Moran: $480K For Andover, Lawrence, Methuen In MA House Budget

Press release from state Rep. Frank Moran's office:

Thursday, April 29, 2021 — The Massachusetts House of Representatives Today passed its Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) budget. This budget responsibly responds to the needs of residents and makes investments that set the state on a path toward economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded at $47.716 billion, the House’s FY22 budget continues its strong commitment to cities and towns, and includes significant investments in education, supportive services for vulnerable populations, and workforce and economic development, among other priorities.

The House FY22 budget does not cut services nor does it raise taxes, and is made possible due to strong revenue collections, increased federal reimbursement, and by leveraging funds from the state’s Stabilization Fund. The budget does not appropriate anticipated American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. As the House Ways & Means and Federal Stimulus committees await the issuance of spending parameters by the federal government, they have begun a process to better understand the needs of Massachusetts communities and analyze past expenditures of federal funds, particularly those received from the CARES Act.

The FY22 House budget reflects the local aid commitment recently made by the House and Senate. It increases Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) by $39.5 million over FY21 for a total of $1.168 billion and Chapter 70 education funding by $219.6 million over FY21 for a total of $5.503 billion, fully funding the first year of a six-year implementation plan of the Student Opportunity Act (SOA). Enacted in 2019 to support equitable funding for our most vulnerable students, the Legislature’s funding schedule ensures the SOA remains on track to be fully implemented over the course of seven years as opposed to the Governor’s budget proposal.

The House’s FY22 budget also creates a $40 million enrollment reserve fund to help school districts whose fall enrollment is negatively impacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To help students with the consequences of prolonged remote learning and address the full educational and social-emotional needs of students, the budget provides $15 million for summer education and supportive services.

Additional education funding allocations include:

• $367 million for Special Education Circuit Breaker;
• $154 million for Charter School Aid;
• $82 million for Regional Transportation; and
• $14 million for Homeless Student Transportation.

Continuing the House’s commitment to high-quality early education and care (EEC), the FY22 budget includes a $20 million investment in rate increases for child care providers across Massachusetts.

Other early education and care funding initiatives include:

• $15 million for Head Start grants;
• $12 million for child care resource and referral agencies;
• $5 million for EEC higher education provider opportunities; and
• $2.5 million for early childhood mental health grants.

Building on Speaker Mariano’s priority to ensure Massachusetts residents from diverse backgrounds have access to meaningful educational opportunities, the House budget invests in higher education allocating $571 million for the University of Massachusetts system, $315 million for community colleges, and $291 million for state universities. The budget also includes a $10 million increase in scholarship funding over last fiscal year for a new total of $130 million, and funds the community colleges SUCCESS Fund at $10.5 million and the STEM Starter Academy at $4.75 million.

The budget also includes large investments in labor and economic development, such as the creation of a trust fund dedicated to job training for the offshore wind industry to be administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. This budget makes an initial deposit into this fund of $10 million to establish and grow technical training programs in our public higher education system and vocational-technical institutions. The fund will also prioritize grants and scholarships to adult learning providers, labor organizations, and public educational institutions to provide workers with greater access to these trainings.

Additional investments include:

• $50 million for adult education;
• $24 million for Youthworks Summer Jobs;
• $5 million for Small Business Technical Assistance;
• $5 million for Community Action Agency Operating and Outreach Support;
• $5 million investment in Local Tourism Recovery Marketing;
• $2.5 million for Urban Agenda Grants; and
• $2 million investment in Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership

The Commonwealth’s commitment to MassHealth remains one of the largest drivers of the budget. In FY22 the House provides $18.969 billion to fully fund its caseload, which has increased as more residents became eligible during the pandemic. The House’s FY22 budget accurately reflects this enrollment growth, showing the necessary increase in spending beyond what was included in the Governor’s budget proposal, while also factoring in the increased Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) reimbursement levels.

Many of the House FY22 budget’s most significant increases represent essential services and programs that serve Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents, including $771.1 million for the Department of Transitional Assistance to maintain support to families, at-risk parents, victims of intergenerational trauma, seniors, and persons with disabilities. Other notable health and human services investments include $30 million for Emergency Food Assistance, $13 million for Healthy Incentives Program, and $500,000 for a public awareness campaign on the contraceptive ACCESS Law.

The House’s FY22 budget also includes funding for housing and homelessness prevention, investing $22 million in direct appropriations for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program to promote housing stability and combat the threat of evictions. The budget also includes $148 million for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) and $84 million for public housing subsidies.

