House refers governors returns on FY2026 appropriations bill to committees
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Summary
The Massachusetts House of Representatives received a message from the governor returning the engrossed FY2026 appropriations bill with disapprovals, reductions and recommended amendments, and referred the disputed sections to committee for review.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives received a message from the governor returning the engrossed bill making appropriations for the fiscal year 2026 for maintenance of departments, boards, commissions, institutions, certain activities of the Commonwealth, interest, sinking fund and serial bond requirements, and permanent improvements, filed as House Numbers 4240 and 4250; the message noted disapprovals, reductions and recommended amendments.
The clerk reported that the message was filed in the Office of the Clerk on Friday, July 4, at 12:20 p.m. The House referred the portions containing disapprovals and reductions under Joint Rule 30 to the Committee on Ways and Means. Separately, following a successful motion, the House referred the sections returned with recommended amendments to the Committee on Bills in Third Reading.
Why this matters: the engrossed appropriations bill covers fiscal 2026 spending across state departments and certain permanent improvements; committee review of the governors disapprovals, reductions and recommended amendments is the next step in reconciling the Houses version of the budget and the governors changes.
Details: the clerk read the message from the governor on the House floor and identified the associated House filing numbers. A member moved that the sections returned with recommended amendments be referred to the Committee on Bills in Third Reading; the motion carried, recorded on the floor as "the ayes have it." The transcript records the referral of disapprovals and reductions to the Committee on Ways and Means under Joint Rule 30. The proceedings as recorded show these were procedural referrals; no floor debate on the substance of the disputed sections is recorded in the provided excerpt.
Next steps: staff for the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Bills in Third Reading will consider the governors disapprovals, reductions and recommended amendments in committee. The transcript excerpt does not specify committee hearing dates or the exact sections affected.