BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker tried to restart the debate over the state budget Wednesday by submitting a spending plan for the current fiscal year that is higher than the proposal he submitted in January, just before COVID-19 gripped the state.
The budget Baker is proposing is for the 2021 fiscal year that began July 1.
The new budget he released Wednesday would spend $45.5 billion. That’s about a billion more than the original budget plan he proposed in January, in part by relying on federal relief funds and drawing $1.35 billion from the state’s “rainy day” fund.
Lawmakers must approve the plan.
