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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 74 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2221
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Bruce E. Tarr
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to zero-based budgeting and budget transparency.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Bruce E. TarrFirst Essex and Middlesex 1 of 3
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 74 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2221
By Mr. Tarr, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2221) of Bruce E. Tarr for legislation
relative to zero-based budgeting and budget transparency. State Administration and Regulatory
Oversight.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2068 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act relative to zero-based budgeting and budget transparency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting, after section 5H, the
2following new section:-
3 Section 5I: Development and Adoption of Zero-Based Budget Estimates
4 The Secretary of Administration and Finance, with the approval of the Governor, shall on
5a quadrennial basis develop and submit to the Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives
6a zero-based budget, so-called, for each agency and department of state government. Said zero-
7based budget shall reflect the amount of funding deemed necessary to achieve the most cost-
8effective performance of each agency or department pursuant to an accompanying narrative
9delineating the tasks to be performed by that agency or department, together with goals and 2 of 3
10objectives for each agency or department for a period not to exceed four years. Said budget shall
11have a zero dollar amount as its basis, and shall not reflect any prior appropriation amount,
12adjusted or otherwise. Said zero-based budget shall be referred by the Senate and House of
13Representatives to the committees of subject matter jurisdiction relevant to each component of
14said budget. Such committees shall evaluate each such component, taking into account all
15available information, including that provided by public testimony in oral and written form. The
16evaluations of the committee shall then be reported to the Senate and House Committees on
17Ways and Means.
18 The Ways and Means Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives shall,
19jointly or individually, conduct at least one public hearing on the zero-based budget and shall
20also receive written and electronic testimony for a period of not less than 30 days on said budget.
21Said ways and means committees shall jointly develop and submit to the Clerks of the Senate
22and House of Representatives a zero-based budget estimate not later than 60 days following the
23receipt of the zero-based budget estimate filed by the Secretary pursuant to this section. Said
24zero-based budget estimate shall be included in a joint resolution and placed before the members
25of the General Court for their consideration. Such joint resolution, if adopted, shall be employed
26in evaluating each annual budget considered by the General Court for the four years following its
27adoption.
28 Zero-based budgeting shall mean, for the purposes of this section, a means of developing
29appropriations based on the cost-effective achievement of the tasks and goals of a particular
30agency or department without regard to prior appropriations, adjusted for inflation or otherwise.
31Any appropriation so developed shall to the extent possible, be accompanied by a brief 3 of 3
32description of said tasks and goals together with the performance measure of the achievement of
33those tasks and goals.