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Massachusetts state budget (2010-2011)

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Note: This article was last updated in 2011. Click here for more recent information on state budgets and finances.


Massachusetts' state legislature passed the $28 billion state budget for FY2011 on June 24, 2010. The fiscal year began on July 1, 2010.[1] The House approved the budget bill 120-28 and it passed 33-7 in the Senate.[2] Gov. Deval Patrick signed the budget the same day.[3]

Going into the fiscal year the state had a total state debt of $61,515,259,052 when calculated by adding the total of outstanding debt, pension and OPEB UAAL’s, unemployment trust funds and the 2010 budget gap as of July 2010.[4]

2011 State spending & deficit in billions[5]
Total spending Health and human services Education Protection Independents Administration Housing
$29.4 $15.3 $5.7 $1.5 $3 $3.1 $0.32
2011 Local spending & deficit in billions[6]
Total spending Pension Healthcare Education Welfare Protection Transport Deficit
$38.6 $2.1 $1.4 $12.4 $1.7 $3.2 $3.4 $21.5

Fiscal Year 2011 State Budget

Find the state’s FY2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) compiled by the state government online.[7]

Massachusetts' original FY2011 budget was $29.4 billion, but the legislature passed a series of supplemental budgets over the course of the fiscal year and state spending ultimately totaled $31.4 billion in FY2011.[3] Tax collections for FY2011 exceeded projections by $723 million.[8]

Supplemental budget

The supplemental budget was passed by the House and also by the Senate.[1] Healthcare spending, most of which was for Medicaid, was 37% of the state budget, up from when it was 21% of the budget in 2000.[9] Lawmakers approved $258 million more in the last week of 2010.[9][10] The supplemental budget bill spent $203 million in one-time federal funds on Medicaid programs as well as $195 million in federal funds to replace planned spending from the state’s rainy day fund. The bill also allocated $5 million for State Police and approximately $25 million for the Department of Corrections.[10] The governor's budget chief said that “no additional level of state revenue’’ was necessary to support the spending in the bill.[1]

Budget background

See also: Massachusetts state budget and finances

Massachusetts' fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. According to the Massachusetts Constitution, the Governor must propose a budget for the next fiscal year within 3 weeks after the Legislature convenes, which translates into the 4th Wednesday of January. This year, that date fell on Wednesday, January 28, 2009.[11]

Step 1 : Governor’s Budget

  • The budget begins as a bill that the Governor submits in January (or February if at the start of a new term) to the House of Representatives.

Step 2 : House Ways & Means Budget

  • The House Ways and Means Committee reviews this budget and then develops its own recommendation.

Step 3 : House Budget

  • Once debated, amended and voted on by the full House, it becomes the House budget bill.

Step 4 : Senate Ways & Means Budget

  • At this point, the House passes its bill to the Senate. The Senate Ways & Means Committee reviews that bill and develops its own recommendation.

Step 5 : Senate Budget

  • Once debated, amended and voted on, it becomes the Senate's budget bill.

Step 6 : Conference Committee Budget

  • House and Senate leadership then assign members to a joint "conference committee" to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate bills. Once that work was completed, the conference committee returns its bill to the House for a vote. If the House makes any changes to the bill, it must return the bill to the conference committee to be renegotiated. Once approved by the House, the budget passes to the Senate, which then votes its approval.

Step 7 : Vetoes

  • From there, the Senate passes the bill to the Governor who had ten days to review and approve it, or make vetoes or reductions. The Governor may approve or veto the entire budget, or may veto or reduce certain line items or sections, but may not add anything.

Step 8 : Overrides

  • The House and Senate may vote to override the Governor's vetoes. Overrides require a two-thirds majority in each chamber.

