As Mass. Budget Talks Stall, Patrick Seeks Stopgap

Gov. Deval Patrick is asking lawmakers to approve a $1.25 billion stopgap budget as talks aimed at producing a final spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 bog down.

Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez said the 10-day interim budget was filed Friday. It is designed to keep critical government services operating after July 1 until lawmakers reach agreement on the overall budget.

The House and Senate have passed versions of the spending plan totaling about $30.5 billion. A six-member conference committee has yet to produce a compromise.

Gonzalez says the administration remains hopeful that differences will be resolved soon.

Among the services that would be funded by the stopgap budget are state debt service payments, health care for the unemployed and police first responders.

With reporting from The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom