Senate budget ups ante
State proposal is larger than House’s version

BOSTON— Senate budget leaders yesterday proposed adding about $230 million more than the House in next year’s state budget, with extra funding for local schools and public health care, but only marginal increases for most state services.

Responding to urgent needs, the Senate called for a doubling of funds for the state police crime lab to $12.2 million to speed up DNA tests; an $11 million increase in substance abuse programs to deal with a surge in heroin use; an additional $10 million to improve early education programs including Head Start, preschool grants and parent-child home programs; and $10 million to implement a new state law requiring fire sprinklers in nightclubs.

Local aid figures in the Senate proposal are close to those in the completed House budget, except it would reserve an additional $55 million for legislation expected later this year to even up the distribution of local school funds between cities and towns based on relative wealth and target additional resources for under-performing schools.

The Senate would boost Chapter 70 local school aid by $105.6 million over the current fiscal year and local lottery aid to communities by $100 million, similar to the House allocations.

The budget also included earmarks for a number of local projects including $500,000 for the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiative; $100,000 for the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center in Worcester, double last year’s amount; $200,000 for the People in Peril shelter in Worcester; $1.2 million for the Center for Excellence at WPI; $200,000 for the Latino Education Institute at Worcester State College; and $50,000 for the Molly Bish Child Identification Program at Mount Wachusett Community College.

Other earmarks included $850,000 for the Worcester-based Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership; $75,000 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center in Worcester; and $900,000 for a state police anti-gang program targeting certain cities, including Worcester.

By far the largest single budget increase over last year, a seven percent proposed hike in spending on MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, would allocate an additional $476 million for a total of $7.39 billion out of the total state budget of $23.9 billion.

The House approved a $23.7 billion budget, but Senate leaders called for use of additional reserve funds to cover the difference.

Ways and Means chairman Sen. Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, described the health care spending as transitional as the state risks losing several hundred million dollars in federal Medicaid funds as of October, while it is anticipating the startup of a federal prescription drug benefit for seniors Jan. 1.

Funding for pending proposals from the governor, the House and Senate for more affordable private insurance and universal health care for employees of small businesses, the poor and unemployed, is not addressed in the budget proposal. Legislation covering those proposals is expected to be considered later this year.

The additional funds for MassHealth would allow enrollment of an additional 26,000 people in fiscal 2006, bringing the caseload for the program to more than one million for the first time.

Another 10,000 people earning below the poverty level could also be enrolled in the MassHealth Essential program. The Senate budget plan would also restore coverage for 3,500 elderly and disabled legal immigrants eliminated from the program in recent years.

It does not, however, call for restoration of dental benefits for low-income seniors and adults, but that is expected to be sought in budget amendments that will be debated starting next Monday.

The budget would provide $15.9 million to fully fund the state’s Healthy Start program and $21.7 million for the Children’s Medical Security Plan, to live up to a Senate commitment to provide basic health care to all children in the state.

It would also restore dental coverage and smoking cessation benefits for uninsured pregnant women.

Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, and Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, both expressed relief that the Ways and Means Committee, on which they serve, included a $650,000 annuity to provide a pension to the family of Martin H. McNamara V, a call firefighter from Lancaster who died fighting a fire in Clinton in November 2003.

“It would be easy to turn your back on one family. But you didn’t,” Mrs. Chandler told Ms. Murray, thanking her for including the pension that was left out of the House budget.

Sen. Pamela P. Resor, D-Acton, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, said environmental agencies fared better than in the last several years with a $1 million proposed increase for the Department of Environmental Protection for clean water and clean air programs, and an increase in the DEP hazardous waste site audit program.

The Senate budget also calls for a boost in funds to $450,000 for the Riverways program; and increased funding for Fisheries and Wildlife; and $2 million to ensure all state beaches and pools are open for the entire season this year.

Meagan Amundson of the Environmental League of Massachusetts said the budget marks a change of tide for environmental agencies cut deeply over the last three years, even though the increases are limited.

“It’s going in the right direction,” she said of an overall 6.5 percent increase in funds for the environment.

Mr. Brewer said, however, that he expects to support amendments being drafted by Ms. Resor to boost state park funding and adjust several other environmental accounts.

The budget does not resolve increasing pressure on cities and towns to raise property taxes on homeowners and local aid levels may not be enough to avoid layoffs of teachers and public safety workers in many communities, Mr. Brewer said.

He said the sagging economy and unrelenting increases in health care costs continue to hurt city and town budgets.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” he said of restoring state support of cities and town operations through local aid.

Mr. Brewer said health care reforms, more state assistance to pay for regional school transportation costs, increased state capital funds to pay for local school construction, and plans to release more lottery funds for local education will help. Still he said, “Property taxpayers are caught in the middle, and they will be looking at Proposition 2 1/2 overrides, and debt exclusions and layoffs.”

Mr. Brewer said that is one reason he will support amendments to fully fund regional school transportation by adding about $15 million to the $42.5 million included in the Senate budget proposal.

Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr., D-Worcester, said the additional $55 million allocated for education reforms will assist local communities once the Education Committee, on which he is vice hairman, works out new funding formulas to help failing schools and communities falling behind on school funding because of their relative wealth.

Mr. Augustus also said he was buoyed by a proposed increase of $18 million for the University of Massachusetts and $23 million for state and community colleges called for in the Senate budget.

“Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester State College and the University of Massachusetts (medical school) are vital parts of our economic development,” he said.

The increased spending will also be an importance investment for the region and the state.