Last year Massachusetts voters approved the Fair Share Amendment, which amended the state constitution to include a 4 percent surtax on taxable income over $1 million to support education and transportation. Fiscal Year 2024, which starts in July 2023, is the first state budget to include Fair Share dollars, and the House and Senate budget proposals differ in how they would spend Fair Share funds. The table below compares proposed Fair Share spending across the Governor, House, and Senate versions of the budget.
A key takeaway from this table is that there are more needs and opportunities than there are Fair Share dollars, forcing hard choices between important programs and initiatives. It would be great if we could fund free community college and greening Massachusetts’ school buildings, or additional capital investments for a more reliable MBTA and improving stations to better connect Western Mass.1 We could afford to fund more of these initiatives if we decided against giving expensive tax cuts to wealthy households that exacerbate inequality.2
The state budget process now moves to the conference committee, where the House and Senate work out differences in their respective budget proposals.
| Line Item | Title | Category | Governor Section 2F | House Section 2F | Senate Section 2F | Area of Complete Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1596-2400 | Municipal Partnership Programs | Transportation | $100,000,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| 1596-2401 | Matching Funds for Municipal and State Transportation Projects | Transportation | $50,000,000 | $0 | $50,000,000 | |
| 1596-2402 | Highway Bridge Preservation | Transportation | $100,000,000 | $100,000,000 | $50,000,000 | |
| 1596-2403 | Roadside Maintenance and Beautification | Transportation | $14,000,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| 1596-2404 | MBTA Capital Investments | Transportation | $181,000,000 | $250,000,000 | $190,000,000 | |
| 1596-2405 | MBTA Means Tested Fares | Transportation | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | $5,000,000 | ✓ |
| 1596-2406 | Regional Transit Funding and Grants | Transportation | $25,000,000 | $70,000,000 | $100,000,000 | |
| 1596-2407 | Palmer and Pittsfield Rail Projects | Transportation | $12,500,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| 1596-2408 | Water Transportation | Transportation | $2,500,000 | $10,000,000 | $5,000,000 | |
| 1596-2410 | Childcare Grants to Providers | Education | $100,000,000 | $40,000,000 | $0 | |
| 1596-2411 | Income Eligible Waitlist | Education | $25,000,000 | $25,000,000 | $25,000,000 | ✓ |
| 1596-2412 | CPPI Pre-K Initiative | Education | $15,000,000 | $0 | $15,000,000 | |
| 1596-2413 | Early College and Innovation Pathways | Education | $10,000,000 | $0 | $10,000,000 | |
| 1596-2414 | Financial Aid Expansion | Education | $93,000,000 | $84,000,000 | $100,000,000 | |
| 1596-2416 | Student Support Services | Education | $30,000,000 | $0 | $30,000,000 | |
| 1596-2417 | Higher Education Capital Funding | Education | $140,000,000 | $0 | $125,000,000 | |
| 1596-2418 | MassReconnect | Education | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 | $20,000,000 | ✓ |
| 1596-2419 | Tuition and Fee Stabilization | Education | $59,000,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| 1596-2420 | State University Equity and Inclusion Initiatives | Education | $8,000,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| 1596-2421 | UMass Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives | Education | $10,000,000 | $0 | $0 | |
| 1596-2427 | MBTA Workforce/Safety Reserve | Transportation | $65,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 1596-2422 | School Meals | Education | $161,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 1596-2423 | Targeted In-Demand Scholarships | Education | $50,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 1596-2424 | Green Schoolworks | Education | $100,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 1596-2425 | DHE Endowment Match | Education | $10,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 1596-2426 | UMass Endowment Match | Education | $10,000,000 | $0 | ||
| 1596-2428 | Roads & Bridges Supplemental Aid | Transportation | $100,000,000 | |||
| 1596-2429 | Early Education & Care Provider Capital | Education | $25,000,000 | |||
| 1596-2430 | EEC Provider Workforce Aid | Education | $15,000,000 | |||
| 1596-2431 | MSBA Capital Supports | Education | $100,000,000 | |||
| 1596-2432 | Free Community College Implementation Supports | Education | $15,000,000 | |||
| 1596-2433 | Nursing Programs Free Community College | Education | $20,000,000 |
1 Palmer and Pittsfield rail projects included as 1596-2407 in the Governor’s budget proposal
2 https://massbudget.org/2023/05/17/estate-tax-racial-wealth-gap/; https://massbudget.org/2023/05/16/house-tax-proposal-racial-equity/
