May 28, 2019

Greetings!

Thank you for all of your efforts over the past few weeks to strengthen the Senate's version of the FY'20 state budget .  We truly appreciate all of your calls, emails, and visits to your State Senators to ask them to sign on to, and actively support, critical Senate budget amendments related to homelessness, housing, and benefits.  

Late last Thursday, the Senate wrapped up their three-day debate on 1,142 budget amendments to produce a $42.8 billion recommended budget . Here is our updated FY'20 budget chart , with an analysis of key line items and amendments related to homelessness, housing, and benefits in the Senate budget (see columns K-N)

Outcomes for Key Senate Amendments

-  Amendment #797  to establish and fund the upstream Rent Arrearage Assistance Program (RAAP) under the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program, filed by Senator Pat Jehlen of Somerville: RAAP Senate amendment fact sheet  - PDF; call script - PDF; talking points - PDF

  • Outcome: Unfortunately, this amendment was not adopted in the final Senate budget. In good news, however, a related redrafted amendment filed by Senator Jamie Eldridge was adopted to add an additional $500,000 in unrestricted funds to RAFT (see Amendment #793), and a second related redrafted amendment flied by Senator Diana DiZoglio was adopted to add another $500,000 to RAFT to serve survivors of domestic violence earlier in their housing crises (see Amendment #1007).

-  Amendment #464  to ease access to Mass IDs for people experiencing homelessness, filed by Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler of Worcester: Mass ID access amendment fact sheet  - PDF

  • Outcome: Unfortunately, this amendment was not adopted in the final Senate budget.

-  Amendment #715  to provide an additional $20 million to the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, filed by Senator Brendan Crighton of Lynn : general FY'20 MRVP budget fact sheet  - PDF

  • Outcome: Unfortunately, this amendment was not adopted in the final Senate budget.

-  Amendment #872   to allow families in Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter to increase their incomes to 200% of the federal poverty guidelines before going over the income limit, filed by Senator Patrick O'Connor of Weymouth (as described in our budget priority chart )

  • Outcome: Good news! We are happy to report that this amendment was adopted in the final Senate budget. You can hear Senator O'Connor's passionate floor speech in support of the amendment on the Coalition's SoundCloud page, and see a picture below of Senator O'Connor with staff from the Coalition, EMPath, and Homes for Families taken on the floor of the Senate chamber shortly after the amendment was adopted.

Action Request and Next Steps

Please take a few minutes to thank your State Senator for such a strong Senate budget. You can look up your State Senator via www.wheredoivotema.com or call the State House switchboard at 617-722-2000.

Now the budget will head to the Conference Committee phase, where three Senators and three Representatives will work out the differences between the Senate and House versions of the budget. After that, the budget will head to the full Legislature and then Governor, ideally before the July 1st start of FY'20.

We continue to be grateful for your collaboration in advocating for the strongest possible #BudgetToEndHomelessness!
  
In solidarity,

Kelly Turley
Associate Director


Picture of Senator O'Connor with staff from the Coalition, EMPath, and Homes for Families
Background

Two weeks ago, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means released its fiscal year 2020 budget recommendations . This is the first budget under the leadership of Senate President Karen Spilka of Ashland and Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues of Westport. Senate Ways and Means (SWM) recommended $42.7 billion in spending for the new fiscal year, which will begin on July 1st.

The budget includes strong recommended language and proposed investments in homelessness, housing, and benefits programs, including:

  • Emergency Assistance family and shelter program (EA, line item 7004-0101) language to ensure that families experiencing homelessness do not have to sleep in places not meant for human habitation before becoming eligible for EA shelter (matching our advocacy request on places not meant for human habitation; partially matching our overall request)
  • $1.7 million in additional funding for housing and services for unaccompanied youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, which would bring the funding level up to $5 million (matching our advocacy request)
  • Level funding of $20 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program (RAFT, line item 7004-9316), and language that would maintain access for households without dependent children (partially matching our overall advocacy request)
  • $10 million in new funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP, line item 7004-9024), which would bring the funding level up to $110 million, and language that would update the allowable monthly rent levels to match current fair market rents for mobile subsidies issued or leased after August 1, 2019 (partially matching our advocacy request)
  • $1.85 million in additional funding for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP, line item 7004-9030) that would increase funding to $8 million (matching our advocacy request)
  • $6.5 million in additional funding for state-funded public housing operating subsidies (line item 7004-9005) that would increase funding to $72 million (matching our advocacy request)
  • Language that would maintain full Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program (EAEDC, line item 4408-1000) benefits to participants experiencing homelessness (matching our advocacy request)
  • Important funding and language for the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (TAFDC, line item 4403-2000), including language that would remove the homelessness penalty and restore benefits to families experiencing homelessness, as well as additional funds to provide benefits to families previously subject to the family cap rule (matching/addressing our advocacy request)

Please see our FY'20 budget chart for more details on key line items related to homelessness, housing, and benefits and how they have fared at various stages of the budget process thus far.