Last week, the Senate Ways and Means Committee (SWM) made its budget recommendations for FY 2015 and MassBudget released an analysis, available HERE. The SWM budget proposes small, smart and well-targeted steps toward addressing big challenges. Like the proposals from the Governor and House, however, it doesn’t propose solutions at the scale of the challenges we face. The types of major investments in our people and communities that could substantially expand economic opportunity, help all our children to thrive, and strengthen our economy in the long run, would require significant new tax revenue — something none of this year’s budget proposals call for.
The SWM budget does, however, include a number of positive initiatives, including:
- increasing access to early education and care for children and home visiting programs for young families;
- strengthening the capacity of DCF to protect and assist children and their families;
- expanding access to affordable housing;
- supporting new efforts to help those suffering from addiction.
These strategies could immediately help children and adults across the Commonwealth, and ultimately strengthen our economy by allowing more of our people to realize their full potential as individuals and as productive members of our community.
MassBudget’s SWM Budget Monitor describes the major recommendations made by the Senate Ways and Means Committee last week. It also describes how SWM recommendations compare to other FY 2015 proposals and historic funding levels. Read it HERE.
