It's budget time

AARP urges legislators to pass a budget that invests in older residents, recognizes and supports the Commonwealth’s 780,000 family caregivers and expands the CORE Plan, allowing more people to save for retirement. For more information visit aarp.org/ma.

Ahead of the July 1 start of the fiscal year (surprise!) and in anticipation of a congressional reconciliation bill chugging along in D.C., Massachusetts budget-writers filed their just over $61 billion fiscal 2026 spending plan Sunday afternoon. 

Top Democrats are pitching the bill as a "fiscally responsible" move amid major uncertainty over how congressional cuts could manifest in Massachusetts. Their proposal sits $3.3 billion higher than it did in fiscal 2025, but nearly $1 billion lower than Gov. Maura Healey's initial fiscal 2026 bottom line. 

Some aspects reflect that concern — like the 12% increase for the attorney general's office "as she helps defend Massachusetts residents from the impact of federal actions," budget writers said Sunday. And MassHealth spending, which accounts for the largest singular chunk of the budget and would face major losses should Congress cut Medicaid funding, would increase by more than $2 billion from fiscal 2025 to hit $22.1 billion. 

As for the policy riders that were on the line in negotiations?

BYE BROKER FEES: The proposal would require residential broker fees be paid only by the party that reaches out the broker, a measure aiming to bar those charges from being passed onto tenants.  

CLOSURE NO MORE: Pappas Rehabilitation Center for Children and Pocasset Mental Health Center would remain open — and alongside $31 million to "fully fund and maintain operations" at Pappas, and $4.8 million at Pocasset, through fiscal 2026, the budget would create a legislative commission to study the future of Pappas. That report would be due by the end of 2026.

LOCAL ED FUNDING: Chapter 70 state aid for K-12 public schools would rise by nearly $500 million. But in the midst of urgent calls to rethink the formula, budget writers proposed the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education study the formula and report findings back to the Legislature by mid-2026. 

TRANSPORTATION: The budget would codify and fully fund fare-free regional transit and free RTA bus rides. It would also direct $470 million to the MBTA — an addition to the over $500 million just appropriated to the T in the recent supplemental budget, bringing T funding to about $1 billion overall for the upcoming fiscal year. The annual surtax revenues put into the Commonwealth Transportation Fund would also be bumped from $250 million to $550 million.

IT'S A NO: Budget writers spiked the Senate-proposed measure that would have lowered prescription drug costs, alongside another Senate effort to give cities and towns more power over liquor license approval. They also scrapped a House-proposed measure that would have paused the state's plan to implement a lottery system for vocational technical school admissions. 

Lawmakers plan to vote to pass the bill today, which would be the first time in years an upcoming budget would reach the governor's desk before the fiscal year starts. It'll likely be there alongside a $7 billion interim budget to plug the gap to give Gov. Maura Healey the full 10 days allotted to her to work through the big bill without any spending impacts.

Did your priority not make the budget? What was left out? Let me know: [email protected].

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10:00 | Gov. Healey joins Boston Mayor Wu, U.S. Rep. Lynch, Sen. Collins and Rep. Biele as scheduled speakers at groundbreaking ceremony for the redevelopment of the Mary Ellen McCormack public housing complex in South Boston | 270 Msgr. O’Callahan Way, South Boston

TPS FOR HAITIANS TERMINATED: The Department of Homeland Security announced that it is terminating Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitians in the U.S. in a move the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition called "dangerous and short-sighted," urging the courts to strike down DHS' decision.

The ruling prompted Gov. Healey to issue a statement promising to support Haitians in Massachusetts and calling the move "devastating for them and for our workforce and economy."

CAMPBELL ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: Attorney General Andrea Campbell released a statement on Friday defending birthright citizenship and expressing confidence that the Trump administration’s order to alter the constitutionally-guaranteed citizenship will be struck down. The statement followed a Supreme Court ruling on a birthright citizenship case that would limit the power of judges to issue nationwide injunctions — many of which have been serving as a check on President Trump’s efforts in the White House.

Immigrant advocates said the court’s decision “provides an avenue for individual states to decide who is and is not a U.S. citizen.”

