The Treasurer and Receiver-General is an elected, constitutional officer of the Commonwealth. The Treasurer has direct jurisdiction over the Office of the Treasurer and the Emergency Finance Board. In addition, the Treasurer is the chairman of the State Lottery Commission, which is within the Office of the Treasurer. Although not under the direction of the Treasurer, the Massachusetts Cultural Council is also budgeted within the Office of the Treasurer.

The Treasurer's Office is responsible for a variety of critical financial functions, including: receiving and managing all monies paid to the Commonwealth; issuing and managing the state's long-term debt; issuing short-term debt and managing the Commonwealth's cash flow; paying retirees and investing the state's pension funds; and, in conjunction with the Comptroller's Office, processing and paying the Commonwealth's bills.

The Treasurer's pension responsibilities are managed by the State Board of Retirement, which administers the pension system for state employees and retirees. The Commonwealth's pension obligations include: retirement benefits for retired state employees and teachers and retirement benefits for certain classes of non-contributory employees. The Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) Fund is the investment reserve fund for the Commonwealth, and is managed by the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board. Investment income from PRIT funds the operation of the State Retirement Board through an off-budget trust account.

The State Lottery Commission generates and distributes revenue to cities and towns as unrestricted local aid. In Fiscal Year 1999, the Lottery distribution will increase by $34 million to $597 million. This increase is a result of the agreement to eliminate the cap on the amount of Lottery revenue distributed to cities and towns, additional revenue growth due to increased instant ticket sales, the implementation of the multi-jurisdictional lottery game, and the growth in Keno revenue.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council is committed to providing centralized assistance to the arts, sciences, and humanities programs in communities across the Commonwealth. The Council provides grants to support the public programs and educational services of nonprofit cultural organizations, local cultural councils, and individual artists. Emphasis is placed on supporting programs that serve young people, elders, and underserved communities.

Budget Recommendations

The amount recommended for Fiscal Year 1999 will enable the Treasurer and Receiver-General to achieve its missions as outlined above.

The Fiscal Year 1999 budget recommendation for the Massachusetts Cultural Council includes an additional $1.5 million for the expansion of community-based initiatives such as "YouthReach" and "Science in the Community", which support after-school programs for at-risk youth; the Education Partnership Initiative, which supports multi-year collaborations among cultural organizations, schools, and businesses; the Cultural Economic Development Program, which supports community projects that use the arts as a tool for economic development; and the Elder Initiative, which trains caregivers and artists to use artistic expression as a way to improve the quality of life of elders. This additional funding will also support increases in grants to the 336 local cultural councils that serve every city and town in the state, the 500 nonprofit cultural organizations that receive grants through the Organizational Support program; and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

The Fiscal Year 1999 pension recommendation reflects a reduction of $113.88 million in recognition that the Commonwealth is no longer liable for funding future cost-of-living adjustments for local retirement systems. However, this reduction is partially offset by the addition of a $20 million reserve to meet both the Commonwealth's obligation to reduce the unfunded pension liabilities for former employees and retirees of abolished county governments, and the incremental costs associated with the veterans retirement buy-back program enacted in 1996.