BOSTON – Lawmakers in the state Senate are sounding somewhat frustrated with their colleagues in the House for how the supplemental budget process was handled before ultimately passing and being signed by Gov. Maura Healey Monday evening.

“I can’t control the house,” said state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Essex and Middlesex.

Healey introduced the supplemental budget bill months ago, but the House didn’t bring it to the floor for weeks, causing time to run out for a consensus vote. That allowed Republicans to stall the bill further in protest of the state’s handling of the shelter crisis. 

Once the Senate got the bill Monday evening, they passed it in a matter of hours, not days like the House. 

“I think once again we have set an example in the Senate over how folks can work collaboratively,” Tarr said. “For us, this was never about obstruction. For us, it was trying to maintain our principals and trying to make sure that the Senate kept all of its options open for people to express their views.”

Republicans had the opportunity to stall the bill in the Senate, like it was stalled in the House. But, the senators say they pride themselves on coming to an agreement so the budget could be finally finished. 

“The reason we were able to get it done was the communication and the dialogue that we have in being able to talk and think things through,” said Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Middlesex and Norfolk. “The deal is a win-win for everybody and the bottom line the supplemental budget is done, it's passed.”

With the 2023 budget done, the process starts all over again for 2024, and the debate over the amount of money the state is spending on the shelter crisis is far from over.