Press Room

The Senate’s Fiscal Year 2026 closeout supplemental budget responsibly settles the state’s accounts for the past fiscal year, ensuring the integrity and reliability of services that people rely on. The legislation also helps people cut through the confusion of cancelling an online subscription, bolsters the state’s core assistance programs against fraud and federal cuts, and streamlines municipal procurement processes to help cities and towns mitigate high costs.

The details of the legislation are below.

Makes Subscription Cancellations Simpler for Everyone. Combats ‘junk fees’ and hard-to-cancel recurring credit card charges so people can keep more money in their pockets. Makes it simpler and easier for people to cancel online subscriptions, saving residents from being nickel-and-dimed by large companies that profit by making the process difficult. The bill requires companies and sellers of subscription products to make canceling just as easy as signing up, aligning state law with existing consumer protection regulations issued by the Office of the Attorney General.

Strengthens Assistance Programs, Cracks Down on Fraud. Provides for new technology and at least an additional 200 caseworkers at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to help the agency both strengthen its oversight and mitigate harmful federal cuts. The $69.5 million included in this bill enhances the integrity of core assistance programs while also improving the experience of residents who interact with the DTA.

Modernizes Municipal Procurement Laws. Cuts red tape and delivers savings for cities and towns by giving them greater flexibility in how they purchase goods and services in light of current high costs. Modernizes municipal procurement laws to help communities deliver reliable services to residents while maintaining important safeguards.

• Increases procurement thresholds to reflect the increased costs of supplies and services, an update supported by the Inspector General.
• Streamlines cooperative purchasing agreements.
• Brings all municipal purchases in line with the School Operational Efficiency Act of 2022, reflecting inflation’s impact on costs.
• Helps cities and towns respond quickly to snowstorms by exempting snow-hauling services from time-consuming procurement processes, in line with a current Chapter 30B exemption for snow-plowing services.

Responsibly Pays the Commonwealth’s Bills. The bill will result in $1.79 billion in net spending by the state. Its total bottom line is $2.61 billion before accounting for revenue from federal reimbursements. This bill closes the books on Fiscal Year 2026 and makes targeted investments for Fiscal Year 2027. The supplemental funding includes:

• $18.5 million for subsidized early education in FY27 for both family childcare providers and center-based providers;
• $13.8 million for the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance (MOVA) to make up for decreases in federal grant awards and support essential services for crime victims, witnesses, survivors, and families in need;
• $2 million for fair housing enforcement to help Massachusetts residents who face housing discrimination, amid harmful attempts by the federal government to inflict damaging repercussions on fair housing enforcement organizations;
• $159.8 million for MassDOT snow and ice removal;
• $1.03 billion in net spending for MassHealth ($1.8 billion in gross costs prior to federal reimbursements) as the state continues to see effects of the rising cost of health care;
• $52 million for MassHealth supplemental nursing home rates;
• $14 million for substance addiction services through the Department of Public Health (DPH);
• $2.25 million for maternal and child health, particularly increasing support for access to postpartum mental health services;
• $2 million to aid municipalities with public safety needs;
• $5.95 million to support the restructuring of the Cannabis Control Commission, strengthen oversight, and implement reforms from the 2026 cannabis laws modernization act;
• $78.9 million for unemployment insurance interest repayments;
• $10 million for the Boston Holocaust Museum;
• $10 million for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to continue the Commonwealth’s support of its innovation economy; and
• $244.8 million to address deficiencies at the 14 county sheriffs’ offices and pay outstanding bills from FY2025 and FY2026.

Institutes Financial Guardrails on Sheriffs. In addition to covering sheriffs’ budget deficiencies as recommended by the Inspector General, the legislation clarifies that the county sheriffs cannot spend more in FY2027 than they did in FY2026, and requires them to submit spending plans that demonstrate they are limiting their spending to what is appropriated by the Legislature. These reasonable guardrails on spending are in response to the Inspector General’s final report on sheriffs’ budgets and expenditures.

Prepares for the Future. The supplemental budget continues the Legislature’s proactive work to build for the future, including a deposit of $368 million into the Student Opportunity Act (SOA) Investment Fund to support local public schools.

Updates Targeted Policies.

• Helps connect qualifying military veterans who receive care at a federal VA facility with a state medical marijuana card by allowing the Cannabis Control Commission to consider VA documentation and forego standard certification.
• Supports correction officers who are permanently disabled in the line of duty by allowing them to collect the enhanced 100 per cent violent act disability pension. This change gives them parity with firefighters, police, and EMTs who already have this protection.