Spill of the Hill: The budget is late and voters don't care

• So many political priorities are packed into the annual spending plan that negotiating a final compromise takes weeks or months.
• Three House leaders and three from the Senate are meeting behind closed doors to finalize the deal, which could come at any time.

Why it matters: The annual state budget and regular supplemental budgets are the most powerful tool the General Court has and the main reason we have a legislature in the first place.

• Democrats in power use the budget process to shift funding priorities and enact new laws without having to vote on standalone bills.

Why it (doesn't really) matter: There are no real political consequences for blowing the deadline.

Voters have shown time and again they are satisfied with their lawmakers and will return them to Beacon Hill almost like clockwork.

• Only 10% of all legislators faced primary challenges in 2022, and 64% walked into new terms without general election challengers.
• Only one incumbent legislator of 200, Georgetown Republican Lenny Mirra, lost his seat in 2022.

Yes, but: One of the only concrete repercussions is that credit agencies notice if the state's books aren't in order by the end of the calendar year.

• And it's harder for municipalities and other government agencies to plan their own spending when Beacon Hill blows the deadline.

The bottom line: Most House and Senate members agree with their leadership teams that getting their chamber's preferred priorities into law is more important than getting the bill done on time.

Deehan's thought bubble: The word "urgency" gets tossed around a lot when discussing Beacon Hill, but as I said on NBC10's @Issue on Sunday, without voters holding lawmakers' accountable, the lack of urgency is going to win every time.