MassBudget Staff

Budget Brief: The House FY 2012 Budget Proposals for MassHealth and Related Programs

This Budget Brief on the House proposals for MassHealth and related health care programs is the third in a new series published by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute and produced by MassBudget in partnership with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. These fact sheets will be published at each stage of the budget process, examining and explaining the proposals put forth by the Governor, the House, and the Senate.

Budget Monitor: The House Ways & Means Fiscal Year 2012 Budget

The House Ways & Means (HWM) budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, like the Governor’s proposal, relies primarily on budget cuts and savings to close a $1.9 billion gap between the cost for maintaining current services and the revenue expected to be available in FY 2012. The HWM budget cuts somewhat more deeply than the Governor’s proposal in health care accounts, most significantly by eliminating the Commonwealth Care Bridge program that provides health insurance to close to 20,000 legal immigrants.

Budget Brief: The House Ways & Means FY 2012 Budget Proposals for MassHealth and Related Programs

This Budget Brief on the House Ways & Means proposals for MassHealth and related health care programs is the second in a new series being published by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute and produced by MassBudget in partnership with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. These fact sheets will be published at each stage of the budget process, examining and explaining the proposals put forth by the Governor, the House, and the Senate.

Impact of Proposed Federal Budget Cuts on Massachusetts’ Residents

Proposed legislation (H.R. 1) that funds the federal government through the final six months of Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 2011) cuts funding for non-security discretionary programs by $66 billion, or an average of 14.3 percent. Economists warn that these reductions in federal spending, including grants to states, could increase unemployment and weaken the national economy in the short-term. They will also significantly decrease funding for programs that invest in our state’s long-term economic health and in the well-being of our residents.

Demystifying the State Pension System

The Massachusetts State Board of Retirement, which administers the Massachusetts State Employees’ Retirement System (MERS), was established in 1911 as the second-oldest public pension system in the country. It began first as a pension plan for the state’s teachers and over time, it grew to include other state public sector employees.

Budget Brief: The Governor’s FY 2012 Budget Proposals for MassHealth and Related Programs

This Budget Brief on the Governor’s proposals for MassHealth and related health care programs is the first in a new series being published by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute and produced by MassBudget in partnership with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. These fact sheets will be published at each stage of the budget process, examining and explaining the proposals put forth by the Governor, the House, and the Senate.

Budget Monitor: The Governor’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget

In the coming fiscal year (Fiscal Year 2012) the state is facing a budget gap of approximately $1.9 billion between the cost of providing current services and the revenue projected to be available. The Governor’s budget (House 1) proposes closing this gap with a combination of deep cuts, significant reforms, limited use of reserve funds and other temporary revenues, and modest revenue initiatives.

MassBudget Brief: Fiscal Year 2012 Chapter 70 Education Aid Preview

While projecting Chapter 70 state education aid ahead of the formal budget process is always an inexact science, the precarious economic recovery and the termination of most federal recovery aid make predicting the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget particularly challenging. Of the $4.07 billion in Chapter 70 aid distributed in FY 2011 $221 million is federal recovery money–$21 million from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and $200 million from the Education Jobs Fund–none of which will be available for FY 2012. In addition to this uncertain revenue picture, a set of other variables further complicates projecting Chapter 70 funding, leading us to run a few separate projections, outlined in four sections of this paper.

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