In the past several years it has become much easier to see what our state budget pays for, and what major changes are being proposed. This is important because the budget is the document that describes how people in Massachusetts spend our tax dollars to accomplish things together through our government. How much do we spend to keep our communities safe, to educate our children, and to protect our environment and maintain our state parks? What do we spend on public transportation and on our roads? What is the cost of protecting access to health care and other safety net protections for people facing special challenges or hard times?

This Budget Brief provides an overview of the recent reforms that make it easier to understand the state budget (or, that make it more transparent), highlights some new improvements in that regard this year, and offers an example of how the budget could present important information even more clearly.

RECENT TRANSPARENCY REFORMS

There have been a number of improvements to the transparency of the state budget in the last several years. The budget, and related information, is now easily searchable on-line. For each line-item and section of the budget you can see the Governor’s proposal, how much the state expects to spend in the current year, and the amounts spent in the prior two years. (This link¹ has the summary, and more detail is available when you click on each category of spending.) The budget also now contains – in both its paper and on-line versions – more background information about the programs it funds and their underlying policy goals. The Budget Narrative² describes most of the budget’s major policy choices and significant spending increases and decreases, and the budget website contains more than two dozen issue briefs³ that explain major initiatives.

There have also been changes that simply provide more information about spending and revenue, and that can help readers navigate the budget document. Residents can now see how many people work in each area of government and how that has changed over time at this link⁴. The budget website contains a clear explanation of the budget gap⁵ and the Governor's strategies for closing it.⁶ There is also now a glossary⁷ that explains the terms used in the budget, and a budget navigation guide, the "User Guide,"⁸ that helps people find what they’re looking for in the document.

NEW IMPROVEMENTS THIS YEAR

There are two important transparency improvements in this year’s budget, building on the good work of the last several years. The budget now contains clear mission statements⁹ for most of the state agencies and offices that it funds. It also now includes, in addition to information on budget spending, better information on the cost of various tax breaks, also known as tax expenditures. While a list of tax expenditures (called the tax expenditure budget) has been available for many years, this year that document includes a more complete explanation of each expenditure (see here¹⁰ and click through categories for more information).

¹ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/brec_11/ga_11/hhdefault.htm

² http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/exec_11/hdefault.htm

³ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/exec_11/hbriefs.htm

⁴ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/brec_11/ga_11/hfdefault.htm

⁵ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/exec_11/hbuddevchall.htm

⁶ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/exec_11/hbuddevsol.htm

⁷ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/lnk_11/hglossary.htm

⁸ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/lnk_11/hnavguide.htm

⁹ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/brec_11/dpt_11/hndph.htm

¹⁰ http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/tax_11/hall.htm