Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Baker approves state budget, UMass to receive $5.25 million less than legislature’s proposed figure

(David Ohmer/Flickr)
(David Ohmer/Flickr)

Massachusetts’ governor Charlie Baker has settled on allocating $5.25 million less than the legislature proposed for the University of Massachusetts system.

Last week, the legislature approved a $38 billion state budget, including just shy of $532 million for the UMass. Baker had 10 days to review the proposal, in which he could approve or reject the budget in its entirety or use his veto power to eliminate or reduce specific line items.

Baker’s decision to cut the proposed funding intended to make the final allocation for UMass consistent with his initial proposal that he submitted to the House in March, according to the veto explanation. In total, he vetoed over $162 million from the state budget.

The legislature’s nearly $532 million proposal was the result of reconciliation between the House’s $519 million budget and the Senate’s $538 million budget for the university system.

The roughly $526.5 million that Baker approved for UMass is up from the $519 million it received in the previous fiscal year. However, the allocation is far below the $578 million UMass initially requested.

The proposed budget returns to the legislature and any vetoes made by Baker can be overridden with a two-thirds vote in each branch.

At this time, the size of tuition and fee hikes remains unclear.

A representative from the University president’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Anthony Rentsch can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Anthony_Rentsch.

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