Important Senate Budget Update!

The State Senate has taken action on the budget amendments MALC was following.  Special thanks to State Senator Adam Hinds and his staff for all their advocacy and support for our sector. It is expected that the Senate will complete its budget debate by Thursday, May 24th.

MALC recommends opening another window to monitor/see the final votes on all the filed amendments. The senate clerk is tasked with keeping this page as up-to-date as possible: https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2019/SenateDebate

The amendments MALC is following:

Massachusetts Cultural Council:

Amendment # 856 – Line Item 0640-0300 for the Massachusetts Cultural Council filed by Senator Adam Hinds. It was redrafted and IT WAS ADOPTED! (It was $17 million and was redrafted to be $16,034,982)

Hinds, Cyr, Lesser, Barrett, Lewis, Rodrigues and Eldridge moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 0640-0300, by striking out the figures “$14,034,982” and inserting in place thereof the figures “$16,034,982”.

Amendments for Tourism Sector:

Amendment # 805 – Tourism Promotion and Marketing filed by Senator Cyr (mirrors the final language in the House Budget).  It was redraft and adopted!

Cyr, Hinds and Eldridge moved that the proposed new text be amended by adding the following section:- SECTION X: Grants allocated to Regional Tourism Councils through the Tourism Trust Fund shall be distributed by September 1 of the fiscal year in which they are allocated.

Amendment # 863 –  Line Item 7008-0900  for Highway Visitor Information Centers filed by Senator Adam Hinds (ensures funding for the visitor centers). It was rejected.

Hinds and Eldridge moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 7008-0900, by adding at the end thereof the following:-  “provided further, that not less than $500,000 shall be expended for the 11 Massachusetts visitor information centers”.

Amendment # 864 –  Line Item 7008-0900 for Regional Tourism Councils filed by Senator Adam Hinds (ensures funding for the regional tourism councils).  It was rejected.

Hinds and Eldridge moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, by inserting after line item 7008-0900, the following item:- “7008-1001 For the assistance to regional tourism councils for marketing and promotion of visitation and tourism……..$4,000,000”.

Library Amendments:

Amendment # 279 –  Line Item 7000-9506 for Library Technology and Resource Sharing filed by Senator Eric Lesser (increases the funding). It was withdrawn.

 Lesser and Rodrigues moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 7000-9506, by striking out the figure “$2,615,928” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- “$3,259,000”.

Amendment # 371 –  Line Item 7000-9508 for the Center for the Book filed by Senator Michael Barrett (restores the funding for the Center for the Book). It was rejected.

Barrett, Lesser, Eldridge, Welch, Rush and Brownsberger moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, by inserting after item 7000-9506 the following item:

“7000-9508 For the Massachusetts Center for the Book, Inc., chartered as the Commonwealth Affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress; provided, that the Massachusetts Center for the Book, Inc. shall continue its work as a public-private partnership…………………$250,000”

Amendment # 373 –  Line Item 7000-9506 for Library Technical Support filed by Senator Donald Humason (increases the funding). It was redrafted and it was adopted! (It was $3,259,000 and was redrafted to $2,815,928)

Humason moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 7000-9506, by striking out the figure “$2,615,928” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- “$2,815,928 ”

The next step in the state budget process is the for the Budget Conference Committee to be appointed. That Committee will reconcile the House and Senate budgets into a single budget. Stay tuned…