.  Mental health, the area in which I work, is still being badly hurt by previous cuts which have not yet been restored, [...]

The House Ways and Means Committee has released its draft budget. The draft increases both General Government and Chapter 70 aid. If we are able to hold these increases on the Senate side, all of my communities will benefit.

I transmitted today my annual statement of budget priorities to the Senate Ways and Means Chair.

The Governor released local aid numbers last week. Most communities see little change, but a few communities, including Arlington, see substantial Chapter 70 increases.

While I voted against the gambling bill, I think that we got a number of other good things done in this session. The biggest may be the redistricting plan which has been widely praised for the increase it creates in the number of districts from which minority candidates may potentially be elected.

It appears that surpluses in FY11 state budget line items have been sufficient to allow for a planned distribution of additional local aid to cities and towns.

The Governor has signed the budget, making no spending changes and relatively few changes in “outside sections.” He did send back the municipal health care reform provisions with four narrow changes.

Highlights of the final budget include good local aid results, strong municipal health reform, limited spending with no new taxes, moderate reforms of the public counsel system and relatively good funding for a number of high priority human services.

The final budget comes in at the high side of expectations as to local aid.

I’ll be reporting on budget issues to the Belmont town meeting on May 9.

The House Ways and Means Committee released its budget draft today. It matches the Governor’s local aid numbers.

The legislature today approved final Chapter 90 numbers, increasing aid by roughly 29% for most communities.

Chapter 90 funding for the coming fiscal year is likely to be increased by 29%, which will provide a modest additional amount for each of my communities.

An economist at the Federal Reserve bank of Boston has recently been doing work on the relative need for local aid of communities. Bo Zhao‘s work was the subject of a recent presentation at the state house. Mr. Zhao computes a municipal funding gap per capita based on estimates of local needs per capita — [...]

I sent my annual priorities statement to the House Ways and Means Committee today.

Arlington has lost aid, but is still getting more aid than most comparable communities.

In a presentation this evening to the Belmont Board of Selectmen, I will be discussing the outlook for local aid. I will also be discussing prospects for legislation on employee benefit costs and on education innovation.

The Governor released his fiscal 2012 budget last week. Proposed local aid cuts are not as bad as many had feared, but the final outcome of the budget process remains very uncertain at this stage.

These funds are flowing directly from the federal government through state executive branch agencies to schools. They are apparently not subject to legislative action at either the state or local level.