With split vote, City Council effort to reject Wu's budget fails

Frustration over cuts in Mayor Michelle Wu’s next fiscal year budget proposal has led some Boston City Council members to consider rejecting the proposal outright to pressure increased spending. A motion to vote on and reject the budget failed, ending in a 6-6 split among councilors present. Councilors Miniard Culpepper, John FitzGerald, Ed Flynn, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, and Brian Worrell supported the motion, while Liz Breadon, Sharon Durkan, Ruthzee Louijeune, Enrique Pepén, Henry Santana, and Ben Weber opposed it. Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata was absent due to maternity leave. Weber said rejecting the budget would abdicate council duties. Councilors may change line items but cannot raise the city’s total planned spending. Wu said she would not increase spending even if the council rejected the budget and would not raise revenue projections or use reserves for fiscal year 2027.

"With frustration mounting over cuts included in Mayor Michelle Wu's budget proposal for the next fiscal year, some members of the Boston City Council have been floating the idea of rejecting her proposal outright in an effort to pressure her to increase spending. That debate exploded into the open at the body's meeting this week, when a motion to vote on and reject Wu's proposal failed to pass. But the councilors in attendance were evenly split, revealing significant divisions among the members over when and how to push back against Wu."

"The motion ultimately failed with a 6-6 vote. Councilors Miniard Culpepper, John FitzGerald, Ed Flynn, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, and Brian Worrell all voted in favor of the motion. Councilors Liz Breadon, Sharon Durkan, Ruthzee Louijeune, Enrique Pepén, Henry Santana, and Ben Weber opposed it. Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata was absent, as she recently gave birth to her first child and is on maternity leave."

"Rejecting the budget would amount to an abdication of the council's duties, Weber said. "What I gain by standing against rejection of the budget is that I can tell my constituents that I'm standing up for fiscally responsible positions that I can stand by, I'm not calling on the mayor to do something I would not want her to do, and that I am taking this job and the duties we've been handed seriously and I'm not using the budget as a tool to increase my popularity," he said."

"Councilors can alter individual line items in the proposed budget but cannot increase the overall amount that the city is planning to spend. Wu said in a letter to the council last week that she would not increase spending, even if the council were to reject the budget. Wu is rebuffing calls to increase revenue projections or draw from the city's reserves for the fiscal year 2027 budget."

Read at Boston.com