Massachusetts Legislators OK Governor's $1.47B Budget
BYLINE: Michelle Kaske
Massachusetts' lawmakers yesterday approved Gov. Deval Patrick's $1.47
billion bond bill for fiscal 2007.
The legislature aims to return the bill to Patrick for his signature
before the April 1 deadline when lawmakers will present to local governments
how much they will receive from the roughly $60 million of additional state
aid.
Although the House will need to act on further procedural votes, the
action allows the Senate to take up the bond bill immediately, with the bill
potentially reaching Patrick's desk today, according to Jim Isenberg,
spokesman for Robert DeLeo, D-Suffolk, chair of the House Ways and Means
Committee.
"Once the Senate engrosses it, that means both Houses have essentially
passed the bill, then we have to go through a couple of these procedural
votes which can and probably will happen [today] and then it can go to the
governor," Isenberg said.
Officials say the legislation is an immediate-needs bond bill that will
help secure $985.6 million of matching federal grant money that Massachusetts
will lose if the state does not authorize borrowing. The bill calls for the
state to borrow roughly $869 million overall for highways, local road and
bridges, along with $250 million for a psychiatric hospital in Worcester,
$125 million for critical repairs to state buildings, higher educational
institutions and other facilities, $100 million for mass transit
improvements, and $94.4 million for information-technology upgrades, among
other projects.
Murray plans on taking up the bond bill today, according to spokeswoman
Samantha Dallaire.
A previous bond bill filed by the former Gov. Mitt Romney for the current
fiscal year died in the Legislature when both the House and the Senate failed
to pass the revised $1.2 billion bond bill by the July 31 midnight deadline.
While Patrick's $1.47 billion capital plan is larger than the previous
bond bill, it includes transportation projects that the administration
usually drafts in a separate bond bill.
Separately, Therese Murray, D-Plymouth and Barnstable, became the first
female Senate president in the state's history. Murray, who is also chair of
the Senate Ways and Means Committee, is replacing former Senate President
Robert Travaglini, who is leaving public office to pursue a career in the
private sector.