#2020-38 November 13, 2020

House Passes FY2021 Budget on 143-14 Vote

After two days of debate, late Thursday night the House passed a $46 billion budget by a 143-14 vote.  The budget, which does not include any new broad-based taxes, uses $1.5 billion from the state’s “rainy day” fund and one-time federal relief money to fill any gaps caused by the decline in state tax revenues due to the pandemic.  

During the approximately 25 hours of debate, House members adopted four consolidated amendments addressing topics such as education, local aid, labor and economic development.  The amendment process allowed House leadership to address controversial amendments in private talks before bringing revised language including or excluding particular provisions to the floor for a vote.

In particular, closely-watched amendments, including a Representative Mindy Domb (D-Amherst) proposal requiring the governor to fill a US Senate vacancy with an appointee of the same political party as the person leaving office and a Representative Mike Connolly (D- Cambridge) amendment extending an eviction and foreclosure moratorium through at least January 1, 2022, were dispensed with without public debate.  On Tuesday, an amendment to raise the tax on investment income in Massachusetts was defeated by a margin of 127-30 – a significant defeat for the group of progressive lawmakers supporting several amendments to raise taxes on individuals and businesses.

The only post-holiday debate came when the House adopted a Representative Claire Cronin (D-Easton) amendment to allow abortions after 24 weeks in the case of lethal fetal anomalies and lower the age from 18 to 16 that a minor can choose to have an abortion without parental or judicial consent.  The amendment process added approximately $27.9 million to the bill’s bottom line. 

MBA wrote to House members on Monday outlining our position on a number of the amendments filed by House members.  We are pleased to report that none of the harmful provisions were included in the House budget.  

To read the Association’s letter to House members, click here. 

Senate Ways & Means’s Budget also Uses One-Time Revenue Sources

As the House was finishing debate on its budget proposal, Senate budget writers released a substantially similar $46 billion budget proposal that the chamber is scheduled to debate next week.  Senate Ways & Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) indicated that the Senate proposal mirrors the House budget with approximately $36 million less in spending.  

The bill (S 4) increases spending by 5.5 percent while avoiding substantial cuts by spending about $1.5 billion from the state’s $3.5 billion “rainy day” account, applying one-time federal funds, postponing the implementation a tax deduction aimed at boosting charitable donations and a provision accelerating sales tax collections, which MBA has opposed in the past.  Similar to the House bill, the Senate bill includes $50 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program and $5.28 billion for Chapter 70 funding.

The Senate also included a new $15 million grant program aimed at supporting communities disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system and $40 million to cover parent fees through fiscal 2021 for families receiving subsidized child care.  In addition, Chairman Rodrigues noted language in an outside section authorizing cashless lottery payments could result in $30 million in new revenues.

The Senate’s sales-tax remittance provisions are substantially similar to the House’s language, which requires remittance in many cases by the end of the month.  Senate leaders did not include language pushed by Governor Charlie Baker, to mandate same-day or real-time remittance.  MBA is working with a broad coalition of business groups to oppose the real-time sales tax language. 

Senators have until 10:00 p.m. Friday to file amendments, with debate scheduled to begin on Tuesday.  Legislative leaders are hoping to have a final budget on the Governor’s desk by the end of November.  

To review the Senate’s budget bill, click here.

MBA’s Virtual Renewable Energy Summit on December 2 – Sponsored by Sunwealth

The Association is hosting our Annual Renewable Energy Summit on Wednesday, December 2 via Zoom.  This year’s summit is designed for residential and commercial lenders, business development officers, credit analysts and others involved in marketing, underwriting or servicing of residential and commercial real estate who wish to learn about new and existing state renewable energy lending programs to expand their portfolios. 

This year’s conference includes representatives from the Mass Solar Loan Program, Eversource/MassSave, MassDevelopment and a banker’s roundtable moderated by our sponsor, Sunwealth.  The roundtable will feature industry colleagues with real-world experience managing renewable energy products.  

MBA’s 2020 Handbook on Deposit and Fiduciary Accounts Shipping in December!

The Association is pleased to announce the release of the 2020 Handbook on Deposit and Fiduciary Accounts.  The Handbook describes all relevant laws and regulations, in effect as of October 31, 2020, to aid branch staff, managers and other deposit operations personnel in staying up to date on best practices and industry requirements. 

This year’s edition includes all relevant revisions to state banking laws in the past year including, but not limited to, all applicable emergency guidance, regulations, and statutes enacted in response to the COVID-19 health crisis.  Other recent changes include the reorganization of topics, separating account management and maintenance issues from account opening procedures, and updated medical & recreational marijuana and hemp banking guidance.  Further, the Handbook continues to be substantially revised and updated annually to ensure a more user-friendly product. 

Pre-order yours today by clicking here.