| "…the governor shall recommend to
the general court a budget which shall contain a statement of
all proposed expenditures of the commonwealth for the fiscal
year, including those already authorized by law, and of all
taxes, revenues, loans and other means by which such expenditures
shall be defrayed…All appropriations based upon the budget
to be paid from taxes or revenues shall be incorporated in a
single bill which shall be called the general appropriation
bill. The general court may increase, decrease, add or omit
items in the budget. |
 |
| -The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
excerpt from Article CVI, Sections 2 and 3 |
|
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts' annual operating budget is
nearly $23 billion dollars. Every year, the Governor, the House
of Representatives and the State Senate reflect on the recommendations
of state officials and citizens at large to collectively craft
a fiscal blueprint for the expenditure of our Commonwealth's
finite fiscal resources.
The process begins early in the year with the release of the
Governor's budget proposal, known as House 1. After soliciting
public input through hearings around the state, the Ways and
Means Committee of the House of Representatives then establishes
its own recommendation, which is usually released in April.
At this point, the full House of Representatives debates the
Ways and Means Committee's recommendation, and after considering
a number of amendments, they vote on the budget. The State Senate's
Ways and Means Committee then releases its budget proposal,
which the Senate then debates and amends. Finally, three members
of the House and three members of the Senate form a conference
committee to resolve the differences between the House and Senate
budget proposals. Each branch then votes on the conference committee
budget and it is then sent to the Governor to be signed into
law. The Governor generally vetoes certain portions of the budget
and sends them back to the House of Representatives. A two-thirds
vote of each branch is necessary to override each of the Governor's
vetoes. When the General Court overrides a veto, that section
of the budget becomes law despite the Governor's objection.
The date of completion for this process is June 30, the last
day of the fiscal year in order to allow the Commonwealth to
begin a new fiscal year with its budget in place. In those years
when the budget has not been completed by June 30, interim budgets
of two weeks to two months duration have been passed in order
to keep the state's various programs functioning.
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| For more information on the Budget Process, CLICK
HERE . |
