After one spending bill passed the Legislature Thursday providing additional money for indigent counsel services and state sheriffs, Gov. Charlie Baker filed another $171 million budget bill to close out spending for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

The bill (H 4935) would have a net cost to the state of just $6.2 million, according to the governor, because $164 million in MassHealth spending that would be authorized under the bill is covered by higher than expected federal Medicaid reimbursements.

The spending bill also called for $2.7 million for labor costs connected to recently negotiated collective bargaining contracts, $2.4 million for the Department of Children and Families tied to caseloads, $1 million for the End Family Homelessness reserve and $700,000 to allow the Department of Public Health to pay for prescription drugs it buys on behalf of the Department of Corrections.

Baker, in his filing letter to the House and Senate, said the budget bill also included “technical amendments” to the HOME Act, a veterans benefits bill that he signed earlier in the day, as well as several sections that would allow him to sell off of a piece of State House property to a nearby property owner.

In addition to granting easements along Joy Street for renovations and scaffolding, the bill would authorize Baker to sell off a 320-square-foot parcel on the south side of Joy Place to SDC-DLJ Beacon Hill LLC for “accessory parking and vehicular turning room” benefiting the residential properties at 25 Beacon Street and 6 and 7 Mt. Vernon Place.

The proceeds would be put into a new State House Capital Fund to pay for improvements to the State House or its grounds.

Baker Eyeing Sale Of State House Property In New Budget Bill

by State House News Service time to read: 1 min
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