Overview

• State representatives rejected 15 of the governor’s line-item vetoes, voting to add back roughly $70 million across nursing homes, charter school reimbursements, and Trial Court administrative staffing.
• The three largest accounts make up more than $54 million of the restorations, with smaller items including $5 million for shelter workforce assistance, $1.5 million for sewer rate relief, and $1 million for regional economic development grants.
• Massachusetts law requires two-thirds votes in both chambers to override a veto, and the House’s actions now move to the Senate for consideration.
• Healey had vetoed about $130 million in July, including scaling back GLP-1 drug coverage for state employees projected to save $27.5 million and removing $25 million for a MassHealth nursing home workforce program.
• House budget writers cited an unspent balance exceeding $800 million and a nearly $9 billion rainy-day fund, while fiscal critics warned the reversals risk worsening finances as the administration projects a $3.7 billion federal funding decline over three years; Healey also withheld $125 million in earmarks, extended a hiring freeze, and paused a planned 2% manager pay raise.