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With 12 initiatives barreling towards the November ballot, ranging from rent control to tax cuts and all-party primaries, the state’s elections chief is warning that his office needs more money to handle the historic load.
Secretary of State Bill Galvin appeared in front of budget-writing lawmakers on Wednesday, focusing his pitch for more funding to cover election logistics. His office handles the printing of ballots, in multiple languages for precincts across Massachusetts, as well as a booklet mailed out to voters that could be extra thick this year. (The city of Lowell, for example, requires having ballots available in three languages.)
He acknowledged the Legislature could play a role in brokering compromises that could neutralize some of the questions, if their backers agree. But, Galvin deadpanned to lawmakers, “the likelihood of those being resolved by you doesn’t seem particularly great.”
“There are some of them that are easier,” he added in speaking to reporters after his testimony. “For instance, the one I'm supporting, namely the election day voter registration, you would think would be one they could do very readily, but I don't see any sign that's going to happen.”
He said he is looking for an additional $15 to $16 million more than Gov. Maura Healey included in her budget proposal for his office, for a total of $66.6 million for election accounts. Healey’s budget allows deficit spending, up to $15 million, but Galvin said he is concerned about issuing IOUs to cover election costs.
While the Beacon Hill budget hearing was underway, House and Senate leaders named Rep. Alice Peisch and Sen. Cindy Friedman to co-chair a special committee on initiative petitions, much as they did during the 2024 election cycle.
“We'll have to see how that process goes, and if we can get to some agreements on some of these things, take them off the table,” said Aaron Michlewitz, the House Ways and Means chair. “But if not, then we may have a pretty healthy ballot to say the least.”
Michlewitz and his Senate counterpart Michael Rodrigues heard from all the statewide constitutional officers. Here are some other takeaways from Wednesday’s opening rodeo of budget season:
– Despite their small number, Beacon Hill Republicans, who sometimes appear laconic when compared to the smash-mouth style of MassGOP party officials, showed some teeth in pressing Healey and her budget officials on her election-year budget proposal.
Taunton Sen. Kelly Dooner said small-town schools aren’t getting enough education funding from the state, and asked whether there will be any effort to take another look at the funding formula known as Chapter 70. “We’re in a moment right now where we need to have that discussion,” Healey said.
– The MBTA was top of mind for lawmakers, including ones who represent western Massachusetts. Northampton Sen. Jo Comerford asked about continuing work on T improvements. Healey’s budget proposal calls for staving off a deficit for one more year without solving the fiscal cliff problem.
“The relationship is complex in terms of the need,” Matt Gorzkowicz, Healey’s budget chief, said in an understatement.
He added that the focus at the T has been deferred maintenance and bringing back rider confidence in the system, which should theoretically help with revenues. Taking a swipe at the Charlie Baker administration without naming names, Gorzkowicz said the T has had problems in the past and some have solved problems by laying off employees and cutting services. “We’ve taken the opposite approach” by staffing up and eliminating “slow zones,” he said.
Brian Shortsleeve, one of Baker’s MBTA chiefs, criticized Healey’s budget proposal as filled with gimmicks. “This budget doesn’t fix problems but kicks them down the road,” he said in a statement. “Raiding surtax funds meant for long-term investments, changing pension schedules, draining reserves, and relying on volatile capital gains revenue to fund recurring expenses is not fiscal responsibility. It’s a warning sign.”
– Anybody who was hoping for some fireworks during Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s testimony came away disappointed. She appeared before the lawmakers she’s been publicly flaying for refusing to allow her to audit them, but she stuck to touting her office’s investigations pointing to fraud or poor practices at state agencies. An exodus of state reps around the time her testimony started was due to a House roll call, according to Michlewitz.
State budget proposals can be filled with outside sections and line items that sometimes are easy to miss. Tips on where to look are welcome: [email protected].
Join us for Keller @ Large LIVE in conversation with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday, February 25, at the MCLE. Register!
