The Massachusetts State House in Boston. The Massachusetts House will take up Gov. Charlie Baker's budget reduction bill on Wednesday afternoon. Brian Dempsey D-Haverhill , has drafted its own version of Baker's bill. The biggest difference between the two bills is that the House removed language that Baker requested that would have given the Executive Office of Health and Human Services the authority to restructure MassHealth benefits to the extent allowed by federal law.
Advocates representing seniors, health care workers and others opposed the change out of concern that it will lead to reductions in MassHealth benefits. Asked about the House's decision to remove the language, Dempsey said, "We wanted to spend more time looking at what the governor and the administration, specifically what their proposal is.
That language would not have had an immediate effect on closing the budget gap, but would have given the Baker administration more power to make changes to MassHealth going forward.
Otherwise, the House Ways and Means Committee's version of the bill made few substantive changes to Baker's proposal. It includes Baker's plan to use capital gains tax revenue above a certain threshold to fill the budget gap rather than to increase the rainy day fund and to have a corporate tax amnesty program. It also includes most of the reductions that Baker proposed to non-executive agencies, like the Legislature and the offices of the state treasurer and attorney general.
Both of those areas are already running deficits. While several amendments sponsored by individual House members will be discussed when the bill is debated on the House floor, House leaders are not expected to propose any additional amendments. Baker's cuts to executive branch agencies and the savings he plans to get by deferring MassHealth payments do not require legislative approval.
