Boston (AP) -- State lawmakers on Thursday approved a budget plan that depends heavily on new tax revenues and spending from the state's reserve fund.
The $28.2 billion budget was passed two days after the start of the new fiscal year.
Gov. Deval Patrick has 10 days to issue any line-item vetoes.
It relies on an estimated $285 million in new revenues from closing corporate tax "loopholes" and $174 million from a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase.
Patrick signed both of those measures this week.
The budget also calls for a $310 million withdrawal from the rainy day fund, leaving about $2 billion.
The plan provides $935 million in local aid promised to cities and towns, making up a $124 million shortfall caused by lagging lottery revenues of $811 million.
It also allots $3.95 billion in education funding, a $223 million increase over last year.
In a joint statement, Rep. Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, and Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, Ways and Means committee chairs and the chief budget negotiators in each branch, said the budget "strikes a balance between budgeting with fiscal caution while still providing for the services and programs the people of Massachusetts deserve."
But Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimated the budget already is $1 billion out of balance and urged Patrick to freely wield his veto pen.
Besides the $310 million spending from reserves, plus about $90 million in lost interest, Widmer said lawmakers underfunded major accounts, such as health care and snow and ice removal, by $400 million.
He also said lawmakers overestimated business tax revenues by about $100 million and failed to account for a $100 million film tax credit.
"I think (lawmakers) are just hoping for the best, but I think it's a very risky course," Widmer said.
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