Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Wednesday night urged lawmakers to shelve debate about a marijuana bill until they agree on a fiscal 2018 budget.
“The budget and marijuana negotiations were never linked by the House, nor should they be,” DeLeo, D-Winthrop, said in a written statement following reports of entanglements between the budget and marijuana bills.
The commonwealth began the fiscal year without a full budget, operating instead on a $5.2 billion plan that keeps the government functioning through July 31.
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“Some years the budget lands on June 22, some years it lands on July 22, some years it lands on Aug. 22,” said Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican who works with a Democratic legislature. “The commonwealth still manages to find a way to function.”
Discussions over the marijuana bill revolve around oversight and taxation. Voters last year approved a law legalizing use of the drug while authorizing its regulation.
Negotiations on a $40.3 billion budget have hit an impasse over varying degrees of estimated spending and revenue levels. Baker’s plan for 2018 is based on a projected 3.9% revenue increase in tax revenues but reports for 11.5 months of fiscal 2017 show a 1.4 percent increase.
The variance in spending levels is due to stock market fluctuations and lesser sales tax revenues caused by tax-free online purchases and less spending from consumers.
A conference committee of leaders from the House and Senate are negotiating the budget.
Baker’s administration estimates the revenue shortfall for fiscal 2017 is around $430 million. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates the fiscal 2018 shortfall could reach $1 billion.
S&P Global Ratings last month downgraded Massachusetts’ general obligation bond rating to AA, citing inadequate progress toward reserves. Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service rate Massachusetts GOs AA-plus and Aa1, respectively.