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With the new fiscal year eight days away, House and Senate members saw their hopes of ratifying an annual state budget accord on Wednesday dashed as branch leaders continued to negotiate differences in $30.5 billion spending plans.
The House and Senate agreed to return Thursday without assurances that a deal will be ready. There’s still a chance that lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick can get the budget done by July 1 – a point of pride for those involved in crafting the bill – but the odds of that occurring grow smaller with each passing day.
In previous years, Patrick has signed the budget as many as 11 days into the fiscal year, although in 2009 and 2010, budgets were in place before July 1.
In past years, when work on the budget has not been completed on time, state officials have deployed temporary budgets to keep government running and give negotiators more time to work out differences. But one member of the conference committee negotiating the bills said he doesn’t see any of the acrimony or heated disagreements of previous eras that have forced delay.
“I don’t think we’re miles apart,” said Rep. Viriato DeMacedo (R-Plymouth), one of two Republicans negotiating a compromise. “It’s a very positive demeanor going back and forth as far as the conference committee. It’s just trying to find that balance. It’s fluid because one [decision] might have an effect on another. One decision could have an effect on the bottom line.”
While sharing much in common, including local aid cuts, no new taxes and calls for a sharp reduction in the rate of growth in health care spending, the House and Senate budgets differ widely on a number of policy initiatives, including municipal health insurance reforms, the repeal of a ban on gifts from pharmaceutical companies to doctors, sharp restrictions on the use of electroshock therapy for disabled children, overhauls of the state’s public counsel system, and a crackdown on illegal immigration.
With the new fiscal year eight days away, House and Senate members saw their hopes of ratifying an annual state budget accord on Wednesday dashed as branch leaders continued to negotiate differences in $30.5 billion spending plans.
The House and Senate agreed to return Thursday without assurances that a deal will be ready. There’s still a chance that lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick can get the budget done by July 1 – a point of pride for those involved in crafting the bill – but the odds of that occurring grow smaller with each passing day.
In previous years, Patrick has signed the budget as many as 11 days into the fiscal year, although in 2009 and 2010, budgets were in place before July 1.
In past years, when work on the budget has not been completed on time, state officials have deployed temporary budgets to keep government running and give negotiators more time to work out differences. But one member of the conference committee negotiating the bills said he doesn’t see any of the acrimony or heated disagreements of previous eras that have forced delay.
“I don’t think we’re miles apart,” said Rep. Viriato DeMacedo (R-Plymouth), one of two Republicans negotiating a compromise. “It’s a very positive demeanor going back and forth as far as the conference committee. It’s just trying to find that balance. It’s fluid because one [decision] might have an effect on another. One decision could have an effect on the bottom line.”
While sharing much in common, including local aid cuts, no new taxes and calls for a sharp reduction in the rate of growth in health care spending, the House and Senate budgets differ widely on a number of policy initiatives, including municipal health insurance reforms, the repeal of a ban on gifts from pharmaceutical companies to doctors, sharp restrictions on the use of electroshock therapy for disabled children, overhauls of the state’s public counsel system, and a crackdown on illegal immigration.
