The Official Website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

FY2010 Budget Process and Documents

Massachusetts government is funded on a fiscal year basis. The 2010 fiscal year runs from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.

FY2010 Budget Tracking: Track different versions of FY2010 submitted budgets throughout the year, compared to the previous fiscal year

For information on the current fiscal year, including 9C cuts, see the FY2009 Budget Summary.

Overview of the budget process


Fiscal year 2010
budget documents		Budget-writing steps

Governor's Budget
For help, see the
Budget Navigation Guide
January 28, 2009

The budget begins as a bill that the Governor submits on the 4th Wednesday in January (or five weeks later if at the start of a new term) to the House of Representatives. This bill is called 'House 1'.

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House Ways & Means Budget
April 15, 2009

The House Ways and Means Committee reviews the Governor's budget and then develops its own recommendation.

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House Budget PDF
May 1, 2009
 

Individual representatives submit budget amendments which are then debated on the House floor.  Once debated, amended and voted on by the full House, it becomes the final House budget bill and moves to the Senate.

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Senate Ways & Means Budget
May 13, 2009

The Senate Ways & Means Committee reviews both the Governor's and House budgets and develops its own recommendation.

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Senate Budget (html version)
Senate Budget PDF.
May 21, 2009

Individual representatives submit budget amendments which are then debated on the Senate floor.  Once debated, amended and voted on, it becomes the final Senate's budget bill.

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H.1 Revised
(Governor's Budget)
June 4, 2009

State Finance law requires the Governor to submit budget revisions to his proposed budget if revenue forecasts predict a shortfall after the original submission.

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Conference Committee
Budget PDF
June 19, 2009

House and Senate leadership assign members to a "conference committee" to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate bills. The conference committee report can only be approved or rejected - no additional amendments can be made.

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Vetoes
June 29, 2009

Once approved by both chambers of the Legislature, the Governor has ten days to review it. The Governor may approve or veto the entire budget, or may veto or reduce particular line items or sections, but may not add anything.

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Overrides

The House and Senate may vote to override the Governor's vetoes. Overrides require a two-thirds roll-call vote in each chamber.

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Final Budget

The final budget is also known as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or "Chapter xxx of the Acts of 2009."