It’s time to reach out to your State Senator to ask for their co-sponsorship of our priority budget amendments!
Find your Senator here.
It can be a one sentence email: “Please co-sponsor these priority amendments to prevent and end homelessness.”
Or you can add to it by sharing your particular experience and why these amendments matter to you. It ALL counts.
Our list is here and copied below. Thanks to our Western MA Senators who are lead sponsors and to all the others for considering and advocating for these amendments. We are grateful for your leadership and support!
And we are grateful to work in collaboration with our statewide partners as well, including CHAPA, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Shelter and Housing Alliance and more.
The Senate budget will be debated and voted on next week. This week is the most important time for your Senator to hear from you.
Thanks for taking action ASAP!
FY2026 Senate Budget Priority Amendments
#428 – Housing Consumer Education Centers (HCECs) (Senator Adam Gomez)
Restores a drastic 42% cut to HCECs to prevent the loss of substantial services for people at risk of homelessness, including potential local office closures in the western region.
#557 – Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) (Senator Adam Gomez)
Moves access to RAFT further “upstream” – and prevents more homelessness – by eliminating the requirement for a Notice to Quit or utility shutoff to access benefits.
#150 – Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) (Senator Joan Lovely)
Increases funding to $270 million for approximately 800 new vouchers, a crucial step to address the dire lack of affordable housing in our region and across the Commonwealth.
#526 – Cliff Effect Program (Senators Adam Gomez and Jake Oliveira)
Provides continued support to WMass EDC/ Springfield WORKS for $150,000 for continued support of a 3-year pilot program to mitigate cliff effects for families from across the Commonwealth.
#130 – Department of Mental Health Rental Subsidy Program (Senator Jamie Eldridge)
Increases funding to $21.548 million for housing people experiencing homelessness and disabling mental health conditions. This program plays a vital role in ending chronic homelessness.
#90 – HomeBASE (Senator Patricia Jehlen)
Increases funding for HomeBASE to $64.8 million, improves access to upstream benefits and increases the grant limit per family to $50,000 for the first two years and $25,000 subsequently.
#171 – Maintaining Fair Housing (Senator Lydia Edwards)
Supports fair housing in Massachusetts by directing $2 million for the operation of the Office of Fair Housing, $1 million for the Fair Housing Trust and $2 million for organizations participating in fair housing activities. Federal cuts to our fair housing organizations make this investment (and the amendments below) especially vital.
#10 and #218 – Fair Housing Centers (Senators Jamie Eldridge and Mark Montigny)
Provides $200,00 for the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center and $75,000 for the South Coast Fair Housing Center respectively to support their work to combat housing discrimination.
#105 – Tenancy Preservation Program (Sen. Robyn Kennedy)
Provides $42,755 to support TPP and preserve the line item.
#222 – Unaccompanied Homeless Youth (Sen. Liz Miranda)
Increases funding to $12 million for housing and services for youth experiencing homelessness.