April 11, 2019

Greetings!

Yesterday, the House Committee on Ways and Means released its fiscal year 2020 budget recommendations . Under the leadership of the new chair, Representative Aaron Michlewitz of Boston, House Ways and Means (HWM) recommended $42.7 billion in spending for the new fiscal year, which will begin on July 1st.

Here is our updated FY'20 budget chart , with our initial analysis of key line items related to homelessness, housing, and benefits, and preliminary information about budget amendments that will be filed to improve upon the HWM budget (see columns G and H). State Representatives can file amendments until 5 p.m. tomorrow, and can cosponsor amendments until the full House budget debate, which is scheduled for the week of April 22nd.

Take Action with Us!

Below are some quick highlights of line items in need of amendments.  Please call your State Representative today or early tomorrow to ask them to sign onto these critical amendments.  You can look up your State Representative via  www.wheredoivotema.com . After calling or emailing them, please  let us know what the response was .

Key Amendments:

  • Rent Arrearage Assistance Program (RAAP) amendment to line item 7004-9316 to be filed by Representative Marjorie Decker to create a $7 million upstream homelessness prevention pilot program within the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program (RAFT) to help households pay for back rent and mortgage payments: fact sheet, call script, and talking points

  • Emergency Assistance (EA) amendment to line item 7004-0101 to be filed by Representative Marjorie Decker to ensure that families experiencing homelessness do not have to sleep in places not meant for human habitation before becoming eligible for EA shelter: fact sheet

  • Youth homelessness amendment to line item 4000-0007 to be filed by Representative Jim O'Day to increase funding for housing and wraparound services for unaccompanied youth and young adults experiencing homelessness: fact sheet

  • Mass ID access amendments to line item 1595-6368 and a new outside section of the budget to be filed by Representative Kay Khan to ease access to standard Mass IDs for people experiencing homelessness: fact sheet


Thank you for your partnership and interest! We will be back in touch soon with additional details and updates.
  
With gratitude,

Kelly Turley
Associate Director