• Amendment #475, "Housing and Supportive Services for Unaccompanied Youth" from Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz. This amendment would add $1.5 million to the unaccompanied youth homelessness line item to increase the proposed funding to $10 million for FY23. The additional funds would be used to bring housing and wraparound support services closer to scale for youth and young adults under the age of 25 who are experiencing homelessness out on their own without a parent or guardian. The funds would be distributed through the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) to the 10 regional lead agencies that serve youth and young adults across the entire Commonwealth.

• Outcome: Amendment #475 was redrafted to provide a $1 million increase instead of a $1.5 million increase. The redrafted amendment was adopted! The final Senate recommendation is to provide $9.5 million for housing and services for unaccompanied youth and young adults. This would be a $1.5 million increase current FY22 investments.

• Amendment #206, "Improvements to HomeBASE" from Senator Pat Jehlen. This amendment would increase the value of HomeBASE subsidies to $30,000 over 2 years, with the possibility of renewals at $15,000/year and lift the income eligibility limits for families once they are enrolled in HomeBASE to allow families to maximize their incomes.

• Outcome: Amendment #206 was redrafted to focus on eliminating the income eligibility limit for families enrolled in HomeBASE. The redrafted amendment was adopted! If included in the final FY23 budget, participating families will have the opportunity to increase their income without fear of being terminated from HomeBASE.

• Amendment #298, "Improving Access to MRVP" from Senator John Keenan.

• Outcome: Amendment #298 was redrafted and adopted to include a tenant's utility payments in the calculation of their rent share under the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. It would cap rent and utilities at 30% of income, instead of the current general standard of 40% of income for rent.

• Amendment #465, “Public Posting of Report Regarding Field Offices for Children and Families Applying for Emergency Assistance Shelter" from Senator Adam Gomez. This amendment would amend the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administrative line item, 7004-0099. SWM language already would require DHCD to produce a report to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means on the Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter program with details on staffing, access to the ten local DHCD offices where families can apply for EA shelter (which has been severely limited since the start of the pandemic), and the ways families can apply remotely. This amendment would increase transparency by requiring DHCD to publicly post a copy of that report on their website at the same time the report is shared with Ways and Means.

• Outcome: While Amendment #465 was withdrawn, Outside Section 4, "Electronic Filing of Reports", of the Senate Ways and Means budget would require online posting of such reports.

• Amendment #253, "Expanding Access to RAFT" from Senator John Keenan. This amendment would increase access to the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program to all otherwise eligible households with incomes up to 60% of the area median income (AMI) instead of the general cap of 50% AMI; affirmatively ensure upstream access to RAFT benefits; and direct the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to authorize 4 months of forward rent payments and stipends to otherwise eligible applicants.

• Outcome: Amendment #253 was not adopted. Senator Keenan gave a powerful speech on the Senate floor on the importance of the RAFT improvements. You can watch debate on this amendment starting around the 28:09 mark in this video.

• Amendment #297, "Expanding RAFT Eligibility to ERAP Levels" from Senator John Keenan. With the winding down of the federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) in Massachusetts as the program runs out of funds, this amendment would create a $10 million pilot program within RAFT to serve households with incomes up to 80% of the area median income, provide up to 12 months of rental assistance, and require DHCD and the RAFT administering agencies to make direct payments to tenants in cases where the property owner is not responsive. We hope that additional funds will be added to ERAP directly or to this pilot program from FY22 surplus funds, American Rescue Plan Act funds, and other resources.

• Outcome: Amendment #297 was not adopted. See Senator Keenan's remarks on ERAP and RAFT in the link above.

• Our related ERAP/RAFT online action to legislators and legislative leadership is still open for new signers. Please sign and share it!: https://mahomeless.org/erap-raft-petition/

• Amendment #464, "Improvements to Emergency Assistance for Children and Families" from Senator Adam Gomez. This amendment would increase the income eligibility limits for EA to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines (FPG) for families upon application and 285% FPG for families already in EA shelter; restore the FY22 language to establish an ombudsperson unit; improve tracking and reporting language and ensure that data reports are posted publicly in a timely manner.

• Outcome: Amendment #464 was withdrawn. As noted above, however, Outside Section 4, "Electronic Filing of Reports", of the Senate Ways and Means budget would require online posting of such reports.

• Amendment #503, "Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty" from Senator Sal DiDomenico, which would increase monthly cash assistance grants for the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children (EAEDC) and Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) programs 10% over current levels starting in July 2022, instead of April 2023 as proposed by SWM. The amendment also would add additional funds to the EAEDC and TAFDC line items to offset the cost of the grant increases: $13.5 million for EAEDC and $25.8 million for TAFDC.

• Outcome: Amendment #503 was withdrawn.

• Amendment #343, "Access to Emergency Shelter" from Senator Jamie Eldridge. This amendment would prohibit the Department of Housing and Community Development from imposing an asset limit for Emergency Assistance shelter eligibility. Historically, DHCD has followed the asset limit regulations for the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (TAFDC). The Legislature eliminated the TAFDC asset limit in the FY22 budget, but DHCD continues to impose a $5,000 cap on assets for families applying for or participating in the EA program. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, 2% (~7 families) of the families officially denied access to shelter were denied due to being over the asset limit. See page 2 of this report from DHCD. DHCD has reported that a total of 10 more families were denied for being over asset during the second and third quarters of this fiscal year. While the number of families officially denied for assets is low, the continued use of the asset limit as an eligibility standard means that all families have to document their assets and many families with few or no assets are delayed in being placed in shelter while they gather the required documents.

• Outcome: Amendment #343 was not adopted.

• Residential Assistance for Families in Transition homelessness prevention program (RAFT), line item 7004-9316: $150 million in direct appropriations, with an estimated $60 million in additional funds to be carried over from FY22

• Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), line item 7004-9024: $154.3 million in direct appropriations with language to carry over unspent funds from FY22; total anticipated funding as proposed by SWM = $175 million

• Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter program for families with children, line item 7004-0101: $213.2 million

• HomeBASE rehousing program for families with children, line item 7004-0108: $56.9 million

• Housing and services for unaccompanied youth, line item 4000-0007: $8.5 million

• Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program (EAEDC), line item 4408-1000: $140.6 million

• Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP), line item 7004-9030: $13.7 million in direct appropriations, plus language to carry over unspent funds from FY22; total anticipated funding as proposed by SWM = $19.3 million