Date: 03/01/2023
  • Maura T. Healey, Governor
  • Kimberley Driscoll, Lieutenant Governor

To the people of Massachusetts,

Today, we submit our administration’s first spending blueprint for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

We know the kind of potential that exists in the people and communities across Massachusetts — from Boston to Springfield, and Provincetown to North Adams. Their hard work, compassion and togetherness helped Massachusetts emerge from the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic strong, and on solid financial footing.

But we also face challenges. Inflation has driven up the cost of everything from construction to eggs. Cities and towns are racing to prepare themselves for the effects of climate change. We need to build more housing close to public transit and jobs. And we must make sure our students are prepared for college or careers in the new economy, and that those who fell behind in their learning during the pandemic are given the help they need to catch up.

Our $55.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2024 is a downpayment on those goals, a plan that taps into existing, new, and one-time revenue streams to make historic and sustainable investments in our residents, our municipalities, and in our workforce to help build an economy and talent pipeline for employers to grow and succeed.

We are proud that this budget fully funds the third-year phase-in of the Student Opportunity Act, including a historic level of investment in Chapter 70 school aid to our cities and towns. The $6.58 billion in this budget for Chapter 70 education represents a 9.8 percent increase over FY23 GAA spending and is the largest percentage increase in more than two decades.

This budget also invests an unprecedented level of resources into achieving our administration’s bold energy and environmental goals, for the first time ever dedicating 1 percent of the overall state budget to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. This will expand the state’s ability to safeguard public health through environmental stewardship, climate adaptation and mitigation, and clean energy expansion, while making sure these efforts are realized equitably across all communities.

These resources include first-time operating funding for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. In conjunction with funding planned in an upcoming supplemental budget, this will triple the budget for the MassCEC to keep Massachusetts on the cutting edge of clean technology and decarbonization and forge new partnerships with public higher education institutions and trades to increase the amount of training, re-training, and opportunities to work in the clean energy industry.

As we work to realize these funding goals, we know that there are people behind every line-item in this budget – the families waiting for seats to open at their local pre-school for subsidized daycare, the young couple struggling to save to buy their first house, the small business owner contemplating a move to another state, the senior hoping they won’t be forced to sell their home and move to another neighborhood.

We must loosen the grip of rising costs on our residents and businesses, and one way we can do that is through tax reform.

Alongside our fiscal year 2024 budget, we are filing a package of tax cuts and reforms that will put money back into the pockets of families, renters, seniors, farmers, and commuters. It will create a new Child and Family Tax Credit of $600 per child or dependent, helping those who need it most afford groceries and pay for child care while they’re at work. And it will reform parts of our tax code that make Massachusetts an outlier against other states.

We also intend to file with our budget and tax package an executive reorganization plan, or Article 87, to establish a new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. This will help our administration focus on the urgent need to build more places to live that are affordable and give residents access to jobs, medical care, food, and other services.

Transportation is another key to making sure Massachusetts remains a competitive and affordable place for residents to live and businesses to locate. This budget makes investments to improve all modes of transportation, from highways, roads and bridges to our rail and bus systems, airports, and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

That includes ramping up hiring at the MBTA to provide a safe and reliable commuting experience for riders, and making sure that the progress we make supports our diversity, equity, and environmental goals.

We must work together to achieve our objectives and meet these challenges, and that’s why we are calling on all of us as a Commonwealth to work together with our administration and partners in the Legislature to enact a budget that puts Massachusetts on a strong path for the future.

Lieutenant Governor