Mass. Senate Approves Supplemental Budget Bill

The Massachusetts Senate has approved a budget bill that includes $30 million to cover costs stemming from a drug testing scandal.

The supplemental spending measure would also freeze unemployment insurance rates for businesses and transfer funds from the state's "rainy day" fund to offset a projected tax revenue shortfall.

The Senate approved the bill on a 36-1 vote Tuesday. The House approved the budget last week.

Annie Dookhan, a former chemist at a now-closed state drug lab in Boston, has pleaded not guilty to 27 counts of wrongdoing that includes fabricating drug test results and tampering with evidence.

Thousands of drug convictions are being reviewed.

The budget would divert $30 million in one-time tax settlements that otherwise would have been deposited into the state's rainy day fund to cover initial expenses associated with the probe.