The most disputed aspect of the budget includes a measure that strips away some bargaining rights on health insurance for municipal employees.
BOSTON – The state House of Representatives on Thursday approved a dismal state budget for the next fiscal year, ending debate on a bill marked by reductions to local aid and human services.
The House voted 157-1 to approve $30.51 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The budget includes about $1.25 billion in cuts and savings initiatives and uses $200 million in reserves to help eliminate a budget gap caused by the loss of federal stimulus.
The budget now moves to the state Senate, which is scheduled to debate its version of the spending plan during the week of May 23.
The House added about $67 million over four days of debate, but the extra money wasn't enough to negate cuts to local aid, human services, state university campuses and other programs.
Rep. Sean Curran says the state budget is largely devoid of earmarks for local programs.Rep. Sean F. Curran, a Springfield Democrat, said House leaders kept a tight rein on spending. Legislators had little money for earmarks for local programs, Curran said.
"There wasn't a lot of money to go around," Curran said. "It was pretty cut and dry."
Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo Jr., a Springfield Democrat and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the budget contains no new fees and taxes and includes a measure to ban welfare recipients from using their cash assistance on alcohol, cigarettes and lottery tickets.
"It's been a tough budget," Puppolo said. "The fiscal crisis made it difficult."
Rep. Brian S. Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he was grateful for the discipline shown by members in controlling spending. Dempsey said the budget remains about $30 million less than the budget proposed by Gov. Deval L. Patrick.
The most disputed part of the budget includes a measure that would give municipal leaders the option to raise co-pays and deductibles in municipal health insurance. The bill allows 30 days for negotiations between city and town leaders and unions. If no deal is reached, municipalities would be allowed to unilaterally impose changes in co-payments, deductibles and other aspects of health care plans.
In that case, however, municipalities would have to return 20 percent of savings back to employees in the first year. The co-pays and deductibles could be no higher than those paid by state employees in the state health insurance plan.
Rep. Angelo Puppolo said the budget contains no new taxes or fees.Right now, co-pays and deductibles need to be negotiated with unions, driving up the costs of health insurance.
House members on Wednesday approved $25 million to provide basic health care to about 20,000 low-income legal immigrants, drawing praise from Patrick, who has worked to preserve the program.
"I am grateful that Speaker DeLeo and his colleagues in the House have recognized the vital importance of restoring funding that provides health care for legal, taxpaying immigrants here in Massachusetts. All of the Commonwealth's residents deserve access to quality and affordable health care, and by protecting this program we can continue to do just that," Patrick said in a statement.
The budget cuts unrestricted aid to cities and towns by $65 million, or 7 percent, down to $834 million for the next fiscal year. It would be the fourth year in a row of reductions to unrestricted aid, down $481 million, or 37 percent since the fiscal year that started in July 2007, according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
While House members cut unrestricted local aid to cities and towns, they did approve a $10.7 million amendment for other local programs including an extra $500,000 in grants to cities and towns to tutor students who perform poorly on the MCAS test, raising the account to $9.6 million, up 5 percent from this year.
The amendment also includes and an extra $1.5 million for the so-called Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, or METCO, a voluntary school desegregation program that allows minority students from Boston and Springfield to attend suburban schools in nearby towns, bringing the program to $17.6 million, the same as this year.
In the amendment, House members restored $1.3 million for YouthBuild programs for teaching carpentry and other skills to troubled youths, the same as this year.
The budget has $948 million for higher education, including community colleges and state university campuses, a cut of about 6.4 percent from this year.
The five-campus University of Massachusetts received $418 million, a 9.5 percent cut from $462 million this year. The university system is losing some $38 million in federal stimulus that helped this year's budget. The Amherst campus receives about half the total.
The cuts could spark fee increases for students for the academic year that begins in September.
Michael D. Weekes, president of the Providers Council, said House members approved additional money for some key programs, including employment services for the disabled and prevention and treatment of the virus that causes AIDS.
Weekes said he will continue to work for funding in the Senate including a salary reserve to provide a small cost-of-living raise for workers in private, nonprofit human service agencies across the state. The workers earn less than $40,000 a year.
A House-Senate compromise budget is expected to be sent to the governor sometime around the end of June.
Material from the State House News Service was used in this story.