The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its $63.4 billion FY27 Budget earlier this week. Thanks to all who reached out to their State Representatives to urge passage of key amendments. Representatives offered more than 1,700 amendments to the initial proposal by the House Ways and Means Committee. We thank our Western MA Representatives for their support of many of our priority amendments.
The House added about $81 million in new spending through amendments to the House Ways & Means Budget.
Flagging two budget outcomes here:
- New line-item for winter shelter beds included at $8 million (Gov’s budget at $12m)
- Housing Consumer Education Centers (HCECs) were cut to $5 million, down from $5.85m in FY26 and $5.2m in the Governor’s budget. HCECs are the front door for RAFT assistance, which are at a rate of over 700 applications every week in our region alone. We will focus on closing this funding gap in the Senate budget.
Below are excerpts from our statewide partner organizations to help digest the budget as it pertains to housing and homelessness, including the Network’s priorities:
Mass Budget and Policy Center
Increased investments but need is still great for core housing assistance programs
The House proposes increases to most housing assistance programs when compared to the FY 2026 GAA. Overall, the House proposal for these core programs either mirrored or invested more than what the governor proposed.
The increased investment of approximately $28 million (not adjusted for inflation) for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) would allow for new vouchers for households experiencing homelessness or housing instability. HomeBASE, a vital program that provides residents with housing stability, will see a large increase and RAFT, which helps residents avert eviction and foreclosure, will receive a slight increase, additional funds were added into both line items during FY 2026 because existing funds were insufficient to meet housing needs.
The House proposal significantly increases funding by 61.75 percent (not adjusted for inflation) for operation of homeless shelters. This funding includes compensation of caseworkers and support personnel.
The House proposal cuts EA shelter funding by 6.27 percent without accounting for inflation. While restrictions have reduced access to EA shelters, homelessness is still elevated in Massachusetts making support to address homelessness vitally important. Read the full overview here.
CHAPA
In the end, the House increased funding for public housing operations, administration of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC), and the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program through amendments. They also included $500,000 in funding for downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers through the Saving Towards Affordable and Sustainable Homeownership (STASH) program.
See their summary here and detailed budget tracker here.
MA Housing and Shelter Alliance
The report-out on their key items:
- Homeless Individuals Assistance (7004-0102): an increase of $1,722,602.
- Home & Healthy for Good line (7004-0104): level funding (restoring the $500,000 cut in the Governor’s Budget).
- Sponsor-based Permanent Supportive Housing (7004-0105): level funding.
- Shelter Workforce Development Initiative (7004-0109): level funding.
- Winter Beds (7004-0111): $8,000,000. This is a new line item that was included at $12,000,000 in the FY27 Governor’s Budget.
- For the rapid transition of homeless individuals into sustainable permanent housing (7004-0202): level funding.
- Rental Subsidy Program for Department of Mental Health Clients (7004-9033): an increase of $3,451,875.
- Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (4512-0200): not less than $10,000,000 for low-threshold housing, compared to not less than $7,500,000 in the FY26 GAA.
- Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (7004-9024): an increase of $28,029,888.
MA Coalition for the Homeless
Please see their budget tracker here for outcomes on their priority issue areas.
The Network is also grateful for a $50,000 earmark to help fund the Network next year. Much thanks to Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa for her lead support and to our western MA delegation overall.
Next week, the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee will release its budget, with the next round of amendment advocacy to follow. Please stay tuned!
