FY24 Budget Could Put DCR On Track For Great Things
By Doug Pizzi
On Monday, July 31, the Legislature sent a $56.2 billion Fiscal Year 2024 budget to Gov. Healey for her consideration. The governor has 10 days to approve and/or veto any of its provisions.
While lawmakers approved the budget just shy of a month late, they say good things come to those who wait. And there is very good news for the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and in turn for our state parks and those of us who frequent them. If the governor approves the budget as submitted, DCR will receive the largest operational increase ever, with one caveat, which I’ll explain later in this post.
It is worth noting that the House-Senate Conference Committee, charged with aligning their respective chambers’ proposed budgets, actually came in with a higher number than either chamber proposed originally. This is not something you see every day and it is a sure indication that legislators are listening to all of us as we seek to build a 21st Century park system.
The House had proposed $103.1 million for the Parks and Recreation Operations (2810-0100) account, while the Senate came in at $104.9 million, both considerably more than the $85 million appropriated for that account for FY23, which ended June 30. But the Conference Committee proposed to fund this account at $105.6 million.
In terms of raw numbers that’s a $20.6 million increase, a little more than double the increase DCR received from FY22 to FY23. However, a proposal from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and the Executive Office of Administration & Finance (A&F), independent of anything the Legislature has proposed, could serve to considerably reduce the new dollars available in the operations account.
In May, DCR informed the DCR Stewardship Council that the agency wants to move some $14 million in existing salaries and related expenses the agency has been paying out of a capital account(s) over to the operations account. DCR began shifting some salary positions from operations to the capital side in the wake of deep cuts its budget received in the wake of the 2008 recession. We at Mass Parks for All (MPA) understand why DCR took that action and why they want to reverse course now when their fiscal footing is on more solid ground.
However, it is our considered opinion that moving all $14 million over to operations this year would put the brakes on DCR’s progress toward getting more boots on the ground this fiscal year. Having lost some 300 positions over the years, we feel backfilling those positions should be the priority.
With that in mind, MPA, the Stewardship Council, and the Friends of the Middlesex Fells Reservation have asked the Administration to consider breaking that transfer up over two years, $7.0 million each year. This would give DCR an additional $7.0 million in new money this fiscal year. Those additional dollars could go a long way toward fixing the stark lack of resources DCR and park users have experienced over the last decade, which saw the agency’s deferred maintenance backlog climb to $1.0 billion, and saw Massachusetts drop to last among all states in per capita spending on public parks.
Whatever happens with the transfer request, MPA is optimistic that DCR’s considerable progress over the last few budget cycles will continue. The DCR Special Legislative Commission report shined a bright light on why and how our parks suffered. And to its credit, the Legislature and the agency listened.
Enter the Healey-Driscoll Administration. Gov. Healey’s first budget met the oft stated but never achieved post-recession goal of dedicating one percent of all state revenue for environmental spending, including a proposed $107.6 million for DCR operations. Enter also new DCR Commissioner, former Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo, who by all accounts has been an enthusiastic, accessible breath of fresh air for our parks.
Finally, this did not happen in a vacuum. All of this is in no small part due to your advocacy, staying abreast of the important issues, contacting your legislators and other elected representatives, and otherwise speaking up for our parks and what needs to happen to make them world class. We could not do this work without you, and we thank you for your continuing support. Together we can make a second-to-none state park system we will be proud to call our own, one that meets our essential need for physical and emotional well-being.
Doug Pizzi is the executive director of Mass Parks for All. MPA is Mass Conservation Voters’ new 501(C)(3) charitable corporation.