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July 25, 2022

Greetings!

Thank you for all of your work over the past six months to make sure the state implements the strongest possible FY23 state budget on homelessness, housing, and benefits programs!

On July 17th, the six members of the FY23 budget Conference Committee* finished their work of ironing out the differences between the House and Senate budget proposals. Their $52.7 billion in funding allocations and accompanying language recommendations were unanimously approved by the full House and Senate last Monday. The budget was sent later that day to Governor Charlie Baker for his approval and vetoes. You can see the full Conference Committee budget, House Bill 5050, here, and read about how the funding and language compare to our requests below and in Columns D and E of our budget chart.

Take action with us!

We have two action requests for you today:

1.) ** Please sign and share our online action to the Governor asking him to approve (not veto) funding for housing, homelessness, and benefits line items and to quickly implement key budget provisions. Here's the link to online action to the Governor: https://mahomeless.org/fy23-budget-letter-to-gov/ **

The Governor only has a few more days to sign the budget and issue vetoes, so please take action today.

2.) Please thank your State Representative and Senator for their work to make sure the Commonwealth does more to prevent and end homelessness and housing instability in this new fiscal year. Find out who your State Representative and Senator are and their contact information by going to www.wheredoivotema.com or by calling the State House switchboard at 617-722-2000. Please also thank the budget conferees, who are listed below. You can click on their names and follow the links below for their email addresses and phone numbers. After sending your emails or making your calls, please let us know by emailing us via kelly@mahomeless.org.

Thanks for your ongoing advocacy to create a state budget, laws, and programs to promote housing, equity, and economic stability. We will be back in touch about budget signing and any needed advocacy to override budget vetoes later this week.

With hope,
Kelly and Luke

Kelly Turley
Associate Director

Luke Benson
Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate


* The six budget conferees were House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, House Ways and Means Vice Chair Ann-Margaret Ferrante, House Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Todd Smola, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, and Senate Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Patrick O'Connor.
Overview of Key Housing, Homelessness, and Benefits Conference Committee Priority Requests and Outcomes

  • Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (line item 7004-9316):
  • Requests: At least match the higher Senate funding level of $150,000,000 in direct appropriations. Include Senate language to explicitly restore the RAFT benefit cap to $10,000/household for FY23 and to simplify income verification for MassHealth and Department of Transitional Assistance program participants plus House language to expand categories of households eligible for RAFT with incomes above 50% area median income (AMI) but below 60% AMI. We also asked the Conference Committee to protect upstream access to RAFT by prohibiting the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) from requiring a notice to quit, summary process summons and complaint, and/or utility shut-off notice to access RAFT.
  • Outcomes: Funded at $150,000,000 in direct appropriations, plus an expected $50,000,000 from carried over unspent funds from FY22. Includes language to set the RAFT benefit cap for FY23 at $10,000/household over a 12-month period (up from the $7,000 limit in effect since January 1, 2022); does not include language to expressly protect upstream access to RAFT.

  • Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter and services (line item 7004-0101):
  • Requests: At least match the higher House funding level of $218,641,057. Include Senate tracking and reporting language plus related Senate language from Outside Section 4 on public posting of reports; include 90-day advance notice requirement before eligibility restrictions or benefit reductions could be implemented; include expanded tracking and reporting language.
  • Outcomes: Funded at $219,441,057 (higher than amounts initially proposed by House and Senate). Includes 90-day advance notice requirement and tracking and reporting language, with relevant language in Outside Section 4 on transparency and access to data and reports; does not include language originally requested to increase income eligibility for families applying for EA or seeking to retain EA benefits or ombudsperson unit language.

  • Housing and Services for Unaccompanied Youth and Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness (line item 4000-0007):
  • Requests: Fund at the Senate funding level of $9.500,000
  • Outcome: Funded at $9,500,000

  • HomeBASE (line item 7004-0108):
  • Requests: Provide the Higher House funding level of $59,411,201. Include language from the House, Senate, and Governor to make HomeBASE a two-year program instead of a one-year program. Include Senate language to lift the income eligibility limit for families once they enroll in HomeBASE to allow families to maximize their income plus related Senate language from Outside Section 4 on public posting of reports. Decouple RAFT and HomeBASE benefits so as to allow eligible households to maximize funding from both programs.
  • Outcomes: Funded at $59,411,201. Includes language to make HomeBASE a multi-year program to allow families to access up to $20,000 over a two-year period; includes compromise language to allow families to maintain benefits for 12 months after exceeding the income eligibility limit (set at 50% of area median income); removes language that would cap the combination of HomeBASE and RAFT assistance, thus allowing families to maximize benefits under both programs.

  • Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (line item 7004-9024):
  • Requests: Fund at the higher Senate funding level of $154,300,000 with language to carryover unspent FY22 funds. Include Senate language on counting tenants' utility payments in the calculation of their rent share, to be capped at 30% of income, instead of the current general standard of 40% of income for rent.
  • Outcomes: Funded at $154,300,000 in direct appropriations, with language to carryover unspent funds from FY22. Includes language directing the Department of Housing and Community Development to establish payment standard protocols for the MRVP program by January 1, 2023, which would set the tenant rent share at 30% of a household's monthly adjusted income and would set the payment standard between 100-110% of the fair market rent, with additional flexibility to provide reasonable accommodations to families and individuals with disabilities; additional language included to protect tenants seeking to stay in their unit after any decrease in the fair market rent levels by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

  • Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children Program (line item 4408-1000):
  • Requests: Fund at the Higher Senate funding level of $140,645,184. Include Senate language to increase monthly grants by 10%, but implement the grant increase earlier in the fiscal year than April 2023 as proposed by the Senate.
  • Outcomes: Funded at $147,462,852 (higher than amounts initially proposed by House and Senate.) Includes language to implement a 10% grant increase earlier in the fiscal year, starting in October 2022.

For more details on the outcomes for our full list of priorities, please see our budget chart or email Kelly. Thank you again for your advocacy!