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.
FY12
Senate Budget Released
There are several items of local concern in the Senate Ways and Means Draft Budget released yesterday.
Belmont Town Meeting Presentation
I’ll be reporting on budget issues to the Belmont town meeting on May 9.
Additional Observations about the HWM Budget
Many state agencies have taken very deep cuts, but local aid, health and human services programs have largely been protected.
House Budget Spreadsheet
Two versions of a spreadsheet comparing the FY12 House Ways and Means budget to prior years are available: the long form includes summaries of the the data and some analysis …
Bar Advocates in the HWM Budget
The House Ways and Means Budget does not adopt the Governor’s proposal to fold the Committee for Public Counsel Services into the Executive Branch and eliminate bar advocates (contract attorneys), replacing them with 1000 new hires. It does attempt some cost-savings in indigent representation.