BOSTON (AP) - The Latest on Gov. Charlie Baker’s state budget proposal (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has filed with the Legislature a $40.9 billion state budget proposal that calls for a 2.6 percent increase in overall state spending.
The budget submitted on Wednesday calls for larger, targeted spending hikes in several areas of state government including mental health services and the Department of Children and Families.
Baker is renewing his call to shift 140,000 non-disabled people from the state’s Medicaid program to subsidized insurance offered through the state’s Health Connector. Lawmakers have rejected that proposal in the past.
The budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 seeks no increases in broad-based taxes but would authorize the state to begin collecting hotel taxes from short-term rental services such as Airbnb.
It also calls for doubling the state’s earned income tax credit.
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12:02 a.m.
Lawmakers are about to get their first peek at Gov. Charlie Baker’s latest state budget.
The Republican governor is scheduled to submit his election-year spending plan - likely to top $41 billion - to the Democratic-controlled Legislature on Wednesday.
In his state of the state address Tuesday, Baker mentioned a few of his budget priorities, including additional aide for communities hosting families from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after the recent devastating hurricanes.
Baker already has told cities and towns to anticipate a $37 million increase in unrestricted state aid, and school districts to expect nearly $120 million in additional state funding.
He says the spending plan also will include more than $83 million in new funding to strengthen community-based services for adults with serious mental illness.
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