House budget debate day 1 recap

Yahoo

30-04-2025

BOSTON (WWLP) – The State House of Representatives wrapped up their first day of budget negotiation on Monday, working through over a quarter of the bill's amendments, and tacking on $18.4 million in additional spending.
Budget debate always begins with tax considerations, and yesterday, tax cuts were shot down by both Democrats and some Republicans.
The afternoon was spent in closed-door meetings, before representatives came back to the chamber to pass a mega-amendment, adding $13 million in one unanimous vote. This amendment spans from veteran funding to education to food security.
After a dinner break, they passed a second mega-amendment with healthcare and independence and aging appropriations, adding $5 million, before breaking for the evening around 8:30.
Longmeadow Representative Brian Ashe says he is happy with how negotiations have gone so far, and explained one of the challenges with creating a balanced budget.
'There are so many legitimate and important requests, but there's only so much money, and there's always the uncertainty of the federal government, whether they are going to pull any of that funding back,' said Ashe.
One state representative told 22News that these House negotiations could go into the night, and could potentially be wrapped up before tomorrow.
Once the House wraps up, the Senate will create its draft, and the two branches will reconcile their differences before sending a final draft to Healey for her consideration at the beginning of July.
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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.