By School Committeeman Roberto Jimenez
Last week, the State Legislature unveiled the initial draft for the 2021-2022 state budget. I was happy to see that they had fixed Governor Baker’s budget proposal, which did not get us on track to fully fund the Student Opportunity Act (SOA). Signed in 2019, the SOA is supposed to infuse over $2 billion per year into Massachusetts schools by 2027, but due to COVID-19 these funds were delayed. The State Legislature’s proposal technically gets us back on track, but also leaves us with a big pandemic-related problem: there are over 31,000 students missing from the budget, resulting in a $90 million hole in the statewide schools budget.
State Rep. Dan Ryan Latest Boston Elected To Endorse Santiago For Mayor
Charlestown Representative Joins Growing List of Boston Electeds to Back Jon Santiago for Mayor
Mayoral candidate and South End State Rep. Jon Santiago has earned the endorsement of another Boston legislator, with Charlestown State Rep. Dan Ryan joining the Santiago campaign for mayor this week.
“I’m proud to support Jon Santiago for Mayor and am excited to begin campaigning side by side with him,” said Ryan. “Dr. Santiago is a proven leader of teams, a passionate public servant, and frontline healthcare worker that we need in this moment for our city. Jon is uniquely positioned to lead our city through these challenging times and chart a full and equitable recovery for Boston.”
With the House expected to debate next yearâs budget the week of April 26, public education funding is shaping up to be one of the most prominent topics of discussion.
Lawmakers and educators are concerned over the enrollment numbers budget writers used to implement the Student Opportunity Act, which was intended to pump $1.5 billion into K-12 districts over seven years when it was passed in 2019.
House leaders, in their annual budget recommendation released Wednesday, proposed a $219.6 million increase in aid to districts as they seek to implement that law. But the use of October 2020 enrollment numbers, which counted 37,396 fewer students than in October 2019, means districts would miss out on $130 million that they could have received under 2019 numbers, critics say.
Without cutting services or raising taxes on individuals, Massachusetts House leaders have proposed to increase spending to $47.65 billion in their Wednesday budget recommendation for the 2022 fiscal year.
That spending level marks a 2.6 percent increase from the current yearâs budget and a 3.9 percent increase from what Gov. Charlie Baker proposed in January, although some lawmakers still have concerns with public education funding levels. Higher-than-expected revenue collections and increased federal health care reimbursements allow for the $1.189 billion bump in spending from this yearâs budget, lawmakers said.
The stateâs revenue picture has improved to a point that is ânot a place we thought we would be a year ago,â said state Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, which released the recommendation.
The $47.65 billion spending plan the House proposed Wednesday for fiscal year 2022 includes none of the roughly $4.5 billion in federal aid coming to Massachusetts and attempts to give the state a solid foundation for its post-pandemic rebound, House leaders said.
The House Ways and Means Committee s budget recommendation, which is expected to be debated the week of April 26, would increase spending by $1.189 billion, or 2.6 percent over the current year s budget, and proposes to spend $1.792 billion, or 3.9 percent, more than Gov. Charlie Baker recommended in his January budget filing.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano said his first budget does not include tax hikes on individuals, does not cut services and makes investments where we think they will have the greatest impact in benefitting our residents. Notably, the House proposal would boost funding for tourism promotion, and does not include Baker s plan to penalize pharmaceutical companies for excessive drug price increases, whic