Step 9 : Final Budget

  • The final budget was also known as the General Appropriations Act. The final budget consists of the Conference Committee version, minus any vetoes, plus any overrides.[12]

Budget figures

Massachusetts FY2011 state budget summary and comparison[13]

Category FY08 Spend FY09 Spend FY10 Original FY10 Estimate FY 11 w/ Federal $ FY 11 w/o Federal $ Difference FY10 Est. & FY11 w/o Federal $
Healthcare 9,646.9 10,300.7 10,333.1 10,838.8 11,211.8 11,013.4 174.6
Local Government Support 5,748.0 5,821.3 5,504.3 5,488.0 5,351.0 5,322.2 -165.8
Other Education 1,633.5 1,647.4 1,604.9 1,587.1 1,495.1 1,455.6 -131.5
Human Services 4,936.1 4,953.6 4,812.1 4,794.6 4,818.8 4,720.7 -73.9
Public Safety 2,460.3 2,425.3 2,134.3 2,340.0 2,249.0 2,225.1 -114.9
Transportation 289.3 312.8 220.1 206.3 225.7 225.7 19.4
Economic Development 518.7 374.0 325.5 302.8 309.8 298.7 -4.1
Capital Support 2,039.2 2,055.9 2,198.1 2,173.9 2,065.0 2,064.3 -109.5
Other/General Government 631.4 689.0 488.6 477.5 494.8 477.1 -0.3
Sub-Total 30,537.3 31,247.7 30,446.6 31,034.1 31,357.4 30,939.2 -94.9
Budget Transfers 1,407.0 1,397.6 1,550.2 1,518.1 1,571.4 1,571.4 53.3
TOTAL 31,944.3 32,645.3 31,996.8 32,552.2 32,928.8 32,510.6 -41.6


The following table presents Massachusetts' spending history. The figures used were in millions of dollars:[14]

Fiscal Year Nominal Government Spending Real Government Spending Real Change from Prior Year
2008 31,694.416[14] 34,213.722[14] 0.1%
2007 29,913.923[14] 34,194.834[14] 7.5%
2006 26,592.198[14] 31,811.763[14] 0.6%
2005 24,846.982[14] 31,610.590[14] 0.8%
2004 23,331.771[14] 31,350.891[14] -2.2%
2003 23,011.620[14] 32,046.556[14] -4.7%
2002 23,289.777[14] 33,617.370[14] 0.7%
2001 22,655.934[14] 33,396.954[14] n/a

Historic General Appropriation Act (GAA) Budget Levels:[15]

FY 2010 $27.0 billion
FY 2009 $28.2 billion
FY 2008 $26.8 billion
FY 2007 $25.7 billion

Accounting principles

Mr. Joseph DeNucci had been the Massachusetts Auditor of the Commonwealth since 1987. The Office of the Auditor of the Commonwealth published their audit reports online and was responsible for:[16][17]

  • Determining whether the Commonwealth's resources were properly safeguarded;
  • Determining whether such resources were properly and prudently used;
  • Evaluating internal controls to help insure integrity in financial management systems;
  • Determines whether computer systems and technology environment meet control objectives regarding security, integrity, and availability;
  • Evaluating management's economy and efficiency in it use of resources;
  • Determining and evaluating a program's results, benefits, or accomplishments; and
  • Ensuring that all audit results were fully disclosed to the public and the auditees.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Boston Herald "Legislature approves $28B budget" June 25, 2010 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "approves" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ The Patriot Ledger "Legislature approves $27.6 billion budget" June 24, 2010
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ABC News "Gov. Patrick Signs $27.6B 2011 Mass. State Budget" June 30, 2010 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "signs" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ State Budget Solutions “States Hide Trillions in Debt” July 22, 2010
  5. ↑ Mass.gov, FY 2011 Budget Summary
  6. ↑ USA Spending, State Guesstimated* Government Spending
  7. ↑ FY2011 CAFR
  8. ↑ The Boston Globe "Mass. House boosts state reserves" Oct. 5, 2011
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named looms
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Forbes "Mass. Senate Republicans allow $420M bill to pass" Oct. 8, 2010
  11. ↑ The Official Web site of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, accessed October 26, 2009
  12. ↑ The Official Web site of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, accessed October 26, 2009
  13. ↑ The Boston Globe "Mass. FY2011 state budget summary" June 25, 2010
  14. ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 14.14 14.15 14.16 Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, Online Budget Database, results derived when searching for "Select All Items" between the years 2001 and 2008
  15. ↑ Massachusetts Office of Administration and Finance, "Historical Budget Summary," accessed October 26, 2009
  16. ↑ Office of the Auditor of the Commonwealth, "Authority/Responsibility," accessed October 26, 2009
  17. ↑ audit reports
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