Senators to Weigh Amendments to $41.4B State Budget

BOSTON (AP) — Hundreds of amendments have been proposed to a $41.4 billion state budget set to go before the Massachusetts Senate.

Debate on the spending plan begins Tuesday and could last several days.

Many of the amendments filed by senators would earmark funds for projects within their districts.

The budget written by the Senate Ways and Means Committee and an earlier spending blueprint passed by the House of Representatives would both increase state spending by roughly 3 percent over the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Neither the House nor the Senate has called for broad-based tax increases, and both predict about $63 million in new tax revenues from legal sales of marijuana.

The final version of the budget will be worked out in negotiations by a House-Senate conference committee.