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Gov. Patrick signs $32.5 BIL budget – Metro US

Gov. Patrick signs $32.5 BIL budget

Eight days after the start of the fiscal year, Gov. Deval Patrick signed a $32.5 billion state budget Sunday that vetoes $32.1 million in spending.

“We were able to do this by making some tough but necessary decisions and working hard to do more with less,” Patrick said.

The budget raises state aid for public schools by 4.5 percent and relies on $700 million in health care cost savings to stay balanced, according to the State House News Service.

Patrick vetoed $10 million of a proposed $20 million human services salary reserve, $10 million for the probation department, $5.1 million to continue operating Taunton State Hospital, $3.5 million for a school district reserve, $400,000 for a State Police benefits fraud unit, and $3.1 million in earmarks, according to the News Service.

The budget supports spending with $350 million from the state’s reserve account, leaving the rainy day fund with a projected balance of $1.28 billion.

Following the budget signing yesterday, Patrick said he will support a sales tax holiday weekend in August, and that he will propose a way to pay for it “that doesn’t put any more pressure on an already tight fiscal year budget.”