June 14, 2023
Greetings!
The FY24 state budget is not finalized yet, so your advocacy is needed now more than ever to ensure that housing, homelessness prevention, and benefits programs are top priorities for the Legislature.
Last week, the three House and three Senate members who make up the FY24 budget Conference Committee began meeting to iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget. The conferees are Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, Senate Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Patrick O’Connor, House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, House Ways and Means Vice Chair Ann-Margaret Ferrante, and House Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Todd Smola.
Sign our one-minute online action!
The online action asks legislators to do all they can to ensure that housing, homelessness prevention, and benefits programs are top priorities for the Legislature, as Massachusetts continues to grapple with insufficient housing supply, unequal housing access, widespread inequality, and inflation. This is our collective chance to make sure the Commonwealth does even more to prevent and end homelessness and housing instability in the fiscal year ahead, in every corner of Massachusetts.
Want to take further action?
Great! As a next step, please follow up your email action with phone calls to your State Representative and your State Senator, asking them to actively support the strongest FY24 budget possible on housing, homelessness prevention, and benefits issues as the negotiations continue through the Conference Committee phase. The full contact information for each legislator is included on the Legislature’s website. Unsure who your legislator is? Find them by entering your address or the address where you are staying here: www.wheredoivotema.com or by calling the State House switchboard at 617-722-2000. After reaching out, let us know you took action and share any feedback by emailing Kelly.
Thank you for partnering with us to create a state budget that promotes housing access, equity, and economic stability and better brings key resources to scale!
With hope,
Kelly and Julia
Kelly Turley
She/her/hers
Associate Director
Julia Garvey
She/her/hers
Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate
P.S. Stay up to date with the Coalition’s advocacy initiatives by following us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. (Links also included at the top of this message.)
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Overview of Key Housing, Homelessness, and Benefits Conference Committee Priority Requests
Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT, Line Item 7004-9316):
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Funding request: At least match the higher Senate funding level of $195,000,000 in direct appropriations.
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Language requests: We ask the Conference Committee and the full Legislature to take action to restore upstream access to RAFT by prohibiting the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC) from requiring a notice to quit, a summary process summons and complaint, or utility shut-off notice before families and individuals can access RAFT. While this upstream language was not in the FY24 House or Senate proposals, we are reiterating our request to take swift action given the negative impacts on families and individuals to have at least a notice to quit before being eligible to access resources for back rent since the Department of Housing and Community Development implemented the requirement in August 2022. We also ask the committee to reconsider the planned reduction of RAFT benefits from $10,000/year to $7,000/year, which will negatively impact households across the Commonwealth, especially families and individuals in higher cost areas, larger households, and families and individuals with increased expenses related to disabilities and health concerns.
Chapter 257 Eviction Protections (Outside Section 28 of the House Budget/Outside Section 35 of the Senate Budget):
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Language requests: We are extremely grateful to both the House and Senate for taking steps to restore critical Chapter 257 eviction protections, which expired on March 31st. We ask the Conference Committee to adopt the House's overarching Chapter 257 restoration language, which would not require the court to determine that a tenant filed their rental assistance application in good faith. We believe that such a requirement (as adopted by the Senate) would inject unnecessary subjectivity and delays into the process. We also ask the committee to adopt Senate language that would provide a pathway to eviction record sealing for certain tenants who have received Chapter 257 eviction protections.
Emergency Assistance family shelter and services (EA, Line Item 7004-0101):
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Funding request: Include at least $324,051,902, as recommended by both the House and Senate.
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Language requests: Adopt the Senate's more extensive tracking and reporting language, as well as related Senate language from Outside Section 6 on electronic filing and public posting of reports.
Housing and Services for Unaccompanied Youth and Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness (Line Item 4000-0007):
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Funding request: Include higher Senate funding level of $11,000,000.
Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP, Line Item 7004-9024):
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Funding request: Include higher Senate funding level of $179,597,023, with language to carry over unspent FY23 funds.
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Language request: Adopt Senate language to shift the payment standard to 110% of the small-area fair market rent (SAFMR).
HomeBASE Rehousing Program for Children and Families (Line Item 7004-0108):
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Funding request: Include higher House funding level of $42,070,445.
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Language requests: Adopt House language that would increase the HomeBASE cap to $30,000 over 24 months, allow eligible families to access up to $15,000 in subsequent years, eliminate the income eligibility limits for families once they are enrolled in HomeBASE, and allow families to maximize their incomes without fear of the cliff effect. Adopt Senate language that would direct HLC to use at least $10 million to flexibly support families that need more funding beyond the general cap to address housing crises.
Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children Program (EAEDC, Line Item 4408-1000):
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Funding request: Include higher Senate funding level of $201,409,929.
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Language request: Adopt Senate language to implement a 10% grant increase. We encourage the Conference Committee to modify the language to implement the grant increase at the start of the fiscal year, instead of April 2024.
Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children Grant Payments (TAFDC, Line Item 4403-2000):
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Funding request: Include higher Senate funding level of $444,655,605.
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Language request: Adopt Senate language to implement a 10% grant increase. We encourage the Conference Committee to modify the language to implement the grant increase at the start of the fiscal year, instead of April 2024.
Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP, Line Item 7004-9030):
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Funding request: Include higher Senate funding level of $16,863,078, with language to carry over unspent FY23 funds (estimated to be $9.1 million).
Subsidies to Public Housing Authorities (Line Item 7004-9005):
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Funding request: Include higher Senate funding level of $107,000,000.
Shelter and Services for Adults Experiencing Homelessness (Line Item 7004-0102):
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Funding request: Include at least $110,752,398, as recommended by both the House and Senate (before additional earmarks were adopted).
Home and Healthy for Good Program (Line Item 7004-0104):
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Funding request: Include higher House funding level of $8,390,000.
Transportation for Students Experiencing Homelessness (Line Item 7035-0008):
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Funding request: Include $28,671,815, as recommended by both the House and Senate.
Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC) Administrative Account (Line Item 7004-0099):
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Language requests: Adopt the Senate's more detailed version of language on data collection related to access to Emergency Assistance (EA) applications, as well as related Senate language from Outside Section 6 on electronic filing and public posting of reports.
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