Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve $107M Supplemental Budget Plan

As expected, Massachusetts lawmakers on Dec. 13 approved a $107 million supplemental budget plan that "reinstates unpopular program cuts" made last month as part of the Legislature's budget plan, the Boston Herald reports (Beardsley, Boston Herald, 12/14). Faced with a $1.4 billion budget deficit, state lawmakers on Nov. 26 approved a $22.6 billion budget that would have cut $650 million from earlier spending plans. However, acting Gov. Jane Swift (R) vetoed $250 million from the Legislature-approved budget plan and asked that funding be restored for Medicaid and mental health programs. The supplemental budget that the Legislature approved includes $2.5 million for AIDS programs, $16.6 million for the Department of Mental Health and $33.3 million for the Department of Mental Retardation. Of the funds for the mental retardation department, $15 million will be used to find homes for adults with mental retardation as part of a lawsuit settlement (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/13). The budget also restores $60 million in cuts at the Department of Social Services and $3.4 million for home care for the elderly, the Herald reports. The Herald does not indicate whether Swift is expected to sign the supplemental budget (Boston Herald, 12/14). Swift had urged lawmakers to approve her own, "more sweeping" supplemental budget that would give $297 million to Medicaid, $62 million to the Department of Social Services, $16.6 million to the Department of Mental Health and $29 million to the Department of Mental Retardation (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/13).