Mass. House, Senate say they have reached a deal on supplemental budget

The Massachusetts House and Senate say they have reached a deal on a supplemental budget that is expected to provide additional funding for the state's overtaxed shelter system, among other things.

Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and Sen. Michael J. Rodrigues, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, announced the agreement in a joint statement Thursday morning.

“On behalf of our fellow conferees, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve reached an agreement on the supplemental budget to close the books on Fiscal Year 2023," they said. "Our respective staffs are actively working to finalize remaining details and complete the work required to file a Conference Committee report. We anticipate a report being filed in the coming hours to ensure that the House and Senate can act on the report promptly and send it to the Governor.”

Democrats were unable to finish work on the controversial $2.8 million supplemental budget before formal sessions ended on Nov. 15, meaning they had to come up with a bill that received unanimous support in informal sessions. The original bill was aimed at pouring $250 million into the emergency shelter system and included $300 million to fund raises for public employees.

The exact details and the final dollar figure of the newly-negotiated final bill have not yet been released.

Gov. Maura Healey had said in a radio appearance Monday that she hoped the situation would be resolved this week. She pointed out that the shelter system funding is only about 10% of the spending called for in the bill.