Yesterday, Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick signed into law a $32.5 billion FY13 budget, leaving largely intact the compromise document that the Legislature sent to him on June 27th. This is the second budget document that Patrick has addressed this year; he signed a $1.25 billion interim budget in late June to ensure that the state had sufficient resources to operate while awaiting passage of the full fiscal year budget.

Despite facing challenging economic times, albeit in a state managing relatively better than others, the Legislature and Governor Patrick managed to pass a budget devoid of new taxes and fees. Instead, the FY13 budget relies on one-time revenues, spending reductions, and savings initiatives to eliminate the projected $1.3 billion deficit. The budget spends $350 million from the state’s “rainy day” fund, leaving the balance at just over $1 billion.