State Budget Process

Action Steps for State Welfare Budget Priorities

As the budget moves its way through the House, the Senate, to the Conference Committee, back to the House and Senate for final approval, to the Governor's desk and back to the House and Senate for veto overrides (if necessary) our budget strategy changes. For the most up to date action steps on these issues, please call 617-603-1626 or e-mail your inquiry to etoulan@gbls.org

IN GENERAL:

1. Call, write or fax your letters to your representative and senator asking that the welfare budget priorities be included in the budget. Ask your senator and representative to include the welfare budget priorities in their letters to leadership.  In the House, your representative should be making this request of the Speaker and the Chair of House Ways & Means, and in the Senate, your senator should be making this request of the Senate President and the Chair of Senate Ways & Means.  Ask your legislators to give you copies of their letters to those in leadership.

2. Once the House Ways & Means Committee reports out its budget, we will be asking our supporters in the House to file amendments to the budget to provide for any of the FEI budget priorities that did not make it into the House Ways & Means budget. This process will begin the third week of April and end the first week of May .

3. Once the Senate Ways & Means Committee reports out its budget, sometime in late May or early June, we will be making the same request for budget amendments, if need be, from our supporters in the Senate.

4. If either the final House or Senate Budgets contain any of our budget priorities, we will shift our advocacy to the Conference Committee (comprised of the House and Senate Ways & Means Chairs and two additional members from each legislative body) asking that the best version of our budget priorities be included in their budget report to both the House and Senate.

5. Once the Conference Committee budget is approved by both the House and Senate and goes to the Governor's desk, we will be urging voters to make sure the Governor doesn't veto our budget priorities.

How to reach your legislators and the Governor:

Call 617-722-2000 to reach your representative
Call 617-722-1276 for your state senator
Call 617-725-4000 to reach the Governor

If you don't know who your legislators are, go to:  www.wheredoivotema.com 

To find out more information about the legislative process and your legislators, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/legis.htm