UPDATE:  Beacon Hill lawmakers last night unveiled a $27.4 billion budget that hikes taxes nearly $1 billion while slashing aid to cities and towns. As for the Quinn Bill, the budget will set aside $10 million this coming year to fund the benefit, which provides police officers with salary incentives to pursue higher education. The budget adopts House language that phases out the program and eliminates the perk for any new officers hired after July 1.

Language (8000-0040)

For police career incentives to reimburse certain cities and towns for career incentive salary increases for police officers; provided, however, that regular full-time members of municipal police departments hired on or after July 1, 2009 shall not be eligible to participate in the career incentive pay program established pursuant to section 108L of chapter 41 of the General Laws; provided further, that any current regular full-time member of a municipal police department who has not started accumulating points pursuant to said section 108L of said chapter 41 of the General Laws, as of September 1, 2009, shall not be eligible to participate in the career incentive pay program established pursuant to said section 108L of said chapter 41 of the General Laws; and provided further, that any current regular full-time member of a municipal police department who has begun to accumulate points pursuant to said section 108L of said chapter 41 of the General Laws as of September 1, 2009 shall be allowed to accumulate the maximum number of points permissible pursuant to said section 108L of said chapter 41 of the General Laws