Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.

Actually, don’t. But the temptation is understandable, as state officials do their best impression of a broken record and once again announce that revenues have not met projections, raising the prospect of mid-year budget cuts and putting a cloud over current work on the 2018 budget.

The latest iteration came late Wednesday when revenue officials announced that April receipts were $241 million below projections. With just two months left in the state’s fiscal year, revenue in the first 10 months of the budget year has been up just 1.1 percent, while budget projections had anticipated 3.1 percent growth for the year.

The April numbers were 7.8 percent below what was projected, reports the Globe.

Just last week, the House passed a $40.4 billion budget for next year that presumes revenue growth of nearly 4 percent.  A spokesman for the House budget committee said last night the April numbers are being reviewed with an eye toward “the need for any additional legislative action.” Translation: It will likely be back to the budget drawing board.

News of revenue falling short of projections built into the state budget has become a recurring storyline at the State House.

The money line of the day, as it were, may be this one from Matt Murphy’s State House News Service story: “Despite the relative strength of the economy and low unemployment, the rebound from the last recession at the turn of the decade has not translated into strong revenue growth under a tax code that has not undergone major changes in recent years.”

The budget woes are unfolding against the backdrop of a state economy that appears to be humming along.

A look under the hood, however, reveals some of the problem. A Boston Federal Reserve Bank report issued in January pointed out that while employment rates may be strong, wage growth has not been. Gov. Charlie Baker has been pounding that drum, too, including in an email he sent last week to state workers.

As Murphy’s story suggests, while the state’s economy has undergone big changes, the tax structure has not. Sales tax receipts, for example, came in lower than expected. With more commerce moving online, it seems inevitable that the state will have to grapple with how it collects revenue from purchases.

An op-ed in today’s Globe by the cochairmen of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Revenue says Massachusetts is way behind other states in conducting regular analyses of the effect of various tax breaks.

The tough budget numbers may give a boost to arguments for a “millionaire’s tax” on high earners that advocates want to put on the 2018 ballot. At the same time, they also suggest that any infusion of money may act more as a budget buffer than pot of gold for ambitious new spending priorities.

Meanwhile, the grim revenue picture during generally good economic times makes it hard to even think about what will happen when the state economy hits a hard patch.

–MICHAEL JONAS

 

BEACON HILL

A working group on the state’s public records law is looking at the extremely broad range of exemptions claimed by law enforcement agencies. (Boston Globe)

State Rep. Nick Collins of South Boston is pushing legislation, which has cleared the House, to require state contractors to set aside at least 10 percent of all jobs for those with disabilities. (Boston Herald)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Three are killed and nine injured when an SUV unexpectedly accelerates at a car auction in Billerica. (Lowell Sun)

There is strong interest by private developers in rights to redevelop Boston’s Mary Ellen McCormack public housing project in South Boston, a prize that comes with rights to also develop market-priced housing on the site. (Boston Globe)

Dorchester Reporter editor Bill Forry offers a harsh assessment of the events leading to news that the Kraft family was abandoning — at least for now — any plans for a soccer stadium adjacent to the UMass Boston campus, plans that he he says were secretive and kept from the community from the start.

Another night, another racial slur at Fenway Park — this one directed at the woman who sang the National Anthem before the game, no less. (Boston Globe) Joan Vennochi says blacks face a double standard with some whites quick to question their word when it comes to reports of racial animus. (Boston Globe)

Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, who is seeking to sever the city’s long-standing ties with the Fall River Office of Economic Development, abruptly resigned from the privately funded organization, creating confusion because the group’s bylaws require the mayor to be a voting member. (Herald News)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Republican House leaders will take up a vote on the latest iteration to repeal Obamacare, confident they have the votes after some arm-twisting by President Trump. (U. S. News & World Report)

Trump is expected to sign an executive order today on National Prayer Day that will ease restrictions on churches and religious organizations endorsing political candidates and causes. But he has backed away from easing Obama-era regulations that force faith-based organizations to serve and employ gays. (New York Times)

Conservative pundit George Will refuses to climb aboard the Trump bandwagon, saying the rookie commander-in-chief “does not know what it is to know something.” (National Review)

ELECTIONS

Republicans are upping their focus on Sen. Elizabeth Warren as the bogeyman of the Democratic Party, tying her to Democratic candidates in other states and trying to muddy her image in advance of what some think will be a Warren presidential bid in 2020. (Boston Globe)

State Rep. Chris Walsh said a month ago he planned to run for mayor of Framingham but now says he will remain in his seat as he deals with health issues. (Metrowest Daily News)

Could a mayoral endorsement from Marty Walsh spell the difference in the crowded race to succeed Walsh challenger Tito Jackson in the Roxbury-based district city council seat? (Boston Herald)

EDUCATION

Jeff Riley, the state-appointed superintendent of schools in Lawrence, asks the city to cough up an extra $3.8 million for education. He says the schools have improved with a bare-bones budget and now need more money to keep from slipping back. (Eagle-Tribune)

West Bridgewater officials have served a cease and desist order on a group home for autistic children operated by the May Institute after neighbors complained, saying the home is in violation of zoning bylaws. (The Enterprise)

Daniel J. Warwick and Mary Walsh say wraparound services are helping Springfield kids succeed. (CommonWealth)

TRANSPORTATION

Hiawatha Bray takes a spin on new electric-powered bicycles, which are pricey now, but may not be if they take off (sales-wise). (Boston Globe)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

A volunteer advisory board for the Cape Cod National Seashore, the oldest citizen advisory group for the National Park Service, was ordered by the Trump administration to cancel its meetings until further notice while the transition is underway. (Cape Cod Times)

Haverhill signs a deal with Crescent Farms that will turn animal poop into lower-cost power. (Eagle-Tribune)

Local lobstermen are preparing to return to the waters after a three-month mandated closure because of whale migrations but their bid to reopen the fishing areas year-round with a rope line designed to reduce entanglements was rejected by federal officials. (Patriot Ledger)

CASINOS

Greg Beeman of Associated Builders and Contractors says Steve Wynn’s casino construction costs soared because he agreed to let unions do all the work. (CommonWealth)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

A judge turned down a request from the mother of Aaron Hernandez murder victim Odin Lloyd to be able to run tests on or gain access to results of tests on Hernandez’s brain, blood, and urine following his jailhouse suicide for possible use in her wrongful death lawsuit against the Hernandez estate. (Boston Herald)

The lawyer for an assistant district attorney on Martha’s Vineyard, who is the subject of a disciplinary hearing for misconduct by the state Office of Bar Counsel, says her client is the victim of petty local politics for prosecuting the mother of a court clerk for domestic violence charges. (Cape Cod Times)

Investigators exhumed the body of a 19-year-old Bellingham woman, who was murdered in 1978, and removed potential evidence for testing including her fingernails which may contain DNA from scratching her killer or killers. (MetroWest Daily News)

MEDIA

MassLive runs the pictures, addresses, and other information on the 200 Level 3 sex offenders living in the Springfield area, along with the tag line that “none of the people here are wanted for any crimes and the state warns against targeting them for abuse or harassment.”

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, long-time hosts of “Morning Joe,” are reportedly engaged. (CNN)