HAPPENING TODAY
8:30 | The Group Insurance Commission meets and is expected to vote on benefit changes for the fiscal 2027 plan year. Commissioners last month pushed back against a proposed staff change to eliminate coverage for GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, warning the move could worsen health disparities. The GIC, which last year ran out of money to pay claims partly due to the costly GLP-1 drugs, is supposed to find $120 million in savings this budget cycle. | More Info and Access
9:00 | The Massachusetts Health Connector Board meets. Agenda includes a recap of 2026 enrollment, which featured major disruptions to subsidized coverage following the expiration of federal tax credits. Board members will also review recommendations for 2027 tied to the state minimum creditable coverage regulations. | More Info and Livestream
10:00 | US Senate candidate John Deaton holds a press conference to discuss a lawsuit aimed at enforcing the legislative audit law of 2024. | UMass Club, Presidential Parlor, One Beacon St., 32nd floor, Boston
10:45 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll holds a press availability after visiting Cape Cod Hospital’s new cancer center as part of an effort to pitch Gov. Maura Healey’s “DRIVE” legislation on research and innovation. Quentin Palfrey, director of federal funding and infrastructure, and Cape Cod Healthcare CEO Michael Lauf join her. | Lorusso Board Room, Mugar Building, Cape Cod Hospital, 27 Park Street, Hyannis
2:00 | The Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight holds a public hearing on several bills, including a Rep. John Rogers bill (H 5047) would allow the state to take the Norwood Hospital land parcel by eminent domain. The former Steward Health Care hospital was being rebuilt after catastrophic flooding in 2020, but Steward walked away from the property during bankruptcy proceedings. | Room B-1, State House, Boston | Agenda and Livestream
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FROM BEACON HILL
SUNK COSTS: As his department faced understaffing and overtime spending, Suffolk Sheriff Steve Tompkins started up a marine patrol,shelling out money for a jail officer to work as a harbormaster in Winthrop. – Boston Globe
MISSED FORECAST: Melissa Hoffer, the state’s climate chief, missed a deadline to finish an economic analysis of net-zero commitments and potential financing options. – CommonWealth Beacon
HARSHER PENALTIES: The state’s two biggest Realtor trade groups are backing a Senate bill to increase enforcement of the state’s housing discrimination law. – Banker and Tradesman
NEWS NEXT DOOR
RUG PULL: A $70,000 rug made in Boston and installed in the Rhode Island State House has the wrong state seal on it, twice. It is currently being covered up by $110 rugs from Ocean State Job Lot. – WPRI
MBTA COMMUNITIES: After Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s filing of a lawsuit against nine communities for failing to comply with the MBTA Communities law, several holdouts are starting to come around. Holden is set to vote on a plan this month that would do the “bare minimum” on compliance. – CommonWealth Beacon
MORE SCHOOL CUTS: The Whitman-Hanson school district, after facing a surprise deficit, is proposing additional spending reductions, focusing on administrative costs. - Patriot-Ledger
CANNABIS CLASH: As lawmakers weigh an overhaul of the Cannabis Control Commission, chair Shannon O’Brien and another commissioner had a tense back-and-forth in an ongoing clash with the agency’s executive director. – State House News Service
KEEPING T FACILITIES OPEN: Boston councilors voted to urge the MBTA to keep South Station and other facilities open during winter emergencies after a homeless man died outside the station on the night of Dec. 5. – Universal Hub
ENROLLMENT DROPS: Massachusetts K-12 schools saw roughly 7,000 fewer English language learners last year compared with 2024, which advocates say is due partly to an increase in immigration enforcement activity. – MassLive
ZONED OUT: Brookline passed new zoning rules to help development of up to four stories of multifamily housing and retail on Harvard Street, but more than two years later, just three units have been proposed. – Brookline.News
WORCESTER EX-COUNCILOR: Etel Haxhiaj, a former Worcester city councilor, was found guilty of assaulting a police officer in the chaos of immigration agents attempting to seize someone. But she was found not guilty of interfering with police, and a judge sentenced her to probation and community service. – GBH News
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Training Program Coordinator: MA Legal Aid and Community Education Project (LACE), Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Executive Director, Center for Health Information and Analysis, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Controller, Commonwealth Corporation
Director of Administration & Finance, Pioneer Institute
Senior Investigator, ISAU, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Controller, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Director of Preliminary Investigations, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
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