At the Statewide Equity Task Force on Coronavirus and Equity meeting last week, MA Budget and Policy Center presented a comprehensive summary of the House Ways and Means budget that is being debated this week. Please check out MassBudget’s excellent presentation and this analysis to get a big picture view of the proposed House budget. Thanks to Jeneczka Roman of the Mass. Public Health Association for these summary notes from the presentation: MA Budget
· The House Ways and Means budget does not reflect the ongoing COVID-19 crisis or lay out a vision for recovery. Much of the action is happening off-budget—meaning that a lot of the federal relief funds to MA has not and will not be included in the FY22 state budget. This makes it more difficult for advocates to know how much housing providers, schools, and other entities are receiving.
· MA’s plan for the $4.5 billion in relief funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will likely be laid out in the supplemental budget process—a less predictable and open process that makes it difficult for communities to advocate for their needs. Instead, Legislators could hold a public engagement process to ask communities how these funds could help support an equitable recovery.
· MassBudget suggests 2 ways to get involved:
1. Sign up for the MassBudget email list to stay to date with all the latest news.
2. MassBudget wants to hear from you! Share your key takeaways from the FY22 HWM analysis (slides 14-16) or ideas for advocacy outside the state budget cycle (slide 29-31).
· Questions? Email Monique Ching at mching@massbudget.org or Nancy Wagman at NWagman@massbudget.org
