The Annual Massachusetts Budget Process
1. Department Requests: (July-early October
*) To begin the process, each departmental agency makes requests for the amount of money it will need in the following fiscal year. The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. All agencies must hold public hearings. The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) holds its hearings at the end of November or beginning of December. Many of these hearings are just a formality, although it is still wise to attend and speak at them. Your perseverance could impress committee members whose support may be needed later in the budget process.2. Department Secretary Recommendations: (October) Next, the secretaries of each executive office will look over the departmental requests and approve, reject, or reduce them. The approved requests form the executive office budgets.
3. Administration and Finance Recommendations: (late October-mid December) After the executive office budget is approved by the executive office secretary, it moves into the hands of the Office of Administration and Finance, the budget staff of the Governor. The budget is examined to ensure that the political goals of the Governor are met.
4. Governor’s Version: (December-January) The next person to see the budget is the Governor who, with the help of the Secretary of the A & F as well as department heads and special interest groups, will review the bill for at most three weeks and make any necessary changes. After the bill is complete, it is from then on called House 1.
5. House Ways and Means Report: (mid-January-early April) The House Ways and Means Committee then receives House 1 from the Governor. The committee holds public hearings. The House Ways and Means Committee prepares its own final version of the budget after considering House 1 and the agency requests.
6. Final House Budget: (April-May) The House Ways and Means Report is brought to the House. Representatives have about five business days to submit amendments. The amendments are voted on individually, then the amended budget is approved by the House.
7. Senate Ways and Means Report: (late January-mid June) While the House Ways and Means Committee is preparing its own budget, so is the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The Senate committee is not allowed to issue its version of the budget until after the House version is completed. The Senate Ways and Means Committee also holds hearings open to public participation.
8. Final Senate Budget: (July) The Senate receives the Ways and Means Report which, as in the House, they subsequently amend and pass.
Note: There is a difference between the House and Senate final budgets. Both budget bills are divided into two sections. The first section authorizes the spending of funds while the second part lists the line item appropriations. The outside section is this second part which presents any limits or restrictions on how money can be spent as well as includes the full text of bills related to the budget. The Senate version of the budget also provides information on last year’s appropriations and what the Governor, House, and Senate Ways and Means have recommended.
9. Conference Committee Report: (late June-Early July) Next, a conference committee made up of Senators and Representatives meets to iron out the differences between the two bills. The final budget they produce is called the Conference Committee Report which must be engrossed and then passed by both sides. (Engrossed bills are those that are before the House and Senate for final action and have been certified by the clerk to be rightly and truly prepared for passage.)
10. Final Budget: (July) The final step is to send the bill back to the Governor. He or she has the power to veto line items of the bill and approve the rest of it. Any section which is vetoed can go back to the House and Senate where a 2/3 vote is necessary in each house to override the Governor’s veto.
* The exact dates are unknown and vary form year to year. The months given are an estimated timeframe.
Source: Meredith, J.C.: Lobbying on a Shoestring (1993) and ELM: The Inside Track (1986).