The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted at the end of April to approve a $63.4 billion FY ‘27 budget, after adding $82.9 million in new spending.
At the beginning of April, the House Ways & Means Committee released a $63.3 billion FY ’27 budget proposal, including $175 million for the Chapter 257 Reserve. The proposed budget for the rate reserve represented no change from the Governor’s budget. The Administration has noted that it will need $260 million to fully fund the Chapter 257 Reserve account, and it expects $85 million in funding to be left in the FY ’26 Chapter 257 Reserve – which it will then request to move to the FY ’27 budget during its closeout supplemental budget this fall.
According to the MA Taxpayers Foundation, 90% of new spending, about $74.5 million, supports earmarks for local programs and communities. The House added 815 earmarks to the budget, accounting for $74.5 million in new spending. Some notable earmarks include:
- $12.83 million for Public Health/Mental Health and Disability
- $7.5 million for HHS and Elder Affairs
- $8.11 million to Public Safety, Judiciary and Housing
- $8.9 million for Education & Local Aid/ Social Services/ Veterans
In addition, the House also added $8.4 million in non-earmark spending, which includes funding for new line-items and statewide programs. Some notable non-earmark funding includes:
- $775,000 for the Elder Nutrition Program
- $5 million to support supplemental nursing home rates
The Collaborative — which includes the Council, Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers (ADDP), Association for Behavioral Health (ABH), and Children’s League of Massachusetts (CLM) — worked with Rep. Michael Finn to file an amendment to the Chapter 257 line item (1599-6903) in the House Ways & Means Committee budget proposal. This amendment, which proposed eliminating some language and ensuring EOHHS could not use a lower benchmark when setting human services rates, was not included in the House budget when they approved a consolidated amendment.
For any questions, please reach out to Bill Yelenak (byelenak@providers.org).
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