The Senate added just over $50 million in spending over three days of debate to its fiscal 2018 budget bill, unanimously passing the $40.39 billion budget Thursday night in the final session within the historic Senate chamber before it is to be renovated.

“We’re just out of there in the nick of time, frankly,” Senate President Stan Rosenberg told reporters. Right before the 38-0 roll call vote on the budget, a large cracking sound was audible in the chamber and someone appeared to receive a minor injury.

“It’s like ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ where the pieces started falling,” Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka joked.

Rosenberg said the Senate would hold all future sessions either in the Gardner Auditorium or Room 428, the restored former document room.

Ways and Means staff said $50.67 million in spending was added to the bill on the floor. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reported that the House added $77.7 million to its budget bill during two days of debate last month.

Cratering state revenues in the final months of fiscal 2017 could spur the conference committee that will reconcile the House and Senate bills to substantially lower spending.

“It’s going to be a rough budget conference,” Rosenberg said in a statement.

Senate Passes $40.4B Budget

by State House News Service time to read: 1 min
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