Effort in Boston City Council to reject Wu’s $4.9 billion budget plan fails amid deadlocked vote

Politics admin May 20, 2026 0 Comments

Effort in Boston City Council to reject Wu’s $4.9 billion budget plan fails amid deadlocked vote

An effort by some city councilors to reject Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s $4.9 billion budget plan fell flat Wednesday after the body deadlocked on a vote, exposing deep divisions between councilors navigating how to push back on a series of Wu’s proposed cuts.

Some councilors on Wednesday argued for rejecting Wu’s spending proposal in a bid to pressure her to increase spending. Others countered that the body should focus on using its power to instead amend the budget at a time when Wu has warned the city is facing stagnant tax revenues and steep cost increases.

The councilors ultimately were split, 6-6, defeating a motion to vote on and reject Wu’s budget proposal. Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who gave birth to her first child earlier this month and is on maternity leave, was absent from Wednesday’s meeting, leaving the 13-member body one person short.

The council could still vote to approve, reject, or amend the budget proposal before the end of June. But Wednesday’s vote offered the first indication that a coalition, made up of the body’s most conservative members and some progressive councilors, does not have the votes to turn back her spending plan.

“Using our power means sending this budget back and asking for a stronger one that reflects the testimonies, the emails, the conversations we have [had] through this budget process,” Councilor Brian Worrell, who has led the effort to reject Wu’s budget, said Wednesday. He argued that rejecting the budget “does not end collaboration,” but a vote would give the council leverage.

“I understand that this is a difficult fiscal year,” he said, “but a difficult fiscal year cannot mean the public speaks for a month, and nothing changes.”

Worrell has pushed for the administration to increase the bottom line on the spending proposal, either by increasing revenue projections, or by dipping into the city’s emergency reserve fund.Wu told councilors in a letter this week she will refuse to do either,arguing both options would be fiscally irresponsible.

Wu already wants to pull $70 million from Boston’s reserve funds to plug deficits in the city’s and Boston Public Schools’ budgets for the current fiscal year that ends next month.

For months, Wu has warned the public and city officials that Boston is facing a painful budget season, pointing to higher-than-expected snow removal costs aftera historic storm and spikes in health insurance expenses.

But in recent weeks, some community advocates and city councilors have expressed outrage over her budget proposal, which includes cuts to some departments and grants, including one that funds a year-round jobs program for students.

Other councilors argued that rejecting Wu’s budget proposal would only put off the difficult decisions councilors will have to make about from where to pull money to restore funding for some of the cut grant programs.

Rejecting the budget plan outright would only be “a gesture,” said Councilor Ben Weber, who chairs the council’s ways and means committee that oversees the budget process.

“It is our job, if we have a problem with the budget, to amend it and override her vetoes if we have nine votes,” he said. “We are still going to have to sit down as a group and figure out whether we are serious about finding a way to restore these cuts in a way that puts the city on sound financial footing for the long run.”

The debate put ongoing tensions between councilors on display, as accusations of political posturing over the budget flew back and forth.

“There are political games being played here, and I’m tired of it,” said Councilor Henry Santana, a close Wu ally. “Rejecting the budget does not make money just appear. We have a job to do.”

Councilors who are advocating to reject Wu’s budget fired back, arguing the body needs to take stronger action to act as a check on Wu’s administration.

“What we are doing is affirming the integrity of this body by demonstrating that we can actually push back,” said Councilor Julia Mejia. “It is unreasonable to expect that we can fix all the harms caused by the proposed budget through amendments.”