Additional investments for individuals and youth include:

• $56.4 million for Homeless Individuals Shelters;
• $12.5 million for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP);
• $12 million for Rental Subsidies for eligible DMH Clients; and
• $8 million for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth.

The budget funds the Department of Developmental Services at $2.29 billion, aimed to support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. It includes $219.9 million for Day and Work programs; $84.9 million for Respite Family Supports; a $55.4 million increase for DDS’ Turning 22 class; a $7 million investment in transportation services; and $23.4 million for head injury treatment services.

Reflecting the Legislature’s strong commitment to providing access to care and treatment for individuals with a substance use disorder, the budget allocates $160 million for the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, including support for the MA-Access to Recovery program and targeted investments in five additional recovery centers. The budget also provides funding for low-threshold housing for people experiencing homelessness, mental health disorders and at risk for HIV; outpatient and mobile services for persons with disabilities; and treatment at correctional facilities.

In an effort to ensure every resident has equal access to the criminal justice system, the House’s FY22 budget includes a $775 million investment in the Trial Court; $35 million for the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation,; and increases for Prisoners’ Legal Services and Mental Health Legal Advisors. The budget also renews commitments made by the state’s criminal justice reform, such as $11.1 million for community-based re-entry programs, and $4 million in pre- and post-release services.

The budget also continues the House’s focus on environmental and climate protection by including $312.6 million in funding for environmental services, which includes increases for state parks, environmental protection, and the endangered species programs. Additional investments include millions for hazardous waste site cleanups, river ways protection and access, and Clean Water Trust contract assistance.

The House budget makes the MEFA college savings tax deduction permanent, creates a commission to develop recommendations and best practices for responses to mental health emergencies, and creates a new program to approve rural growth funds that would invest in small businesses in rural communities. It also eliminates the sunset on the Film Tax Credit and increases the Conservation Land Tax Credit.

In addition to these historic statewide investments, Representative Moran successfully secured $480,000 in direct funding for the communities of Lawrence, Andover, and Methuen to assist local nonprofit organizations and municipalities. This local funding will support at-risk youth with job training and social services programming, provide housing stability for veterans, assist English language learners, and provide financial relief to many who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic.

“The budget passed by the House of Representatives epitomizes Massachusetts’ resiliency in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and makes historic investments in programming that will make our state stronger in the years to come,” said State Representative Frank A. Moran (D – Lawrence). “I am proud of what this budget represents and would like to thank Speaker Ron Mariano and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz for their thoughtful leadership throughout this process.”

The $480,000 in direct local aid secured by State Representative Moran provides:

• $25,000 to the Sueños Basketball Program to support the league’s recreational, social, and health programming to low-income youth in the City of Lawrence; $20,000 to the Lawtown Boxing Gym to provide as-risk youth with educational, health, and recreational programming in the Merrimack Valley.
• $50,000 to the Merrimack Valley Public Safety Youth Center to provide a safe space for structured education, health, and recreational programming for at-risk youth throughout the Merrimack Valley.
• $50,000 to Casa Dominicana to provide citizenship education, citizenship application assistance, ESL classes, and computer training for low-income adults.
• $100,000 to Methuen Arlington Neighborhood, Inc. to increase and enhance entrepreneurial opportunities, neighborhood investment, revitalization activities, and self-sufficiency of low- and moderate-income residents of the Methuen Arlington Neighborhood.
• $50,000 to the Andover Senior Center for improvements to its facility and infrastructure to best serve its residents.
• $50,000 to ACT Lawrence to empower residents with a range of community development initiatives and activities such as affordable housing, foreclosure prevention, first-time homebuyer education, family financial literacy, and business and youth development.
• $20,000 to Ateneo Dominicano to maintain and promote Dominican culture throughout the Merrimack Valley through history, literature, arts, customs, and family values.
• $25,000 to International Veterans Care Services, Inc. to mitigate food insecurity and provide housing relief to members of the veteran community that have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• $15,000 for Hispanic Week to help showcase Hispanic culture in the Merrimack Valley and across the Commonwealth.
• $50,000 to the Lawrence Family Development and Education Fund to assist in citizenship education, citizenship application assistance, ESL classes, and computer training for low-income adults. • $25,000 to Fundacion DEMDPCD to support, educate, and advocate on behalf of low-income parents of students with learning disabilities in the City of Lawrence.

In addition to this local aid, an amendment filed by State Representative Moran to establish an Intern Pipeline Program within the House of Representatives was successfully adopted. This program will provide traditionally underserved students with the opportunity to pursue a meaningful career in public service and will foster an entire generation of new leaders in Massachusetts.

This press release was produced by Rep. Frank Moran's office. The views expressed are the author's own.