The Senate, the House, and the Governor have each proposed to raise new revenue to support some new investments. The House and Senate proposals focus largely on transportation. The Governor’s plan raises significantly more revenue to increase funding for college scholarship and early education & care, among other things.
This brief describes the FY 2014 House proposal for MassHealth (Medicaid) and other subsidized health coverage programs. The House allocates $13.38 billion to these programs, about $221 million (1.6 percent) less than the Governor had proposed. As in the Governor’s budget, the House bill reflects the significant changes to health care programs that will occur midway through the fiscal year, when central provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act take effect. This brief is the second in a series of reports describing the effect of each budget proposal on Health Care programs in Massachusetts. The briefs are produced by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center in partnership with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute–and published by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute (MMPI).
Law & Public Safety programs help us keep our communities safe and our economy growing. The House budget proposal for FY 2014 would slightly reduce funding for those programs. That includes significant cuts to Indigent Defense and Shannon Grants, but also increases in other areas.
Quality Early Education & Care helps prepare kids for success in school and in life. The House budget would cut funding for Early Ed. & Care by $11 million–on top of the already-steep cuts that have been made since 2001.
Most of the differences between the House budget and the Ways & Means proposal amount to small, targeted funding increases. There is some restoration of the Ways & Means cuts to Early Education & Care and Youth Empowerment programs.
Public Health helps to ensure the health and well-being of children in Massachusetts. Since 2001, overall funding for Public Health programs that support children has been cut 30%. The HWM budget includes further cuts to these programs.
The Youth Empowerment programs that we organize through our government help young people find jobs, break from cycles of violence, and build careers. The House Ways & Means budget for FY 2014 would cut funding for these programs by 50 percent.
The House Ways & Means Budget for FY 2014 | Although the House Ways & Means budget does include some new funding for Higher Education, Transportation, and Local Aid, the Governor’s budget provided larger investments to address the long-term needs of our communities and our state economy.
The Joint Ways & Means transportation package uses a combination of new tax revenue and increased fees to shore up MBTA finances and move MassDOT employees from the capital budget to the operating budget. It is significantly smaller than the Governor’s earlier transportation package and it does not include the Governor’s investments in education.
Every career begins with a first job. In recent years, it has gotten harder for young people in Massachusetts to find that first job. In fact, nearly 1 in 7 is unemployed. In order to help young people find work and train for careers, our state government has created a number of job placement and training programs