Gov. Charlie Baker is scheduled to return from the ski slopes of Utah, and will find the Beacon Hill terrain in the same condition as before he left. Lawmakers and the governor remain focused on budget issues mostly to the exclusion of other stated policy priorities. Since breaking from formal sessions at the end of July 2014, the Legislature has shouldered a light workload, coming back into session a few times this year mostly to fix a state budget that careened out of balance in the months since its passage last summer. In the near term, House and Senate negotiators will have to agree on a final version of a midyear spending bills (H 65/S 21) worth about $350 million and spackled with a few policy riders viewed as essential budget legislative leaders, including restoration of a statewide grand jury system and updates to the state’s sex offender registration regulations. Lawmakers redrafting Gov. Charlie Baker’s $38.1 billion fiscal 2016 budget didn’t hold any budget hearings this week after launching those hearings last week. This week, they plan to dive back into fiscal affairs at hearings scheduled in Greenfield and Worcester, with education, local aid, the judiciary and public safety accounts up for discussion and debate.
For Henry Epp’s conversation with Matt Murphy about the week ahead on Beacon Hill, click the audio player above.