Last updated July 9th
** Please sign and share our one-minute online action to the Conference Committee Chairs, Senator Karen Spilka and Representative Jeff Sanchez, as well as our one-minute online action to your State Representative and Senator in support of the Coalition’s Conference Committee budget priorities. Thanks! As of July 9th, the Conference Committee budget has yet to be released.**
At the end of May, the State Senate wrapped up their budget. Yesterday, Legislative Leadership announced the three House and three Senate members who will make up the FY’19 budget Conference Committee. They are Senate Ways and Means Chair Karen Spilka, Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Joan Lovely, Senate Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Viriato (Vinny) deMacedo, House Ways and Means Chair Jeffrey Sánchez, House Ways and Means Vice Chair Stephen Kulik, and House Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Todd Smola.
Please reach out to your State Legislators and the conferees to ask them to do all they can to make sure that the final budget includes:
- Senate-proposed funding of $3.3 million for housing and wraparound services for unaccompanied youth and young adults experiencing homelessness (line item 4000-0007)
- Senate-proposed funding of $18.5 million and expanded definition of family for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition homelessness prevention program (RAFT, line item 7004-9316)
- Senate-proposed language on Emergency Assistance to ensure that families do not have to stay in places not meant for human habitation (fact sheet) and that DHCD continues to take in-person applications (EA, line item 7004-0101)
- House-proposed language and funding on eliminating the homelessness penalty in the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program (EAEDC, line item 4408-1000)
- House-proposed funding of $100 million on the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP, line item 7004-9024)
- Senate-proposed timing on lifting the family cap rule under the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (TAFDC, line item 4403-2000) by January 1, 2019
Your advocacy will be critical in the weeks ahead. The Conference Committee will aim to complete their work in June, in advance of the July 1st start of fiscal year 2019.
Please stay tuned as this page will be further updated with additional materials.