ENERGY CREDITS AT RISK: U.S. Senate Republicans' updated reconciliation proposal would make cuts to solar and wind tax credits, adding a measure that would require generation projects to be placed in service by the end of 2027 to qualify for investment and production tax credits — the newest potential setback to wind and solar energy production in the U.S. — Politico

NEW ENGLANDERS SAY WHAT ABOUT TRUMP HEALTH CARE? New Englanders who voted for and against President Trump have vastly different ideas of what exactly he's doing to change the country's health care system and whether it's a beneficial move. — Boston Globe

GREENFIELD PROTESTS ICE: About 200 marchers included lawmakers, city officials and local residents. The march was organized by Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution, criticizing recent ICE actions and, in some cases, the Trump administration as a whole. Northampton Sen. Jo Comerford listed basic services people should receive “regardless of documentation.” — Greenfield Recorder

GOP CHAT: MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale said "On the Record" Sunday that the Republican party intends to have candidates run for the state treasurer's office, the attorney general's office, the U.S. Senate and some state House seats.

Carnevale reaffirmed her stance that the crisis of emergency shelter began during the Healey and Biden administrations. She added that while "the [Trump] administration has said it isn't always going to get it right" when it comes to ICE enforcement and detainment, "the American public, and I think residents here in Massachusetts, do support strong policies by this administration to deport criminal illegal aliens." Carnevale also called the changes to Medicaid in Trump's initial reconciliation bill "modest" and reaffirmed her stance that Iran should not be a nuclear superpower. — WCVB

HEALEY SAYS: Gov. Healey maintained that marriage and abortion rights are safe in Massachusetts despite any federal threats in an interview that aired Sunday. Also on Healey's radar: competitive electric suppliers, who she thinks can exist, but "just can't be ripping people off." Healey said she thinks she'll be able to get the policy through the Legislature. 

Healey was tight-lipped about the more challenging lobbies on Beacon Hill, along with some controversy surrounding the state's new education commissioner. Healey’s thinking big on economics and how tax policy is shaping up for the state. And as for the estate tax, which she proposed to limit for up to $3 million — "I do not like Massachusetts being an outlier," Healey said, adding that the Legislature limiting the estate tax up to $2 million didn't go as far as she wanted it to. — WBZ

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Something was wrong. The due date for their twins was still months away. Twenty-six weeks was far too soon. With emotions and fear running high, Molly and Maddy Needham were born weighing less than two pounds, and it wasn’t until day seven that their parents were able to hold their daughters for the first time — READ MORE

BUT FIRST, A CONGRATS IS IN ORDER: To budget chiefs, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues and House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, for getting their budget done before July 1 for the first time since they began writing budgets together, seven budgets ago.

RECOUNT IN EASTON: The town of Easton will recount votes cast in the House special election for the Third Bristol District open seat. Democrat Lisa Field claimed victory in the June special election, leading by 21 votes out of more than 5,100 cast. Republican candidate Larry Quintal is seeking the district-wide recount, his campaign saying they found discrepancies in the number reported on election night. Taunton's recount is Wednesday.

HBCU INCOMING? Boston city councilors are looking into ways to bring a historically Black college or university to the city via the Building Bridges HBCU Program, which will provide an update on its work trying to attract a satellite HBCU campus to Boston. City Councilor Brian Worrell called for a hearing on the order at last week's meeting. — Boston Herald

A LOOK AT DEPARTING MFA DIRECTOR: A look at departing Museum of Fine Arts Director Matthew Teitelbaum's leadership, which spanned through the pandemic, economic and international concerns, racial unrest and staff dissatisfaction. — Boston Globe

FIGHTING WEEDS IN THE CHESHIRE RESERVOIR: To combat one particular menace, Vallisneria (also known as tape grass or eelgrass), neighbors of the lake have been using chemicals for years. One resident said improvement to anti-weed technologies for lakes has more or less stalled. This year, the situation has been better than last due to the cool, wet spring, though leaves on the bottom of the lake have created a two-foot deep bed of fertilizer for the unwelcome plants. — Berkshire Eagle

Eric Convey contributed to this edition.

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Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General

Senior Reporter, CommonWealth Beacon

Legislative Analyst, Massachusetts Municipal Association

Senior Planner, Town of Swampscott

Vice President of Programs, Nurtury Early Education

Health Inspector, Town of Amherst

Director of Finance and Administration, Public Works, City of Newton

Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Newton

Worker’s Compensation and Safety Coordinator, City of Framingham

President & CEO, New England Village

Operations Director, Stop Predatory Gambling

Senior Planner, City of Malden

Deputy Town Manager, Town of Needham

Executive Director, American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts

Building Inspector, City of Newton

Chief of Survey, City of Newton

Design Project Manager, City of Newton

Assistant Town Attorney- Land Use and Litigation, Town of Barnstable