Sen. Lewis and Massachusetts Senate pass FY26 state budget

In May, State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate to approve a $61.4 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) to continue supporting Massachusetts residents and investing in the Commonwealth’s future. The budget is fiscally responsible while strongly investing in public education, local aid for cities and towns, transportation and infrastructure projects, healthcare, early education and childcare, housing programs and more. The Senate’s budget proposal was passed with bipartisan support and safeguards the Commonwealth’s financial health, protects its most vulnerable residents and makes investments that reinforce the Commonwealth’s economic vitality in the face of mounting federal threats. The budget does not raise taxes or spend dollars from the “Rainy Day” stabilization fund.

“I’m proud that this budget, passed with bipartisan support, will deliver critical resources for our public schools and communities, and will make our state more affordable for working families with significant investments in childcare, housing, and healthcare,” said Senator Lewis. “I want to thank all the advocates and constituents who shared their priorities and helpful feedback with me throughout the budget process.”

A few highlights of the Senate’s FY26 budget:

• $7.3 billion (B) in Chapter 70 funding for K-12 public education, an increase of $460 million over FY25, as well as increasing minimum Chapter 70 aid to $150 per pupil
• $1.3B for Unrestricted General Government Aid to cities and towns
• $1.7B for early education and childcare programs, including $475 million for Commonwealth Cares for Children grants, to improve quality, access and affordability for working families
• $22.4B to fund MassHealth, providing more than two million people with continued access to affordable, accessible and comprehensive healthcare services
• $1.7B to support public safety and security and criminal justice initiatives
• $1.3B to support a wide range of mental health services and prevention programs, which are critical to the well-being of adults and children in need
• $1.2B for housing initiatives, dedicating resources for housing stability, residential assistance, emergency shelter services and homelessness assistance
• $470 million for environmental initiatives to protect our natural resources, ensure clean air and water and mitigate climate change.
• Requiring that residential rental broker’s fees be paid by the contracting agent (usually the landlord of an apartment) — ensuring that renters are not burdened with unexpected and extraordinary costs

The Senate’s FY26 budget also includes a projected $1.95B in revenues to be collected from the Fair Share Amendment, which was approved by voters in 2022 for education and transportation investments. These Fair Share funds are to provide universal free school meals for all K-12 students; to increase access to affordable, high-quality early education and childcare; to increase K-12 school funding through the Student Opportunity Act; to increase financial aid for students to attend Massachusetts public colleges and universities; to expand investment in the MBTA; and to provide additional funds to maintain local roads, and more.

Senator Lewis was successful in securing $500,000 to fund a variety of local projects in his communities. He also led the effort to adopt several budget amendments, including:

• Initiating a Chapter 70 school-funding-formula study to make recommendations to improve the adequacy and equity of municipalities’ required local contributions for funding their public schools
• Supporting food literacy with $1 million to support farm-to-school food system literacy programming in public elementary and secondary schools and early education programs
• Continuing to back the advisory commission that is finishing up its work to select a new state seal, flag and motto for the Commonwealth

The FY26 Senate budget is available on the Massachusetts legislature’s website: https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2026/SenateBudget. As the Massachusetts House of Representatives had previously passed its own version of the FY26 budget, a Conference Committee will be appointed to reconcile differences between the versions of the budget passed by the Senate and House. After that the legislature’s final budget will be sent to Governor Maura Healey. The Governor will then review the budget and take action to approve, make veto(s) and/or amend it.