Senate plows forward, but budget reckoning appears nearer

Yahoo

25-05-2025

BOSTON (SHNS) – Hours after U.S. House Republicans passed a landmark bill featuring deep tax cuts and spending reductions, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues signaled his branch will continue debating its fiscal 2026 budget that does not account for any federal funding losses.
On a 215-214 vote early Thursday morning, the U.S. House passed a bill that would extend President Donald Trump's tax cuts from his first term, slash SNAP benefits funding by about $267 billion over the next decade, and reduce Medicaid spending by nearly $700 billion, according to the Associated Press.
The vote came just before the Massachusetts Senate dove into the third day of annual budget deliberations. Rodrigues told reporters he had yet to scrutinize the action out of Congress when the Senate got going around 10 a.m.
'We have not had a chance to analyze it, deep analyze it,' Rodrigues said when asked how that U.S. House package may affect his thinking about the state's spending plans for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Beacon Hill budget-writers have baked nearly $16 billion in federal dollars into their packages. Rodrigues said that 'as the days go on' his committee staff will take a 'close look' at the sweeping federal policy proposal.
Debate on the federal bill is moving to the U.S. Senate. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday his goal is to get a bill to Trump's desk by July 4, and said senators should be mindful of a 'delicate equilibrium.'
'I encourage them to remember that we have a very delicate equilibrium that we reached on here,' Johnson said. 'A lot of work went into this to find exactly the right balance. You all saw how perilous that was over the last week, as it developed. And I encourage our Senate colleagues to think of this as a one-team effort as we have, and to modify this as little as possible, because it will make it easier for us to get it over the line ultimately and finished, and get it to the president's desk by July 4.'
The timetable is important, he said, due to the need to deliver tax relief to people 'as soon as possible.'
The federal bill, should it come together in the way that Republicans hope, would force Rodrigues and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz to reevaluate state revenue and spending assumptions.
'I don't know if we'll pause,' Rodrigues said. 'We will deal with the facts once we know the facts. Chair Michlewitz and I are ready to adjust if needed to adjust. But we have to assess that once we know the facts.'
On rare occasions, state budget writers have changed revenue assumptions and made other adjustments in conference committee, after the branches have approved their respective budgets.
'Right now there's so much speculation and rumor,' the Westport Democrat said. 'We see what the House did in Congress. The Senate has yet to act — that has to go through their reconciliation process. So we will deal with the facts once we know the facts, and we're prepared to deal with them in a responsible manner.'
Increasingly, public officials are putting their analysis on the public record.
MassHealth officials said last week that Massachusetts is in jeopardy of losing more than $1 billion annually, with hundreds of thousands of residents at risk of losing coverage.
U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan said the GOP reconciliation bill will cause 14 million Americans to lose health insurance coverage, including 270,000 people in Massachusetts.
She said it 'slashes $3.7 billion from MassHealth, threatening health care for children, seniors, and working families.' An aide said $3.7 billion represents the amount Massachusetts could lose over 10 years based on a 10% cut to a federal matching rate to states that provide coverage to migrants.
'The way things are playing out between Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill, there aren't great choices for lawmakers here right now because of the uncertainty,' Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, told the News Service on Thursday.
Horowitz said Massachusetts may dodge Medicaid funding formula changes, but work requirements for able-bodied MassHealth enrollees may create a de facto eligibility change that would trim program enrollment. The biggest factor for lawmakers, he said, is the macroeconomic situation and impacts of tariffs on tax revenue. Negative impacts, he said, could make it likely that Gov. Maura Healey might have to cut next year's budget.
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Doug Howgate said Massachusetts is adjusting to dealing with the uncertainty that comes with the Trump administration and will know more about federal tax and spending policies in the fall, but should stick to its plan to aim for a new budget by July.
'Having a budget on the books for the start of the fiscal year is absolutely the right way to go,' he said.
Howgate said that as the overseer of the executive branch, Healey would be in a position to manage spending and perhaps make unilateral adjustments next fiscal year. But the former top Beacon Hill budget aide also said a 'coordinated partnership' between Healey's fiscal team and the House and Senate Ways and Means committees is important since some adjustments may require the passage of legislation.
The debate on the U.S. House bill showed just how differently it is viewed by Republicans and Democrats.
'The left doesn't like this bill. That tells you it's a good bill,' Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said. 'This bill is about fundamental conservative principles, regular things that the American people appreciate. This bill cuts taxes. This bill requires work for able-bodied adults in our welfare system. This bill gives school choice to parents. This bill secures the border. We're the party that believes in letting moms and dads keep more of their money to spend on their goals and their dreams.'
Congressman Richard Neal of Springfield warned the bill would require $4 trillion in borrowing for tax cuts that will 'overwhelmingly go to people at the very top, including the billionaire class.'
'The American people don't buy this because they know where these tax cuts are going and intended to help people at the top, when it is really the people at the bottom and then the middle who need help,' Neal said in floor remarks delivered at around 5:10 a.m. 'So hospitals are going to close, children are going to go hungry. Health care is going to be denied, but the billionaire class is going to pick up a considerable number of dollars. And again, the number that I cited earlier, if you make a million dollars, you pick up 90,000 additional dollars. It's almost 10%. And if you make under $50,000, Mr. Speaker, you're getting a buck a day? That's what this tax package means?'
State senators on Tuesday and Wednesday processed most of the 1,058 annual budget amendments, adding about $74 million to the $61.32 billion bottom line. The Senate is likely to finalize its budget bill Thursday.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.